Kfir Crash- 7 March 2012

[Vulture]

A civilian pilot flying for Airborne Tactical Advantage Co., was killed Tuesday morning when his F-21 Kfir jet crashed near the west gate of Naval Air Station Fallon, six miles east of the city limits.

Spokesman Matt Bannon of ATAC, which is based in Newport News, Va., said the pilot's name is being withheld pending notification of the next of kin.

“We are concentrating on that,” he said in a telephone interview.

Bannon said he did not have additional details on the cause of the crash but will notify the base public affairs office when information becomes available. Bannon said the pilot was supporting the operations of Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center.

The said the F-21 jet crashed into a structure but no other information was provided.

This is the second time within two years that a jet belonging to ATAC crashed during a training mission. On July 8, 2010, a civilian pilot ejected safely before his A-4 Skyhawk jet from the air station crashed in an alfalfa field north of the base shortly after takeoff. No structures were damaged.

A Navy jet, however, crashed on Feb. 24 about 31 miles north of Fallon. Both pilots, who were temporarily assigned to NSAWC, ejected safely and were treated at the base hospital.

Firefighters from both NAS Fallon and Fallon/Churchill responded to the crash and subsequent fire.

Aircraft Tactical Advantage Co., which owned the jet, supports the mission at NAS Fallon. The contractor simulates enemy aircraft for Navy pilots during training exercises. The pilot was a civilian who worked for the company.

According to ATAC's website, “For the last 16 years , ATAC has trained Navy, Marine, Air Force and Army aircrews, ship-crews, and Combat Controllers in the air-to-ship, air-to-air, and air-to-ground arenas ... ATAC is the only civilian organization approved to train the U.S. Navy's elite Fighter Weapons School, also known as ‘TOPGUN' and is the only civilian organization to train the USAF's F-22 Raptors.”

The F-21 Kfir is an Israeli-built, all-weather jet that was designed as a ground attack aircraft with a secondary role as a fighter. Most of the 212 Kfirs were built in the 1970s and early 1980s.

Since a civilian aircraft was involved in the crash, the NAS Fallon Public Affairs Office said the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board will be investigating the accident.

[RickH]

Really hate to hear this, we've trained some of those guys on the Skyhawk. Our condolences to the family.

[67Cougar]

Pilot is reported to be Carroll 'Lex' LeFon. He is also known for his blog, www.neptunuslex.com

Go take a look and see what the man was about ...

[RyanShort1]

Wow. Too bad.

Ryan

[Fearless Tower]

More here:
http://blog.usni.org/2012/03/07/a-remar ... 1960-2012/

I never got to meet Lex myself, but have a few friends who knew him well. Naval aviation world is in serious shock this morning.

Really sucks.

Prayers go out to his family.

[lmritger]

I was well familiar with this airframe- got tons of pics of it from the 2008 Langley and Oceana shows, and have seen it in the pattern around PHF a few times. I was not familiar with Capt. LeFon, however, and reading through his blog today, I have a sense that we have lost a tremendous man. My sincere condolences to his friends and especially his family, to whom he was especially close... I cannot fathom how they must feel today.

Fair winds and following seas, Captain.

Lynn

[Anthony Svihlik]

At a loss for words right now.

Call the ball one final time, Lex.

Anthony

[Anthony Svihlik]

ATAC has a memorial page dedicated to Lex here:

In Memory of Carroll "Lex" LeFon

Funeral services set for March 27 at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Diego.

Blue Skies, Lex.

Anthony

[Ken]

An hour ago, I'd never heard of Lex. I read as much of his blog as I could. Now I mourn his loss. Despite all the chaos in this world, we should sleep better knowing that men and women of Lex's caliber are out there doing jobs that others would shy from and keeping watch on things that others might ignore.

Blue skies,
Ken

[Fearless Tower]

NTSB Prelim is out:
http://www.ntsb.gov/aviationquery/brief ... 3644&key=1

NTSB Identification: DCA12PA049
Nonscheduled 14 CFR Public Use
Accident occurred Tuesday, March 06, 2012 in Fallon, NV
Aircraft: ISRAEL AIRCRAFT INDUSTRIES F21-C2, registration: N404AX
Injuries: 1 Fatal.

This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed.

On March 6, 2012 at 0914 pacific standard time, an Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) Kfir F-21C2 single-seat turbojet fighter type aircraft, registration N404AX, operated by Airborne Tactical Advantage Company (ATAC) under contract to Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) as a civil pubic aircraft operation, crashed upon landing at Naval Air Station Fallon, Fallon, Nevada. The sole occupant pilot aboard was killed, and the airplane was substantially damaged by impact forces and fire. The flight had departed Fallon at 0752 the same day, and attempted to return following an adversary training mission. The pilot initiated two Ground Control Approach (GCA) radar approaches to Fallon and then attempted to divert to Reno but was unable to land there as the field was reporting below minimum weather conditions. The pilot then turned back toward Fallon and stated to air traffic controllers that he was in a critical fuel state. The pilot descended and maneuvered first toward runway 31, then toward runway 13. The airplane struck the ground in an open field in the northwest corner of the airport property and impacted a concrete building on the field. Weather at the time of the accident was reported as snowing with northerly winds of 23 knots gusting to 34 knots, and visibility between one-half and one and one-half miles.

Other than eject (assuming it even worked), I'm not sure what else Lex could have done. Sucks, just really sucks.

[Ken]

I have continued to read Lex's posts on his blog. What a talented writer & accomplished warrior. I hope the site is preserved for those of us who are late to discovering him.

Ken

[Anthony Svihlik]

Fair Winds and Following Seas, Lex.

Anthony

[Ken]

Looks like Lex's blog was taken down. Anybody know if the posts were preserved anywhere?

As we have learned with others, sometimes the e-world doesn't leave the legacy that the paper world did. Shame.

Ken

[Mark Allen M]

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Last edited by Mark Allen M on Mon Sep 10, 2012 11:30 am, edited 1 time in total.

[RandolphB]

If you know the actual web address of the site you are looking for, it can sometimes be found using the "Wayback Machine" on the Internet Archive site: http://archive.org/index.php