F117 83-0815 crash

The crash report is now on the internet:
83-0815 crash

The report is written so badly that you wish Shadowhawk was on the investigation team just to keep the facts straight.

On the third page of the pdf, the crash is said to be located 53 nm (nautical miles) east of Alamo.

On pdf page four, the mission parameters keep it VFR (visual flight rules) and over the range. Of course, that conflicts with the statement on page three, since that location is well off the range, practically in Utah.

On PDF page 5, the crash coordinates appear to be n37 38 12 w116 10 40. The scan is poor quality, so that is my guess as to the coordinates. However, that is well within the NTTR.

The F117 website lists the crash as 60 miles (presumed statute) east of Alamo, again off range.
83-0815 crash on the F117 website

Google Earth doesn't show much at n37 38 12 w116 10 40. Some land is slightly lighter north of that location, but not really odd. If the crash was 53NM east of Alamo, that would put it more like W114, not W116.

I took this line out of the F117 website: " It is possible that Stewart was going supersonic when he crashed..." The F-117A is subsonic. Maybe in a dive it might go supersonic, but not likely.

gariac
The F117 website lists the crash as 60 miles (presumed statute) east of Alamo, again off range.
83-0815 crash on the F117 website

"about 100 miles north of Nellis AFB, just east of Tonopah. Stewart was just 40 minutes into a routine single-ship sortie when his plane crashed into the gently sloping terrain 60 miles east of Alamo"

I looked into this once before, on GE. I found this spot almost exactly 60 (50nm) miles east of Alamo:
37°19'57.56"N, 114° 7'2.53"W
It's also close to 100 miles, NE of Nellis. Although the GE history tool shows it be more likely mining activity.

This spot also might be a possibility?
37°19'3.66"N, 114° 7'28.63"W

The coordinates in that USAF accident report show nothing on GE, however it is close to 60 miles WEST of Alamo. And within the base boundaries.
37°38'12"N 116°10'40"W

reply to post by FosterVS



The word "east" was a typo. This accident occurred on the range.

The altitude of the crash site looks like 5502 or 5602 ft msl, depending on how you interpret the less than stellar scan. Those locations in Utah are too low. Using the coordinates in the report, I get an altitude of 5600.

If you go to N37 38.242 W116 10.692 on Google Earth, that looks like a dip.

Shadowhawk
reply to post by FosterVS

 

The word "east" was a typo. This accident occurred on the range.

OK. What do you think about the location I just posted?
N37 38.242 W116 10.692

Needless to say my faith in the F-117 website has gone a notch lower.

gariac
OK. What do you think about the location I just posted?
N37 38.242 W116 10.692

I like that spot, gariac. In fact, my eyes see a rectangle close by, where at some point there may have been some kind of, I dunno, recovery tent?


Those coordinates are within the range, on R-4807 as per the report.

reply to post by FosterVS


I didn't spot the rectangle, but you are most likely correct that they parked something there. I've seen tents and trailers used. If you use the history option, you can see the vegetation taking root over the years.

The funny thing about Google Earth is that it is really hard to find a plane crash on it, even with the coordinates know. Usually the road they cut is a clue, if you have a USGS map handy for comparison. That is, the USGS map, being pretty old, won't document the aircraft recovery road. It also may not document roads that miners cut. But sometimes these planes crash by an existing road. So the Shadowhawk matra of "There is always a road" is correct, but maybe not a road cut just for the crash.

The only crash around the range that is very visible on Google Earth is the F-4 crash near Rachel. [Please don't post where though!] If you know where it is located, you can see shiny debris. The A-12 crash in Meadow Valley has some recent imagery, but the crash site is not obvious.

gariac
The only crash around the range that is very visible on Google Earth is the F-4 crash near Rachel. [Please don't post where though!] If you know where it is located, you can see shiny debris.

Absolutely. Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints.

Next trip I plan on visiting that spot again, this time I will make it the wreckage, instead of peering at it in dismay from across a ravine.

The A-12 crash in Meadow Valley has some recent imagery, but the crash site is not obvious.

Can you PM some details about that one?

reply to post by FosterVS


The A-12 crash looks a lot like this:
928

Now I don't post coordinates, but two years ago the Roadrunners did.
Walt's crash site

They took photos where Walt's body hit. I thought the spot was on a hill 3/10 of a mile to the north, but essentially the same area. They had three cameras with them, and the iphone shot has the geo coordinates, which are close to what they published. [I love iphone users. These people have zero concept of INFOSEC.] This location is very remote and I believe part of the road is washed out. Unlike Tikaboo, nobody visits here. If you head out there, I'd make sure somebody knows about it in the event you are not heard from in a reasonable time frame. When you drive in the area, be sure to look for bridges that are condemned. Now these bridges are part of the roadway, but you are supposed to drive down into the wash instead of using the bridge. They don't block them off. Remember, this is Nevada. This is a state where stupidity is not encouraged, but neither is it hindered. Nobody told me about the bridges. I was just driving along and thought that bridge looks terrible. I got out, noticed the trail down into the wash, then saw "condemned" painted on the side of the bridge, where of course a driver would never see it.

There are two good google earth image sets of the area (8/10/2013 and 5/23/2013). I haven't seen anything that screams plane crash, nor do I know if what they recovered is actually from an A-12.

Walt punched out of the plane, so his body hit in a different location than the plane crashed. You can't drive to where the A-12 crashed, at least not in a car. Some hunters in a quad found it and posted photos on the internet, and then I found their tracks. [ATV...fast but not stealthy.]