P-51 Mustang crash photos

PointNiner covered the crash of this rare RAAF Mustang back in April when it happened but I had not seen these pictures until today. As a recap, this P-51 made a gear up landing at RAAF Base Williams, Point Cook, Victoria, Australia after the pilot declared an emergency following a gear extension failure. The pilot, who was a 70 year old former Ansett captain, did an excellent job bringing her in for a smooth belly landing. The County Fire Authority also did a superb job responding to and handling this event. I haven't heard what the status of aircraft is, but I'd like to think she'll be slipping gracefully through the skies again sometime soon.

Click here to review the video of this crash landing.






Photos courtesy of CFA Public Affairs

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Pelican shatters Aussie F-111

There is no way that General Dynamics designed the F-111 to fly like this. And certainly by all accounts, the flight crew of this aircraft should have bit the hard one after it struck a pelican at 3,000 ft during a mock bomb run last Friday on April 11. It sure does give you a clear picture, though, of what hitting a 30 lb bird at 340 mph can do. This Royal Australian Air Force F-111 had its nose cone completely shredded by the impact leaving an interesting unwoven fiberglass wicker Gonzo nose in it's place. The pelican then hit the leading edge of the right wing before becoming ingested in the #2 engine causing a subsequent flameout. Rough day. The crew is being heralded by the RAAF as heroes for maintaining control of this wicked shimmy after the incident, which occurred just West of Brisbane. News.com.au is reporting that the aircraft could fly again by next month. Nice job, mates.







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