MC-12W Cockpit with Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21 Displays and a Mission Display Deployed in Front of he Mission Commander (Credit: USAF)
While the MCP used his shirt to absorb what he could… He subsequently shut down the mission system power… The crew discussed their options and decided to RTB [return to base].
The cost of this mishap: $113,675 (as 13 avionic Line Replaceable Units [LRUs] had to be replaced), making it a Class C Mishap based on cost.
USAF Beechcraft MC-12W Liberty Cockpit During a System Test in Afghanistan (Credit: USAF / Staff Sgt. Manuel J. Martinez)
The War Zone comment:
The aftermath might have earned them [i.e. the crew] some sort disciplinary action, but Air Force censors redacted the investigating officers’ findings, conclusions, and recommendations.
Its odd that these sections were redacted but disciplinary action might well explain that. Its not clear if the USAF did any safety promotion activity after this event or if there was actually any prohibition in carrying and consuming canned drinks on-board.
Its not just drinks: We reported in June 2014 on a Royal Air Force (RAF) A330VoyagerZZ333, that was involved in a loss of control (LOC-I) incident during a flight to Afghanistan in February 2014. The UK Military Aviation Authority (MAA) issued a preliminary report on 17 March 2014 that said investigators:
…found evidence to link the movement of the seat to the movement of the side-stick, in the form of a Digital SLR camera obstruction which was in-front of the Captain’s left arm rest and behind the base of the Captain’s side-stick at the time of the event. Analysis of the camera has confirmed that it was being used in the three minutes leading up to the event. Furthermore, forensic analysis of damage to the body of the camera indicates that it experienced a significant compression against the base of the side-stick, consistent with having been jammed between the arm rest and the side-stick unit.
The US Air Force (USAF) MC-12W Liberty programme was started in 2008 to field an immediate Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) capability for Iraq and Afghanistan and went from contract to first combat sortie in just 8 months, by modifying the KA350. These KA350s had the Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21 cockpit avionics system.
Since its first combat mission on 10 June, 2009, the MC-12 community has flown 400,000 combat hours and participated in 79,000 combat sorties, the [USAF] says. In November 2014, the air force reported that MC-12 crews had aided in the kill or capture of “more than 8,000 terrorists”, and uncovered 650 weapons caches.
Three MC-12W on the Flightline at Beale AFB, CA (Credit: USAF / Senior Airman Shawn Nickel)
Safety Resources
We have previously published a case study on USAF MC-12W 09-0676, of the 361st Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron (361 ERS), that suffered as Loss of Control – Inflight (LOC-I) and crashed 110 miles northeast of Kandahar, Afghanistan 27 April 2013 during a combat ISR mission.
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