McDonnell Douglas F/A-18C N16518

Summary

On 19 June 1996 at about 19:48 local time, a McDonnell Douglas F/A-18C registered N16518, operated by McDonnell Douglas Aerospace, was involved in an accident near Bethalto, Illinois, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

19 June 1996 at 19:48

Classification

Accident

Location

Bethalto, Illinois, United States

Nearest airport

St Louis Regional (ALN)

Coordinates

38.8996, -90.0404

Aircraft

McDonnell Douglas F/A-18C

Registration

N16518

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

McDonnell Douglas Aerospace

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Unknown

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CHI96FA211

1 person died.

the pilot's failure to follow the preflight crew briefing and attain a proper altitude during an aerobatic maneuver. Factors in the accident were: the pilot's previous experience of flying similar airshow routines in a different airplane with substantially different performance characteristics, and the company's failure to have a formal training plan for pilots performing airshow demonstration flights.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

A McDonnell Douglas Aerospace (MDA) pilot was flying a leased Navy F/A-18C and conducting an airshow practice at St. Louis Regional Airport when the airplane impacted the ground at the bottom of a reverse one-half Cuban eight aerobatic maneuver. The briefed altitude at the top of the maneuver was to be 3,500 feet above ground level (agl), which gave the pilot a base line of 1,000 feet agl. Recorded data showed that the actual altitude at the top of the maneuver was 2,280 feet agl. Using a group of F/A-18 pilots in a F/A-18 simulator, the lowest altitude at the top of the reverse one-half Cuban eight required to successfully complete the maneuver was 2,500 feet agl. The pilot had been trained as a Naval Aviator, and was a graduate of the Navy's test pilot school. He joined MDA Flight Operations 3/4/96. The pilot had accrued 16 hours in the F/A-18 in the last year, of which 11 hours were in the last 90 days. MDA did not have a formal training plan for their pilots who perform airshow demonstration flights. The pilot had flown 5 civilian airshows within the last year; the most recent was 11 days prior to the accident. All the airshows were flown in a Pitts Special.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.