Super Hornet A44-223, Aborted take-off Amberley 8 Dec 2020

[derekbu]

I came across the following while researching aviation events in the month of December for the AHSA website... some more information to add for this incident:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-06-08/pilo...eject/101131502

[Brenden S]

Nice to see the article and information.

[SpazSinbad]

This claim that Super Hornet engines to idle during/after ejection will be investigated however 'off the top of my head' I don't think it is true - but hold the fone. Also there is a thread about the 'lost F-35B in South Carolina' where there are claims that the F-35 should shut down the engine when the pilot ejects. This is 'obviously' not true and I am struggling to think why it is necessary - shirley the pilot should shut the engine down before ejecting? Yes they may forget in that moment. For the F-35B there is an 'auto eject' function when in STOVL mode if there is engine failure because in this instance the pilot has no chance to respond fast enough to the engine failure to eject manually. However of course 'the engine is failing'. Perhaps this reply should be in the relevant F-35 thread BUT I'm interested in the SUPER HORNET claim that 'engines shut down automatically during ejection'.

RAAF Super Hornets & Growlers back in the air 23 Feb 2021 Andrew McLaughlin
"...With the ejection sequence automatically cutting power to the engines,..."
https://adbr.com.au/raaf-super-hornets-grow...ack-in-the-air/
____________

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-06-08/pilo...eject/101131502
"...the rear-seat weapons system officer "initiating the command ejection of both crew from the aircraft". Investigators found the ejection likely cut the aircraft's throttles, and the jet continued to roll at idle thrust until it came to rest about 930 metres from the point of departure from the runway, and 200 metres right of the runway centreline...."

This post has been edited by SpazSinbad on Nov 11 2024, 09:15 PM

[SpazSinbad]

A Super Hornet NATOPS (flight manual) is available: https://info.publicintelligence.net/F18-EF-000.pdf (19,5Mb) There is no mention of an 'auto engine shutdown/idle during ejection'. There is a RAAF safety report about this accident, I can't remember if it was posted here - so I'll look.... SPOTLIGHT RAAF Safety Pubs here: https://dasa.defence.gov.au/dasa-publications-and-resources

AMBERLEY Super Hornet Ejection: https://dasa.defence.gov.au/sites/default/f...stigation_0.pdf (6Mb) [ page 16 to page 21 ]

Mention of throttles [not auto but pilot controlled] in this article:
Distraction brought down Super Hornet from Flight International July 2022
"...Fixating on the task of regaining directional control during a cycle of impaired performance delayed the pilot retarding the throttles back to idle,” it adds...."

This post has been edited by SpazSinbad on Nov 11 2024, 10:15 PM