Training jet crash lands at Laughlin

[unhappycamper]

Training jet crash lands at Laughlin
By Bruce Rolfsen - Staff writer
Posted : Friday May 23, 2008 17:08:37 EDT

An Air Force training jet crash landed short of a runway Wednesday night, badly damaging the jet and sending the two pilots to a hospital.

The jet was a T-1A Jayhawk from the 86th Flying Training Wing at Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas. The two captains piloting the jet were released from a hospital near the crash site in Lubbock, Texas, after being checked by doctors.

The T-1A is a twin-engine executive jet used to train pilots destined for assignments flying large aircraft such KC-135 tankers and C-17s transports.

According to Air Force reports, the T-1A pilots were attempting to land at Preston-Smith International Airport in Lubbock when, for reasons under investigation, the jet came down in plowed farm field several hundred yards shy of a runway. Pictures of the jet show that its rear wheels were extended. The front landing gear apparently collapsed after impact.

While the trainer was trying to land at around 9:45 p.m., winds at the Lubbock airport were gusting at upward of 50 mph, airport weather reports show.


Rest of article at: http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2008/05/airforce_jayhawk_crash_052308w/



uhc comment: Here's the T-1 (no $$$$, of course):



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-1_Jayhawk