Sat, Nov 03, 2007
T-45 Down Near ARA; Pilots Eject
Sometimes, those "deer crossing" signs along most highways
aren't warning enough. A motorist traveling down a Louisiana
highway Thursday night was shocked to see a US Navy trainer jet
cross the road in front of his small SUV.
"I ain't never seen anything like that before," said Jim
Broussard to the Lafayette Daily Advertiser.
Here's what happened. The T-45 Goshawk (type shown above) was
part of a flight of three practicing touch-and-go's at Acadiana
Regional Airport in New Iberia. The pilots onboard were just
finishing up the operation when the engine on one of the jets
apparently malfunctioned in the pattern.
Iberia Parish Sheriff Sid Hebert said the malfunction left the
aircraft uncontrollable, forcing the two airmen onboard to bail
out. "They ejected successfully," said Hebert. "No one was
hurt."
The Goshawk continued flying, gear extended, and sailed across
the departure end of the airport runway before impacting a fence,
and careening across Highway 88... and in front of Broussard's Geo
Tracker.
Fortunately, what might have resulted in disaster instead gave
Broussard a great story to tell.
"When I seen it cross the road, I was like, that's some crazy
stuff," he said. "I was shocked. I couldn't believe it."
The aircraft sparked a brief fire, and suffered damage to its
nose and landing gear... but otherwise seemed to survive the crash
amazingly intact. Firefighters extinguished the blaze.
The two pilots were transported to an area hospital. Their
conditions are not known.
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