Incidents That Happened To 57-0230
Landing Accident at Charleston AFB SC. 1984 by Doug Benjamin, 87th FIS Chief of Safety 22 Dec 2004 The airplane was on a two-ship cross-country flight, taxiing for takeoff at Warner-Robins AFB GA. During the taxi, the lower collar of the left landing gear side brace fractured and fell onto the taxiway. This was not noticed by the pilot as no warning lights illuminated. The takeoff was normal until gear retraction, when the landing gear did not retract fully. When the landing gear was extended, the left main landing gear hyperextended against the left external fuel tank. The pilot elected to divert to Charleston AFB SC, where the 87th FIS had an alert detachment. Fuel was burned off after the relatively short trip from Atlanta to Charleston, and the airplane was set up for an approach end arrestment. Despite the pilot's best efforts, he was unable to hold the left wing up after touchdown, and the left main landing gear collapsed outboard. The nose gear was broken off by the force of the derotation impact, and the airplane slid to a stop on the runway on the left external fuel tank, the radome, and the right main wheel. The pilot shut down the engine and egressed the airplane safely. The airplane never flew again under its own power. I was the investigating officer for the mishap as I was the 87th FIS Chief of Safety. As the mishap was investigated, it became clear that if replacement value was used for parts, the mishap would become a Class B (I think between $100K and $500K at the time). However, since the airplane was within months of being sent to AMARC anyways, the costs used were sheet metal costs, which were relatively inexpensive. In order to remove any potential for undue commander's influence, I was replaced as the investigator by the 24th NORAD Region Chief of Safety, who found that the pilot had done everything possible to minimize damage. This was the first time that this exact mishap had happened in the F-106 community, although it had essentially the same symptoms as Main Landing Gear Boss Pin Failure, which had happened before. It was an indication that the F-106 had reached the end of its life from a structural lifetime of key components standpoint. The components were originally designed for a 4,000
hour lifetime; they were being used with over 6,000 hours on the airplanes. The engineering had been conservative, but not that conservative! Doug Benjamin 737 Senior Project Pilot Boeing Commercial Airplanes
Aborted Take-off / Blown Tires by Eric R. Johnston, Pilot, 87 FIS Oct 2004 The date of the aborted takeoff was Jul 8, 1974. I cannot recall the exact date on the 1977 blown tire Class C Mishap, but it happened during the ORI in June of 1977. I was initially being accused of stomping the brakes as I was on takeoff, but a week later another F-106 had the very same thing happen at another base and that's when they found they had a bad batch of tires from Goodyear and I was exonerated. Prior to the Jul 1974 fire on takeoff, that airplane was the commander's aircraft, and after a year plus in the hangar for repairs, it came out with my name on it and I flew it as often as I could until I departed in July 1977 for the NJANG. I think I have and incredible story to tell and hope your readers enjoy the story. I wrote it many years after the fact and tried to recall as many facts as I could, I believe it to be accurate. Eric R. Johnston Major, USAF Ret