Another close call (Typhoon at Waddington)

[Forestfan]

My interpretation of this, as seen at Valley ocassionally is that is was a flapless landing, ie they come in faster and flatter. The nose doesn't appear to be that high, and if the pilot had thought there were problems he would have applied more pow, but the power remains constant.

Would love to hear a pilots view on this though

Typhoon doesn't have flaps in that sense of the word, the flaperons it does have droop in conjunction with speed, angle of attack, G-load and some other clever stuff - you won't see much "flap" on approach.

If anyone remembers playing the old EF2000 PC game, the HUD has a "pipper" that indicates the predicted touchdown point. The pilots use this and so our man would've known exactly where he was going to plonk the jet down. I'd be inclined to think there was a bit of gamesmanship going on there, not a mistake...

It has to be said though that if you want to hang around in the undershoot, you can see the risk you take. That could've been a jet with an emergency and on it's last legs - if it had've come down short some of those people in the video would've been the first to jump on the outrage wagon and claim compensation. They shouldn't have been there, full stop.

"Maybe sensible enthusiasts should explain to those who sit in such stupid places the error of their ways?"

Indeed. Just think about it folks when you go to pursue the hobby...

[RichC]

I was the guy in the white shirt to the left of the runway,I stopped when I saw his approach as it looked very low,he was only a few feet at best from clatting the hedge and there was an older couple who were sat in their chairs directly below who ended up on the floor.
I chatted with "Stealth117"nearby who is on FC and shortly after,military personel came out to check the fence etc so it didnt go unoticed(Martin has a great pic of it btw)also I think Flyingslug has a shot of it from the P&V and its hard to tell wether it did actually hit the tarmac or grass,a close call all round.
As for the reasons behind it who knows but he was very low all the way through on finals so perhaps it was a calculated event,either way imo it was a bit of a stupid thing to do and absolutely no need for it given the risk to all
Cheers Dave.

Although i wasn't there and going clearly by video only, you have just backed up exactly what i've been trying to say through this discussion. To me, landing/approaching that close to a fence and touching down either nearly on the grass or on the grass is an obvious pilot error. Whether people were underneath is up to them and of course extremely risky and would have/could have only made things worse.

And, as Jem states, i am not sure why some people suddenly jump on and defend a pilot and say that approach is perfectly normal. It clearly isn't and if any pilot comes on here stating it is, they need to be disciplined whether he/she is more qualified to comment or not.

Even if the enthusiasts were not there, it still was "close" to coming to grief. Just stop that clip at 11 seconds and see how close it is to ending up being another casualty figure, what is it, 2 feet? Normal my arse.

[RickIngham]

This is how it looked from further away - stopped clicking away to watch but he really did just sink. Last thing i remembered was bits of bush flying up in the air and someone's blue umbrella!

[wezgulf3]

I can't imagine that all the people under the Typhoon are all spotters and Joe public (like those that surf the fence at Sint Maarten) are always going to be up for the thrill and i don't think they will ever stop!

I've done it at Brize a few times but looking at this shot i took something (Herc?) landed very short!!





Wes...

[Ghastly Whisper]

Typhoons land at Coningsby like this all the time, nothing new, bog standard auto-approach!!! http://starstreak.net/Eurofighter/flight-sys.html

Taken from inside the viewing area, it landed where the ILS and every other landing aid aimed it, on the runway


FGR4 ZJ914 EB-H by EUROFIGHTER TYPHOON, on Flickr

[welshandy]

Stop it at 12 secounds.... **** thats low!!!
Think i would have run to!!

I would have had to change my Pants

[joe spares]

Maybe sensible enthusiasts should explain to those who sit in such stupid places the error of their ways?

...because in todays society, you would probably be told t F off and mind your own business.....
A couple of years back, I saw some pillock sat at our local railway staion where trains pass at 90-100mph with his legs hanging over the platform edge, and gave the same reply to the Network Rail guy who told him not to. Personally, if people are that dumb, they have themselves to blame if accidents happen as far as I'm concerned.

[paullangford]

Typhoons land at Coningsby like this all the time, nothing new, bog standard auto-approach!!! http://starstreak.net/Eurofighter/flight-sys.html

Taken from inside the viewing area, it landed where the ILS and every other landing aid aimed it, on the runway


FGR4 ZJ914 EB-H by EUROFIGHTER TYPHOON, on Flickr

They were "hedge trimming" at Northolt last year as well..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgJqmUhxDNw

[Andy Marden]

Personally, if people are that dumb, they have themselves to blame if accidents happen as far as I'm concerned.

