Lightning Final Flight

Thundercity Lightning ZU-BEX crashed at AFB Overberg on 14 November 2009, shortly after flying a display. Apparently there was a hydraulic malfunction, as well as an ejection seat malfunction. The pilot, Dave Stock, didn't survive the crash.

This clip was taken about 7 minutes before he crashed.

Rest in Peace, Dave.

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• Dave Stock
• Thundercity
• Lightning
• English Electric Lightning
• ZU-BEX
• crash
• ejection
• Overberg
• TFDC
• FAOB
• Jet

[SardineG]

Yes, about 7minutes after the fly-past. I don't know if anyone got any footage of the actual crash. Will ask around.

[damagecontroller]

Posting a video of the actual crash would be distasteful and the plane was just falling to the ground after a unsuccessful ejection. I think we need more footage of when he was performing at the show As a tribute to him.

[WayneSA85]

Look guys it was terrible I was there but these things need to be discussed thats how we learn. Adrian is only interested so dont gun him. Guys like Dave Stock love their job and they know and understand the risk. Blue skies and fair winds Dave.

[1pnoe]

Do you have any more footage of this display? I simply admire this plane.

[tvfilmglamdirector]

If anyone would like to understand the complexities of the Lightning hydraulic systems a bit more please take a look at the website at gatwick-aviation-museum dot co dot uk / lightning / restoration. There they have an excellent pictorial record from their own rebuild.

[AdrianNtart]

@WinchesterRanger Yes thats what i cant understand. how he managed to steer it away, with full hyd. failure!

[WinchesterRanger]

@AdrianNtart The Lightning has no manual controls reversion, if you have full hydraulics failure the aircraft is completely uncontrollable, in fact the controls would freeze. So in that condition he would have been unable to point the aircraft in any direction. Is there an actual video of the crash sequence anywhere?

[gtvdtm]

agree, total hyd pump failure on the lightning was unheard of. 4 pumps at once would have to fail. more likely in this instance, that fire compromised all 3 circuit pressure lines in the aft no1 reheat bay position, from fire, allowing om15 to escape, hence the gradual decay of control and handling difficulties over minutes. Only the accumulators probably allowed it to stay airborne as long as it did, the s/b gear failed to lower too, indicating a big decay in services pressure early on.

[jpatt1000]

@helimeal Let's hope not. There's one here in the U.S. getting ready for flight. I would love to see one at least once.

[TheophilusPWildbeest]

The Lightning is continuosly at high risk of engine bay and jet pipe bay fires. Jet pipe fires pose the additional problem of quickly burning through the control rods to the tailplane actuators. SOP in RAF times was immediate ejection as delay could prevent the pilot being able to eject due to high g forces. It would seem the ejection procedure did not operate correctly with resultant tragic consequences.

Best guess is the vapour trails are either smoke from a jetpipe bay fire or a fuel leak.

[WayneSA85]

Im a fitter and turner by trade. I specialise in pneumatics and hydraulics. Hydraulic failure does not necessarily mean you have no control. The system will have non-return and isolation valves in it to prevent complete failure. In most industrial machinery hydraulics do not receive the power directly from the pump. The pump charges a accumulator in order to prevent pulsating in the fluid and gives you a small amount of energy to utilise in the event of pump failure or breach.

[daveac41]

Just found out about this. What a tragedy. A brave man. Condolences to his family and colleagues