Friday, March 4, 2011

Rafale B316 crash report available

Crash site of Rafale B316
The BEAD's report about the crash of the Rafale B316 has been released.
December 6th 2007, 4 Rafale of the Provence squadron are performing a BVR combat training over Correze. At 05:24 pm, after 19 minutes of combat, the Rafale B316 hit the ground killing its pilot, Captain Emmanuel Moriuser.
4 years later, this official report confirms that the crash might have been due to a spatial disorientation of the pilot.Apparently, the pilot had deactivated 2 altitude warning/safety systems, increasing the time to recover his altitude reference after several high G turns in poor visibility conditions.   
No issue with the flight performances of the plane was found.

Following this crash, the BEAD has recommended
  • the implementation of an automatic recovery system (activated by the pilot) for the Rafale.
  • the ability to display the IPS (ADI) data on the Head level display.
  • The modification of the Helmet dark visor holding system  

No comments:

Post a Comment