A true statement that I'm sure a lot of us agree with.
Unfortunately compensation lawyers would take a very different view.....

[KINROTATE]

Typhoons land at Coningsby like this all the time, nothing new, bog standard auto-approach!!! http://starstreak.net/Eurofighter/flight-sys.html

Taken from inside the viewing area, it landed where the ILS and every other landing aid aimed it, on the runway


FGR4 ZJ914 EB-H by EUROFIGHTER TYPHOON, on Flickr

An ILS approach wouldn't put you at that height over the grass, nor would a reasonable talk-down. This looks like a wee bit of showboating, even though he did make the concrete. Certainly a windscreen full of red PAPI's for this driver.

[Mike]

The Daily Fail has picked up on this :- http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... cover.html

[Ghastly Whisper]

This looks like a wee bit of showboating, even though he did make the concrete.

Absolutely no "Showboating" what-so-ever, that would just cause an accident and probably kill people. Just to prove my point that this is a normal landing here two more photos, both taken at Coningsby and both on a normal non airshow day, I'm sure there is loads more very similar shots kicking about.


FGR4 ZK300 DG by EUROFIGHTER TYPHOON, on Flickr


FGR4 ZJ914 AF by EUROFIGHTER TYPHOON, on Flickr

From an RAF spokesman:-
"The aircraft tapes have been reviewed and this was a completely normal approach, within all normal parameters."

or in layman's terms, don't stand under Typhoons!!

[gixrgill]

The only one that didnt fall over was my mate Carol she is the one with the pony tail!!

If you think that is close somewhere on U Tube is the Vulcan coming in just as low at the same show.
I have it on a quicktime movie can anyone tell me how to put it on here its worth a watch

[RichC]

If, according to the RAF spokesman it was a normal approach then why did RAF officials come out and check to see if it did touch the fence?

[powerslave]

If you consider that low, you've clearly never seen the French Mirage approaches at Waddington!

Also, to note that the PAPI is the Precision Approach Path Indicator - a visual approach isn't a precision approach, so they don't have to continue two red/two white all the way on to the deck. It is designed to allow pilots to see that they are on the glidepath during a precision approach, and that they will land before the end of the touchdown zone (TDZ).

Yeah your right Chris bout the French mirages,I have a cracking photo somewhere of a m2000 over the a15 on a acmi sortie(really miss them).
God knows from looking at the photo I took it didn't hit the fence,it's so low over the road,I'll see if I came find it.

Ian

[Topol-M]

Remember a Mirage taking the fence as well at Waddington; now that was low........

You will never stop it whilst people want to get 'that' photo or be close to the action. Remember the idiots at Cottesmore and the B1

I have a picture of that somewhere

I was standing by the runway near the caravan at the time. The fence looked like this afterwards ---------u---u----------

Tony

[gixrgill]

Hope this works

U tube vulcan link http://youtu.be/jJHAf6KPMbs

[RichC]

That video shows the Vulcan still pretty high over the fence though..... the Typhoon misses the fence by a matter of literally a couple of feet.
My original question was though, why is it that at some airfields, the aircraft on ILS/Talkdown seem to literally touch down right on the limit, nearly on the grass. (Mainly the Typhoon and French!).
It happens at Yeovilton, Coningsby and no doubt a few others. Why? It is an increased risk. We have seen aircraft land on the grass before the runway and that obviously isn't a normal procedure. It cannot be "normal" to miss a fence by a few feet which gives such a little/minimal margin for error which could cause an horrific accident. The pilot only has to get it wrong in the original instance by 2-3 feet and he is ejecting or sliding down the runway still in his cockpit. A couple of feet in a jet coming in at that speed is peanuts.

We were asked for pictures of the Rafale and Typhoon in 2009 by Yeovilton ATC (sadly they are on my old computer) because they saw ruts in the grass and tyre marks at the start of the runway. If that is the case, it cannot be darn normal!

Are these classed as high abnormal approaches then? Note where they touch down? Nice and safe.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EECC5c0JiEk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=e ... BwsIs&NR=1

[reheat module]

Well, the Typhoon footage has just made the e- version of today's 'Daily Mail'.
As expected, it's got the traditional hype to go with it.
Stand by for the input and comments from the armchair experts...

[Mayfly]

Also on the lunch time news on BBC1