F-18 Down

[737mech]

Hearing reports F-18 crashed into people near Jedi Canyon. Any Inyo County feeds here?

 

[krokus]

Hearing reports F-18 crashed into people near Jedi Canyon. Any Inyo County feeds here?

Which state is that?

 

[737mech]

California near the low pass Jedi canyon death valley

 

[Giddyuptd]

Training flight mission? Be interesting to see details on pilot error or system malfunction. F18 has been a pretty stable aircraft.

Noticed the 117s. Hafb once you were stationed at?

 

[737mech]

Training flight mission? Be interesting to see details on pilot error or system malfunction. F18 has been a pretty stable aircraft.

Noticed the 117s. Hafb once you were stationed at?

No I'm older school Tonopah Test Range LOL!!

 

[Radioman77]

Was reading this while watching a rerun of JAG and it had a F-117!

 

[Ravenkeeper]

Navy fighter jet crash near Death Valley's 'Star Wars Canyon,' seven visitors injured

A U.S. Navy F/A-18E jet crashed about 10 a.m. near Naval Air Weapons Station in China Lake, Calif. It is not yet known whether there are casualties.

www.latimes.com

Verbiage from article:

"A U.S. Navy F/A-18E Super Hornet jet crashed in Death Valley National Park near Father Crowley Vista Point Wednesday morning, leaving seven visitors with minor injuries. The status of the pilot remains unknown.
The crash occurred at approximately 10 a.m. near an area often referred to as Star Wars Canyon, not far from the Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake.
“We’re still trying to figure things out on our end,” said Navy Lt. Cmdr. Lydia Bock. “We have a search-and-rescue that has been dispatched out of China Lake and search-and-rescue out of Naval Station Lemoore with a medic on board.”
Search-and-rescue teams plan to continue their search for the pilot throughout the night.

“We’re looking for an aviator out there, hoping for the best,” an official said.
While it is not common for military jets to fly low over national parks, it is a standard practice in Death Valley."

Photographers train their cameras at an F-18 fighter jet from Lemoore Naval Air Station as it dives into Rainbow Canyon.
(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

“It’s one of the main attractions,” said Death Valley National Park public information officer Patrick Taylor.
The Air Force and Navy have used the area for military training practices since the early 1930s.

Most of the aircraft that pass through come from Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, Naval Air Station Lemoore, Edwards Air Force Base, Fresno Air National Guard Base and Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada. International jets are also known to make flybys.
It’s unclear whether those who reported injuries were in the area to observe the jets. Taylor said the area also provides a parking lot and a restroom.
“There’s a lot of people that stop there totally unassociated with the jets,” he said."
Times staff writer Ruben Vives contributed to this report.

 

[ladn]

For those who are not familiar with the area, it is technically within Death Valley NP, but not in the valley part of Death Valley. It's on the western edge of the Park boundary off Highway 190, roughly at the north end of the Panamints between Owens Valley and Panamint Valley at a point called "Father Crowley Overlook".

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

www.google.com

 

[HighDesertRadio]

I live in Inyo county and was monitoring 315.90 I heard his last transmission before he dropped down into the canyon. He was heading back to Lemoore after the run through the canyon. RIP

 

[MtnBiker2005]

Accident Boeing F/A-18E Super Hornet 168471, 31 Jul 2019

A Boeing F/A-18E Super Hornet assigned to the

aviation-safety.net

 

[HighDesertRadio]

I also listened to the search and rescue helicopter coming from Lemoore to Lone Pine to search for the pilot. They were on 315.90 also. This is the only frequency I’ve heard them on here in the Owens Valley usually on weekdays mid morning and at night around 9pm.

 

[milcom_chaser]

Here's a video showing a zoom-in shot of the Impact Site Have to wonder if the pilot was heading right over a group of photographers out on the point, when this mishap occurred. Wonder if any of the injured had their cameras turned over to the USN for evidence. Just tragic.

 

[Hooligan]

There were some interesting comms on NPS Death Valley NP LE Net Repeater (170.100MHz/141.3Hz) related to the incident. Major initial concerns about live ordnance.

 

[Ravenkeeper]

There were some interesting comms on NPS Death Valley NP LE Net Repeater (170.100MHz/141.3Hz) related to the incident. Major initial concerns about live ordnance.

Out of all of the videos that I have watched of aircraft flying through that canyon, none of them had any ordinance, at least that you could see. Even if it had live ordinances loaded on it, if the safeties failed, that cliff-side would be gone. The extra weight from the ordinance, live or inert (if loaded), could have been an issue, causing it to "slide" during its turn through that part of the canyon. Will know more when the investigation report comes out.

 

[Go4Long]

I also listened to the search and rescue helicopter coming from Lemoore to Lone Pine to search for the pilot. They were on 315.90 also. This is the only frequency I’ve heard them on here in the Owens Valley usually on weekdays mid morning and at night around 9pm.

315.900 is the low level frequency for the entire sidewinder route. Anyone low level in the area is flying VFR and talking about where they are and where they're going usually. the route goes from point alpha which is down a ways south of lone pine and goes to I believe point Mike which is south of the panamint springs resort in the valley itself. The star wars canyon is the shortcut from point Charlie to point Juliet.

Out of all of the videos that I have watched of aircraft flying through that canyon, none of them had any ordinance, at least that you could see. Even if it had live ordinances loaded on it, if the safeties failed, that cliff-side would be gone. The extra weight from the ordinance, live or inert (if loaded), could have been an issue, causing it to "slide" during its turn through that part of the canyon. Will know more when the investigation report comes out.

Lots go through with inert rounds. The only live armed ones you're likely to see there are the Alert F-16's from March AFB, and the alert F-15's from Fresno.

Everything else that comes through is packing blue banded munitions (blue = inert)


Gomer 1 by Steven Szabo, on Flickr

 

[milcom_chaser]

 

[gyster]

Hearing reports F-18 crashed into people near Jedi Canyon. Any Inyo County feeds here?

I was out there last Friday, and there's still crash debris scattered about just to the Panamint Valley side of the main outlook. Lots of small pieces of carbon fiber, some charred aluminum, melted metal of some sort splashed onto rocks and soil. A couple of F-18s passed over the canyon, and last week a pair of F-16s, but no one was down in the canyon. I wonder if they've made that taboo. Here's a shot of one of the 18s...just got my camera, and learning settings...this isn't very sharp.

 

[joshuatree1]

Here