A high-profile crash of a B-1B Lancer at Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D., earlier this year destroyed the $450 million bomber and was caused by a cascading series of aircrew missteps, overlooked information, and an overall lax culture in units at the base, according to ...
An inexperienced pilot’s errors and general lack of knowledge, combined with an overbearing operations supervisor, were the key factors that led to a U.S. Air Force MQ-9 crashing into the sea somewhere in the Middle East last September, according to a new accident investigation board ...
The pilot, maintainers, and an air traffic controller at Kingsley Field, Ore., all made mistakes that contributed to an F-15 careening off the runway and into an irrigation canal in May 2023, destroying the $35 million fighter.
An Air Force Accident Investigation Board released a detailed report on a Missile Defense Agency employee's death on Aug. 22, 2023, linked to decompression sickness.
The contractor behind a program to use drones to capture data from hypersonic tests crashed an MQ-9 on loan from the Air Force last year, causing $16 million in damages, according to a new accident investigation report. The crash took place Jan. 18, 2023, at Southern ...
In just 10 seconds, a normal training mission became a nearly fatal accident when an F-35 fighter jet crashed while landing at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, on Oct. 19, 2022. An investigation published July 27 found the crash was caused by a glitch in ...
A pilot incorrectly believed he had lost control of his F-16 when he ejected from it over western Louisiana this past March, resulting in the destruction of the $27 million aircraft, according to a new Accident Investigation Board report. The report also faulted the pilot and ...
A drone pilot and an instructor at Grand Forks Air Force Base, N.D., failed to realize an RQ-4 was 4,000 feet too high as it started its final approach, leading the unmanned aerial system to overshoot the base and crash nearly seven miles away, according ...
A maintenance error, committed after an F-22 was washed, affected its control inputs and caused the Raptor to crash May 15, 2020, at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. The pilot safely ejected, but the aircraft was totaled, with an estimated loss of $201 million, according ...
Maintenance errors and oversights caused $2.69 million in damage to an F-22 Raptor in October 2020 at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., investigators found. An Air Force Accident Investigation Board report released July 9 cited cultural issues within the 757th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron and distractions ...
An Air Force pilot’s mistake in raising landing gear too quickly during a touch-and-go landing was the main cause of a February crash of a T-38 trainer jet, according to an accident investigation report published June 29. Investigators faulted the pilot for relying on a ...
An MQ-9 pilot pulled a wrong lever as the Reaper was taking off in Syracuse, N.Y., causing the remotely piloted aircraft to lose fuel supply and crash in June 2020, according to an Air Force investigation. The MQ-9 was “significantly damaged” at a cost of ...