28 April 2008

Review of 2003 Missile Strike on a DHL A300 over Baghdad

On 22 November 2003, a DHL A300, which had just departed from Baghdad on a cargo flight to Bahrain, was hit by a SAM-7 surface to air missile. The left wing caught fire following the hit, forcing the crew to return to the airport for a successful emergency landing.

A video about the event that was produced by Glenn Pew shows a reconstruction of the event, as well as several still photos of the missile damage.



Additional Damage Photos












AirSafe.com Review of the A300 Event
http://www.airsafe.com/journal/v1num18.htm

AirSafe.com Review of a 2002 Missile Attack in Kenya
http://www.airsafe.com/journal/v1num17.htm

Analysis of an In-flight Breakup of an F-15C over Missouri

On 2 November 2007, an F-15C aircraft from the Missouri Air National Guard experienced an in-flight breakup during an training mission. The pilot, Major Steven Stillwell, successfully ejected, but sustained injuries to his left arm and shoulder.

The investigation revealed that the accident aircraft had a structural failure in its upper right longeron, one of four critical support structures for the aircraft. Fatigue cracks in the longeron led to a structural failure of the longeron and the subsequent catastrophic breakup.

After the accident, more than 600 USAF F-15s were grounded and inspected. At least nine other F-15 aircraft were found to have similar fatigue cracks. some F-15s were also removed from service because of the costs of repairing these structural problems.

The video that was produced by Glenn Pew shows a reconstruction of the event, using computer animation based on data from the flight.

Reconstruction of the In-flight Breakup




Executive Summary of the USAF Accident Report

http://usaf.aib.law.af.mil/F-15C_LambertField_02Nov07.pdf

24 April 2008

Air-to-air Shootdown from the Target Perspective

In the history of aviation, there have been many videos of missile attacks from the attacker's perspective, it is rare to have one from the other side. Below is a video shot from a Georgian Hermes 450 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) patrolling over the Abkhazia region of Georgia when it was apparently shot down by a missile from a Russian MIG-29. The Israeli-designed unarmed UAV never had a chance.

Georgian Military Official Describes the Attack


Related Resources
Attack on an A300 by a Portable Missile: http://www.airsafe.com/journal/v1num18.htm

Threats from Portable Surface to Air Missiles: http://www.airsafe.com/journal/v1num17.htm


Hermes 450