Two pilots grounded after flying too low for football game
Two F/A-18 pilots have been grounded after flying just a few hundred feet above Bobby Dodd Stadium in downtown Atlanta for a fly over before a Georgia Tech football game last year.
From the Daily Press:
The board found that they chose to fly using barometric altitude measurements (feet above sea level) instead of radar altitude measurements (feet above ground level) but failed to adjust their low-altitude warning systems accordingly.
By the time the alarm sounded, the pilots didn’t have enough time to correct the mistake.
Although the pilots “inexplicably failed to recognize” how low they were flying, the board concluded, their lapse was neither intentional nor malicious. It recommended putting both pilots on probation, an outcome endorsed and forwarded up multiple levels of the chain of command.
But the final authority on the matter, Rear Adm. R.J. O’Hanlon, commander of Naval Air Force Atlantic, disputed the conclusion that Condon, the lead pilot, had unintentionally flown that low.
”The arguments written by prior endorsers that LCDR Condon’s actions were an honest mistake are not persuasive,” O’Hanlon wrote. “He is a senior, very experienced department head who placed his aircraft and wingman in a very dangerous position.”
O’Hanlon also had tough words for Fryman. Despite a spotless record, O’Hanlon wrote, Fryman’s complacent response to the altitude transgression and lack of situational awareness were “unforgivable in my view.”
That’s sad that the two pilots lost their wings over this. They either made an honest mistake or wanted to give everyone a good show and now years of hard work has been erased because of it.
Definite overreaction on the part of the Admiral. Admirals are, in general, as the saying used to go “like a teat on a boar hog”, i.e. “useless”. About the same as today’s Washington politicians, many of whom are for the most part worthless. When it comes to preserving our great nation, I’ll take one skilled (and yes daring) active pilot, over a hundred useless, pencil pushing, ladder climbing, self-centered admirals any day! I note elsewhere that the good Admiral was once the executive officer on the USS Carl Vinson. Well Carl Vinson was once my Congressman and I can assure you he would have kicked the good Rear Admiral’s Rear back to his hometown of New York City. By the way, I was at the game and it was an awesome flyover and helped instill pride regarding our military in thousands of spectators. God bless America! Not so much pompous Rear Admirals!