Touchdown

Volume 48, No. 10, June 15, 2006
By Andrew Stackpool

NOT A PROBLEM: Pilot FLGOFF Peter Komar and Navigator FLTLT Luke Warner with their F-111 after its emergency landing on the tarmac at RAAF Base Amberley.

Photo by LAC Alan Bencke.

EASY DOES IT: Brilliant photos from the phots at RAAF Base Amberley, as they capture the moment of the F-111 grabbing the arrestor wire, skidding to a halt, FLGOFF Peter Komar and FLTLT Luke Warner acknowledging their safe landing, and the aircraft sitting amongst the foam.

OUTSTANDING airmanship, world-class training and cool heads in the air and on the ground at RAAF Base Amberley revented a potential disaster on July 18.

An 82WG F-111 was recovered by its crew, after they declared an emergency shortly after take-off from the base for a training flight to Tenterfield in NSW at 9.45am. The left main wheel fell off as the aircraft rotated and the pilot retracted the undercarriage.

The crew comprised the pilot, 6SQN’s FLGOFF Peter Komar, who was undergoing his operational conversion to the type, with only 70 hours in F-111s and 1SQN navigator FLTLT Luke Warner, an experienced navigator with 1250 hours on the F-111.

FLTLT Warner said that their 1 SQN RF-111C was on the wing for a two-ship training sortie.
“We were unaware there was a problem,” he said.

“The first we knew was when Air Traffic Control told us the main landing gear had remained on the runway; essentially, the port wheel had fallen off.”

FLGOFF Komar said they realised they had “a pretty serious problem” on their hands. “I felt some disbelief, a bit of a sinking feeling. I never thought I’d face this so soon after basic training.”

Training and discipline quickly took over as they turned their attention to recovering the aircraft.

“We started to go through our check lists pretty quickly and to discuss the various options. At the same time we let Ops know back on the ground so they could start thinking through the problem as well. No. 1 [the lead aircraft] did a great job, too, coming back and taking care of air traffic control and the like so we could concentrate on the job at hand,” FLTLT Warner said.

FLTLT Warner said they used the time going through their options and trying to come up with the best way to put the jet on the ground.

They had two primary options, to land with the wheels up or try to land with the undercarriage down. The preferred option was wheels up, – “wheels-down had too many variables.”

The crew climbed to 15,000 feet and orbited Amberley for the next three hours, while senior F-111 pilots and navigators and engineers on the ground flew a number of possible recovery models in the simulator, before attempting the wheels-up landing shortly after 2.10pm.

Meanwhile, base emergency personnel prepared for the jet’s arrival, including streaming arrestor wires and positioning fire rescue and medical teams.

The aircraft made three practice approaches and then two attempts. FLGOFF Komar said he aborted the first approach because they were a bit high. The second was a straight-in, low-level approach at three to four-metres altitude.

FLTLT Warner said to do so went against every natural instinct to gain altitude for the landing as they picked up the wire and the jet settled.

“Pete did a great job in not over-reacting against the ground effect, which gave the aircraft a different feel,” he said
He held the jet airborne with the nose up for as long as possible to connect with the wire. He then deployed the jet’s arrestor hook, which picked it up.

He slowly eased the nose down, followed by a faultless wheels-up landing in a shower of sparks and smoke. Both crew evacuated the aircraft safely as emergency crews smothered it with foam.

“It was a moment of great relief for both of us, an awesome feeling to get out of that aircraft and walk away; we were pretty happy,” FLTLT Warner said.

FLGOFF Komar agreed. “I was pretty relieved as we picked up the cable,” he said. “Short of the cable snapping, all of our decisions had been made. All we had to do was shut the engines down and jump out. I was very relieved to be running on solid ground.”

With the emergency behind them, they are both looking forward to flying again. “In hindsight I am pretty happy how it all went,” FLGOFF Komar said.

“It was great having the guys on the ground working with us as a team to come up with a solution. The plan worked well, everyone did a fantastic job and I’m proud it all went so well.”.

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