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Classic Wings Magazine WWII Naval Aviation Research Pacific Luftwaffe Resource Center
When Hollywood Ruled The Skies - Volumes 1 through 4 by Bruce Oriss


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PostPosted: Wed Jun 08, 2022 7:52 pm 
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Joined: Fri Sep 24, 2010 1:25 am
Posts: 485
Had a show here called Wild Wednesday which featured the Canadian F-18 demo and a few other aircraft which was slated as an evening show, just heard about it yesterday so decided to take a run out there.
Average person may not appreciate how close this was, you guys will.

Nice and sunny all day but as afternoon approached, became increasingly cloudy then rainy. The Yankee B-17 took off along with a Catalina and they did a few low passes, was surprised to see and hear the F-18 spooling up then taxi down the runway before they even landed. The weather has turned from steady drizzle to very light, and with a crowd paying $85 per vehicle, it was apparent they wanted to get the F-18 act in before weather shut down the show entirely.
The props landed and as soon as they were clear of the runway the F-18 received takeoff clearance and he didn't waste 1 second, went right up, did a climb out and split S, then came my way and climbed out right over me. Did another split S heading the other way and about midway down the runway I saw the right engine flame out. I didn't hear him declare an emergency but I assume he did, but my scanner was drowned out by the remaining engine.

So after he cleared enough for me to hear I heard it was a bird strike, and also that the pilot wanted to orbit around a bit to burn off fuel. So any engine loss would be an emergency but he was well in control.
Here is where the miscommunications almost caused a disaster.

As he was orbiting around [I believe he said he wanted to burn off fuel for about 3 minutes] there was a jet waiting for clearance to approach the runway and take off, call sign Medic 1. He was told about the emergency with the F-18 and to hold short of the runway. He was on tower freq, but the airspace was being controlled from the airboss freq, as usual for any airshow. So Medic 1 says to the tower, after being told to hold short of the runway, "Confirm you want me to maintain contact with you and airboss" Tower said "Negative, maintain contact with airboss 118.75" I picked this out off the bat, I even said to my uncle "That is the wrong freq", I have been using this for years and years at Ypsi airshows and it is 118.175.

So here comes the F-18, done with his fuel burn off, gear down and coming in low and fast over the trees, and Medic 1 makes a move for the runway ! Holy sugar, it was like a bad dream watching it play out. I didn't hear anyone wave off/abort the F-18 landing but he apparently saw the situation developing and aborted it himself, taking a sharp left turn and trying to gain speed and altitude. Mean time someone, not sure if it was tower or airboss, screamed at Medic 1 to stop and hold short, which he barely did, as it looked from my angle. He was mere feet from intruding on the runway.
To make matters even worse the Catalina, which does everything slow in the air or on the ground, was shortly before all this back taxi'ing up the runway, and finally cleared it as the F-18 was on short final, and as Medic 1 made a move for the active runway. To add even more complications, numerous taxiways and other runways were closed due to construction, with construction trucks on the move shortly before and during that to clear the area for the show.
So apparently the tower and airboss were in communication with numerous aircraft and trucks, and a hobbled fighter trying to land, and things went south.

I have no professional expertise in aviation, just a long time aircraft nut who has been to more airshows than I can count, I do know procedures and protocol pretty well. After the close call, after the F-18 was thankfully able to abort and go around and Medic 1 was ordered to hold short, Tower said "Medic 1, are you in contact with airboss ?" He said yes, 118.75. Heard some indecipherable chatter from tower, probably another guy saying thats not the right freq. He then asked airboss if he can hear Medic 1 and airboss said no, can't hear a thing. So in the mean time the F-18 was on short final again, they determined that Medic 1 was short of the runway and knew to hold and obviously he was the priority at this time, that F-18 came in hotter than I have ever seen and with a sinkrate that must have been close to the edge of specs, and dropped on the runway like a brick, very relieved to see him land. I was expecting to see a gear blowup but he rolled and taxi'ed, good thing it wasn't an AF jet

Medic 1 then got his takeoff clearance and left. So there are some glaring oversights here, the main one being Medic 1 being given the wrong freq by the tower. But he would have had to had permission from somebody to go from holding short of the runway to going on the runway, right ? Especially since he knew of the emergency with the F-18. I heard no such clearance from anyone but ,,,, He could have well received it and I simply did not hear it due to being during one of the F-18 passes burning off fuel, thats what I am assuming. But then, who the hell gave him clearance with a hobbled F-18 coming in hot ?
[edit: If clearance was given, could not have been from airboss since they were not in communication due to being given the wrong freq]

Another possibility I thought of, as I said earlier, the Cat was in the mix taxi'ing up the runway at the same time all of this transpired. I did hear someone clearing him to the taxiway off the runway, and double checking that he was clear of the runway, as the F-18 was literally coming in hot on short final just as the Cat was clearing the runway. It is possible Medic 1 mistook this taxiway clearance for the Cat for his clearance to proceed to the runway.

Don't know the answer, I know folks with authority at Ypsi post here, I stand ready to be corrected or corroborated with anything I have said, don't want to start any controversy but this was a serious mixup and will be investigated by the NTSB anyhow. If anyone has any updates or other info, feel free to post.


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PostPosted: Thu Jun 09, 2022 1:34 pm 
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Joined: Tue May 24, 2011 6:46 pm
Posts: 110
The weather and the bird strike sure put a damper on the evening. I did jump in and out of the car getting some pictures.

Image

Image

Image

It was raining to hard to take a picture of the O-2.


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PostPosted: Thu Jun 09, 2022 3:48 pm 
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Joined: Fri Sep 24, 2010 1:25 am
Posts: 485
Yeah the weather turned nasty quick, as a glance at any phone radar map would have foretold.
Went from overcast to drizzle to steady and increasing rain within an hour, drive down 94 was a nightmare, fine mist kicked up by traffic led to almost whiteout conditions.


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