Cause of A-10 fighter crash determined

Jace Radke

Tuesday, March 2, 2004 | 10:47 a.m.

An Air Force accident investigation board has determined that failure of the right engine and a malfunctioning flap caused an A-10 Thunderbolt II to crash Nov. 18 about 40 miles northeast of Las Vegas, Air Force officials said.

Capt. John Dyer, a student at the Air Force Weapons School at Nellis Air Force Base, was treated and released from Mike O'Callaghan Federal Hospital after he safely ejected from the jet fighter plane.

An Air Combat Command Accident Investigation Board released its report today and found that the combination of the engine failure and the inability of the pilot to retract the flap, known as a speed brake, prevented the pilot from being able to safely fly the A-10 back to Nellis and land.

Speed brakes can be popped up from the surface of the aircraft to slow the plane down, but when one malfunctions and does not retract, it can create drag on the aircraft, causing it to lose altitude, Air Force officials said.

The value of the A-10, an aircraft also known by the name Warthog and used for close air support and attacks on tanks, was estimated at $10.3 million.

Warthogs have been involved in 10 crashes over the past five years. This is the third A-10 crash involving aircraft flown from Nellis.

On Dec. 4, 2002, two fighters collided over the Nevada Test and Training Range. Capt. Eric Palaro, a pilot assigned to the 52nd Fighter Wing at Spangdahlem Air Base in Germany, was killed in that crash.

On Sept. 3, 2001, a fighter pilot ejected safely before his A-10 struck a mountain near Mesquite about 90 miles northeast of Las Vegas.

A-10s are among the oldest aircraft in U.S. military service, with the first fighters completed in 1975 and the last aircraft rolling off the assembly line in 1982.