Navy: F-14s safe |
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| But in February 1996, all F-14 flights were halted after a series of crashes killed five officers in six weeks. | The F-14 has an above average safety record for high-performance jets. (Photo: Tammy York) |
By Leo Shane III
Staff Writer
HORSHAM - A Navy spokesman said despite reports criticizing the $38 million F-14 fighter, one of which crashed Sunday during the Sounds of Freedom Air Show, the aircraft is safe.
"I don't know about them if there are problems," said Mike Maus, a spokesman for Naval Air Forces Atlantic in Norfolk, Va. "There has been nothing serious enough to ground them."
The Tomcat that crashed during the Willow Grove Naval Air Station air show was the oldest model of the F-14s, but the spokesman could not give the age of the jet that went down.
Edward Block, vice chairman of the International Aviation Safety Association, said he has testified before U.S. House of Representatives subcommittees about weak wiring on the F-14s, as well as other aircraft manufactured after 1970. When military contractors began Tomcat production that year, they thinned the insulation walls of the wire to save space and weight, compromising the planes' safety, he said.
From 1991 to 1996, the military reported 31 crashes of F-14A, B and D aircraft. In February 1996, the Navy halted all F-14 flights after a series of crashes that killed five officers in six weeks. Marine officials suspended the aircraft's use a month later.
Bill Waldock, assistant director of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University's Center for Aerospace Safety Education, said despite those statistics the F-14 has a good safety record, above average for high-performance jets. "Its environment is considerably different than a conventional airplane and when you look at its records it doesn't jump out."
And Maus dismissed the idea that wiring failures or poor maintenance are to blame in the past F-14 accidents.
Pilot Lt. William J. Dey, 30, and radar intercept officer Lt. David E. Bergstrom, 31, were both killed when their Tomcat went down during a performance at the show. The plane crashed not far from Horsham Road near homes and commercial buildings.
Both crew members were part of the Navy's VF-101 "Grim Reapers" fighter squadron at Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia. The men had performed the same routine on Friday during a practice run and on Saturday during the air show.
The squadron was scheduled to appear at another air show July 8, but that performance will likely be canceled, Maus said. However, officials at the Virginia base have not considered canceling the rest of its demonstrations this year and will continue the routines.
Oceana is the only remaining naval post with the F-14 aircraft, and the Navy intends to phase out the A models- one of which crashed Sunday- in the next few years.
Naval investigators will likely stay camped along Horsham Road for several more days as they investigate Sunday's air crash.
Base officials have said little about the F-14A Tomcat's flight and crash. Witnesses at the air show reported the plane lost altitude while performing a "wave-off" maneuver, a mock carrier landing that is aborted at the last minute. But base officials have refused to confirm that, noting only that the 30-minute performance was about halfway finished when the accident occurred. Investigators are examining video taken of the flight, communications between the radar officer and control tower, and several recording devices recovered from the wreckage to determine what happened.
Dey's family has established the Kamyrn Dey Education Fund through the Federal Credit Union in the pilot's memory. For more information, call (215) 674-1772. Bergstrom's family has asked that in lieu of flowers contributions be made to local charities.
While no F-14s are stationed at the Horsham joint reserve base, one decommissioned F-14A sits on display with other historical aircraft on the station's northern edge.
Officials from the Delaware Valley Historic Aircraft Association, which maintain those aircraft, said when that plane arrived last September its pilot was forced to make a hasty landing after an oil leak created flight complications. Once grounded, the plane could no longer taxi and was dragged to its display point by a base tow truck.