C130driver

It’s because pilots in the military don’t get to be pilots. They inundate pilots with a barrage of additional duties that have nothing to do with flying. Officers are expected to constantly be competitive for promotion with regards to schooling / awards / jobs and those have very little to do with flying. Being proficient in the airplane is more like a hobby, it’s also assumed as long as you maintain bare minimum currency. Also, by the time said pilot is a Major and an experienced instructor, they leave the service leaving no one behind to teach the youngins. Just my humble opinion on why we are seeing so many accidents

Han Solo

I went back and read some of my old OPRs. Considering I was a safety guy and by the looks of my OPRs the quality safety record of the USAF was obviously a result of my singular efforts, I tie this increased rate of accidents directly to my retirement date and loss of such extreme expertise.

In all seriousness, just looking at the video its hard to tell exactly since it was in slo-mo, but to my eyes the roll rate of that Herc looked like a max deflection roll in a T-38. No way no how should that plane be capable of that kind of maneuver unless something is seriously hard broke. My guess is the USAF will either blame the pilot (an oldie but goodie, very useful when F22s stop providing the pilot O2 but you want your contractor to continue to look good) or find a combination of material failures, age of the fleet, loss of experienced maintainers, failed/ignored MX practices, and perhaps even some distraction based on what Puerto Rico has suffered through since the hurricane as factors in this accident. That's my crystal ball.

Taco280AI

Army UH60 minimums are 8 hours a month, but you can substitute 2 of those hours for the sim. So some people are really getting 6 hours a month, on average. Even Warrants, not just commissioned who mainly fly desks.

As a junior warrant, prior to tracking, your additional duties are your primary duties and that's your focus because that is what you are judged on. Flying becomes your additional duty that you do now and then.

Then there's the focus on all the other stuff that comes before being a pilot, such as, field exercises (aka going camping in the field not to any actual benefit or purpose, but so command can check that box saying they did it), motorpool Monday, the mandatory briefings on transgender sensitivity, don't kill yourself brief, don't rape anyone brief, payday activities standing around having your dress uniform inspected, the absolutely pointless formations that allow a high ranking commissioned officer hear the sound of their own voice (some are actually good, but we could get rid of half the formation briefs and still be just fine), the hours and hours of mandatory online annual training that nobody even pays attention to and just clicks the button to get through... could go on and on, but that gives a quick idea.

Can't speak for the other services, but the Army is putting the focus on everything except flying, even for the pilots. Flight warrants became warrants to fly, but flying is the least of what you actually do, so that's why most of them want out.

BarrySeal

I see alot of "flying is not the military pilot's priority anymore" (due to upper management directives)

so my question, is how is this situation reversed ? how many accidents/incidents need to happen ?

BigIron

It would help if we got back to the basics, fixing and flying helicopters to support the grunts. A lot of administrative requirements take most of our time away from studying our weapon system and mentoring Marines. Unfortunately the Marine Corps doesn’t like change. It’s hard for Generals to reduce administrative requirements because they are worried about their own FITREP. Pilot morale is low, very low. By the time they wake up the pilot retention will be a crisis. I know of very few pilots looking to stay in.

bizzlepilot

i think C130driver and Han Solo are absolutely correct. And unfortunately I don't believe the situation will be reversed any time soon, if at all. It's the culture, and the fix will not be quick.

Han Solo

I started USAF flying in '97, and the "Dear Boss" letter was written in the 70s (?). It's always been that way and pilots have had to deal with it. I don't think lack of flying time makes pilots dangerous but it definitely detracts from peak performance and possibly even detracts from handling abnormal situations. I personally had a stretch where I was a guest IP (read 0 priority in the squadron that failed to fly me) and amassed all of 69 hours in 2 years in the viper. I was safe but certainly not proficient and had no business instructing. I recognized my lack of proficiency and dialed down my game, hopefully most other military pilots do the same.

I saw in the other thread that it might have been a dual engine failure on the same side. Never flew a 4 engine plane so I'd have to ask C-130 guys, could the plane roll the way it did in the video with a 2 engine failure and then applying the wrong rudder?

rickair7777

A same-side dual engine failure in any 4-engine plane is going to require very precise handling and procedures, and may not be recoverable in all corners of the normal envelope. In other words, you probably need both luck and skill. I can only imagine that applying opposite-from-correct inputs would be bad.

BrownDoubles

Even applying the wrong rudder with a single engine out can produce significant roll. With two out on one side if appropriate rudder isn't applied rapidly the roll rate can get out of control. VMCA increases as the wing falls which increases the VMCA which increases the roll, which increases... the self licking ice cream cone. Losing two on one side on takeoff is challenging to say the least.

I understand what you are saying about being "dangerous" but couldn't one say that a pilot that isn't trained to proficiency and peak performance especially when it comes to abnormal situations is a safety issue? I don't have significant time as a single pilot operations; at least in a multi-crew platform the schedule can be risk mitigated with careful crew selection. Still doesn't make it right; our military crews should be trained at the top of their game so they can handle that abnormal, RADAR threat, challenging landing, airborne threat, put warheads on foreheads, and return home to momma and the kids safely. Thankfully I never found myself (and it doesn't sound like you did either) where I felt I hadn't flown enough to handle the flight at hand but that doesn't mean I was always ready to fly into a dirt LZ, in a RADAR environment every day and it shouldn't be that way.

Han Solo

I am going on the assumption that the budget cuts haven't cut simulator time. I always did most of my EP training in the sim so while there is no replacement for air under your butt, if you're 100% on your sims then your ability to handle abnormals shouldn't be too badly affected.