OK, this really is not true.
The Spang incident is a one-off. It was tragic all around, including the bad decision to prosecute. Did anyone actually go to jail?

I've seen a lot of errors in my time on the flightline,... both from Ops and MX. And yes, if you are involved in a mishap (pilot or maintainer), you will pee in a bottle. The AF likes to check for drugs and rule it out ASAP.

I believe your statement quoted above is "sensational". Might they lose stripes? Yes. But jail time and felony charges are not levied on maintainers involved.

As for the F-15 pilots in the Blackhawk shootdown, one ended up in my squadron shortly after this to fly, but the Chief of Staff of the AF said "no way", and he never flew again in the military. Neither went to jail that I'm aware of,... but their careers were toast.

No one went to jail, but one guy took his life because of that general that wanted them to. In the end it came down to the TO being wrong.

But for us maintainers that work an AF ramp, that's our reality and it's in our brain from day one. Thank God I took care my airplane and didn't have to push the test button. For every maintainer on the ramp, it is true.

What I get out of your post, fear can be a good safety motivator. Not sure if that is the message you are looking to convey.

No message. Someone ask what I was meaning when I said the crew chief is catching hell so I elaborated and here we are. But I never thought of it that way. I always told my troops if they did their jobs, did what they were supposed to do, and gave that 200% then they would have no worries. ORM!

Don't know what's going on as we don't know what happened being we don't speculate as to the cause of a mishaps until the investigations are complete. Planes go down, it's military aviation. In the Navy, we lost a Hornet not long ago, lost two T-45C's last year (3 total in a year's time frame with one being pilot error), I did the JAGMAN on the 2 November mishap.

Valid. I'm fairly familiar with the dangerous involved with what we do....more of a rhetorical question.

What?

Unfortunately, I am all too aware of this....as I'm sure most of us are. It's more of the fact that the Air Force has lost 2xF-16, 2xF-15E, and a U-28 since March (5 deaths)! Rough couple months. Stay safe!

The unit I was with lost an a/c about one year after I left. After I found out no injury or worse, I started wondering if my phone would ring for some questions. I still turn wrenches in the guard, but never have been with a unit when an a/c was lost.

What are you working?


Never mind, Block 30...I get it.

Lol....second person on the forums to get it. :D. Dude, who is that in your avatar? I am intrigued.

I take it you haven't seen the movie it's from. Put it to you this way, I saw it many times on a Beta VCR when I was 11 :p

I can tell you it's Dan Akroyd.