A brand-new Russian Sukhoi Su-34 strike aircraft (roughly equivalent to the US F-15E Strike Eagle) crashed on landing in June last year, flipping over onto its back. Video taken from the cockpit has just been released. It shows some REALLY BAD piloting.
- Watch how the aircraft bounces and dances around as it approaches the runway. That’s not wind or weather – that’s a pilot who’s let the aircraft get ahead of him.
- Next, it lands long, after much of the runway has already passed beneath it. Any competent pilot would have aborted the takeoff at that point and gone around, but not our intrepid aviator.
- Finally, watch how the end of the runway approaches before the aircraft has bled off enough speed to turn off onto the taxiway. Again, this doesn’t deter the pilot – he turns anyway, with predictable results.
After that display, I can only presume that the pilot’s career in the Russian Air Force came to as sudden and as grinding a halt as did his aircraft.
Peter
EDITED TO ADD: A follow-up article, with picture, may be found here.
Sweet! You've found someone who lands far, far, worse than I do! 🙂
He should have gone around and rejected that landing and had numerous opportunities to do so.
Pro-tip: After you are on the ground and upside down, don't hit the eject button.
That's about the only thing he didn't do wrong.
I wonder what kind of training and how much experience he had.
I've seen references elsewhere to Russian military personnel with limited training and few hours operating their equipment – good (and expensive!) equipment is a waste if you don't know how to use it, especially with something unforgiving like a jet fighter!
Wow, I can't help but wonder if that loud voice was a go around call…
Reminds me of a story Gordon Baxter told, of learning to handle a ground loop while landing a Stearman biplane. The Oldster tells him, "When you feel the tail break loose and start to come around, right away you want to take your hands off stud stick, then throw them up in the air and shout, 'Aw, SHIT!'"
The "official word" is that the overrun was caused by a non-functioning drag chute.
http://su-27flanker.com/2015/06/11/su-34-fullback-overrun-runaway-at-voronezh-airbase/
Why can't the soviets/russia make decent concrete? That runway looked terrible. I've had friends who've been to Russia and mentioned the same thing. The little 3300 ft strip in my little county is nicer. I hope that's just a Soviet era thing and Russia has their cement squared away these days.
i love the bitching betty (at least i think this is bb) keeps talking after the flip – I would love to be able to understand russion (does anyne know if there is a translated transcript somewhere?)
As soon as he lands, the air traffic controller is saying "brake, brake, BRAKE!"
Wonder if large amounts of vodka were involved?
Suz
Suz:
FIFY: "Wonder if larger than normal amounts of Vodka were involved?"
If you watch some of the vehicle dash-cams from Russia, you'll know that they can't seem to operate vehicles without it.
Soviet era radar systems on aircraft were cooled with large amounts of potable alcohol. On purpose.