First-Hand Account of Thunderbirds Mishap at Dayton
By Mike HeilmanThe United States Air Force Thunderbirds Demonstration Team experienced a near-tragic aircraft mishap at the Dayton International Airport a day before the 43rd annual air show. The Thunderbird’s mishap occurred in very rainy conditions as remnants of tropical storm Cindy pushed through the Dayton area.Lt. Col. Jason Heard, Thunderbird Commander, explains what happened: “The United States Thunderbirds were conducting a single ship familiarization flight Friday, June 23, 2017. Upon landing there was a mishap at the Dayton International Airport with our F-16D “Fighting Falcon” at approximately 12:20 p.m. The plane sustained damage. The pilot and his passenger, a tactical aircraft maintainer, were taken to a local hospital where they are receiving care and are currently in good condition.”
Col. Heard commented more on the flight. “They took off around 10:30 a.m. and during his takeoff the weather met all of our requirements for flight. During that flight they went out to a piece of training air space where he [Capt. Erik Gonsalves] was able to showcase the capabilities of the F-16 to his crewmember for the familiarization flight. Then upon recovering back to base, he shot the approach, in which we follow instrument procedures to recovery to a base and he met his legal requirements for that.”This mishap felt more tragic to me because I watched the events unfold that lead to this unfortunate accident. I was sitting in the media tent trying to stay dry because it was pouring rain when the F-16D made a low-pass over the field at approximately 12:15 EST and at that time I just thought that they were going to divert to another airport.
The wind, which all day had been blowing from the Southwest, suddenly changed directions and was now coming from the opposite direction at about the time the F-16D made the low-level pass. A few minutes later we saw that the F-16 had landed from six Left. I noticed as the jet passed the media tent it was not slowing down. In fact, it appeared to be hydroplaning and at that point I knew something was terribly wrong. The jet continued to carry the high rate of speed to the end of the runway and then it veered to the right and into the grass.Once the F-16D hit the grass the jet went vertical into the air. It all appeared to happen so fast but once the jet was 90 degrees in relation to the ground it all seemed to happen in slow motion. When the jet was in the air, the wind was picking up and it appeared to push the jet over. It appeared that the jet lost most of its energy once it got airborne and then it flipped over with the canopy side down and fell straight into the saturated ground. The F-16D hit the ground with a thud and immediately after watching, this you expect the worst but pray for the best.There were several members of the Thunderbirds ground crew on the tarmac waiting for the jet’s return and once they saw what happened they are ran to their vehicles and rushed to the scene. It took less than two minutes before the first responders were on scene. It took almost two hours to get both crewmembers out of the aircraft after the mishap.Col. Heard added, “I was on scene throughout the recovery effort and I will say that with the Thunderbirds on scene, to the crash recovery folks that came from Wright Patterson, to the fire department at the Dayton International Airport and medical folks, it was a tremendous effort. I am very impressed that they were able to extract our Thunderbirds and make sure they got to the hospital safely. We are thankful they are in good condition”The F-16D pilot was Capt. Erik “Speedy” Gonsalves, who is the advanced pilot/narrator for the Thunderbirds. Gonsalves has more than 1,600 hours in the A-10C and F-16D that includes more than 500 combat hours. Tech Sgt. Kenneth Cordova who serves as a tactical aircraft maintainer for the Thunderbirds team was the passenger. Col. Heard explained why crewmembers are given familiarization flights. “We will take teammates airborne to make sure they fully understand the mission and can explain it to the public as they engage them.”The cause of the mishap will not be known for some time according to Col. Heard: “The Air Force takes safety very seriously and will conduct a thorough investigation. We have a board in-process where we will collect all of the facts and evidence to make sure we understand exactly what happened today. The results will be made public.”
Col. Heard commented more on the flight. “They took off around 10:30 a.m. and during his takeoff the weather met all of our requirements for flight. During that flight they went out to a piece of training air space where he [Capt. Erik Gonsalves] was able to showcase the capabilities of the F-16 to his crewmember for the familiarization flight. Then upon recovering back to base, he shot the approach, in which we follow instrument procedures to recovery to a base and he met his legal requirements for that.”This mishap felt more tragic to me because I watched the events unfold that lead to this unfortunate accident. I was sitting in the media tent trying to stay dry because it was pouring rain when the F-16D made a low-pass over the field at approximately 12:15 EST and at that time I just thought that they were going to divert to another airport.The wind, which all day had been blowing from the Southwest, suddenly changed directions and was now coming from the opposite direction at about the time the F-16D made the low-level pass. A few minutes later we saw that the F-16 had landed from six Left. I noticed as the jet passed the media tent it was not slowing down. In fact, it appeared to be hydroplaning and at that point I knew something was terribly wrong. The jet continued to carry the high rate of speed to the end of the runway and then it veered to the right and into the grass.Once the F-16D hit the grass the jet went vertical into the air. It all appeared to happen so fast but once the jet was 90 degrees in relation to the ground it all seemed to happen in slow motion. When the jet was in the air, the wind was picking up and it appeared to push the jet over. It appeared that the jet lost most of its energy once it got airborne and then it flipped over with the canopy side down and fell straight into the saturated ground. The F-16D hit the ground with a thud and immediately after watching, this you expect the worst but pray for the best.There were several members of the Thunderbirds ground crew on the tarmac waiting for the jet’s return and once they saw what happened they are ran to their vehicles and rushed to the scene. It took less than two minutes before the first responders were on scene. It took almost two hours to get both crewmembers out of the aircraft after the mishap.Col. Heard added, “I was on scene throughout the recovery effort and I will say that with the Thunderbirds on scene, to the crash recovery folks that came from Wright Patterson, to the fire department at the Dayton International Airport and medical folks, it was a tremendous effort. I am very impressed that they were able to extract our Thunderbirds and make sure they got to the hospital safely. We are thankful they are in good condition”The F-16D pilot was Capt. Erik “Speedy” Gonsalves, who is the advanced pilot/narrator for the Thunderbirds. Gonsalves has more than 1,600 hours in the A-10C and F-16D that includes more than 500 combat hours. Tech Sgt. Kenneth Cordova who serves as a tactical aircraft maintainer for the Thunderbirds team was the passenger. Col. Heard explained why crewmembers are given familiarization flights. “We will take teammates airborne to make sure they fully understand the mission and can explain it to the public as they engage them.”The cause of the mishap will not be known for some time according to Col. Heard: “The Air Force takes safety very seriously and will conduct a thorough investigation. We have a board in-process where we will collect all of the facts and evidence to make sure we understand exactly what happened today. The results will be made public.”