NATO E3 A2A refuelling mishap

[kilo delta]

That was very...very, close!





Fast forward to ~ :25 into the video to see things going pear shaped!


http://theaviationist.com/2012/10/19/close-call-e3/

A NATO E-3 Sentry almost hit the tail of the tanker and its flying boom during air-to-air refueling operations. Not only the close proximity of the two large planes was dangerous, but also the evasive maneuver the pilot performs to avoid collision: the AWACS (airborne early warning and control plane) pulls several negative G-forces to gain quick separation from the refueler.

[Daveroo]

wow..made me hollar outloud right along with that tanker crew......man -o-man

[HvyEng]

Great video, a perfect illustration of why emergency separations are practiced so often. Been there and done that. It could have been one of several things, without the boomer or receiver commentary we can only guess, that being said here are some general “Tanker Guy” observations:

The receiver closure rate looks ok, although they look very close to the left and inner limit. The boomer never says “contact” or “disconnect” prior to the boom going to the disconnect position (the whine you hear at 0:36 is the winch pulling the boom up). I would speculate that it was a limit “no contact” with the receiver overcorrecting and initiating an emergency separation. Without radio comm there is no way to know if the receiver called the “B” word (breakaway, breakaway, breakaway) or not, but the boomer saying go go go go, was making a “push em’ up” call to the tanker pilots. Whether or not the “B” word was used correctly or not will undoubtedly be discussed ad infinitum by every crew that sees this video.

Overall, the crews reacted as required and the video will be a great tool for debriefing from that sortie. I would be interested to know whether the injured crewmembers were strapped in or not…<o></o>