History of Flight
On August 22, 2017, at about 1618 Pacific daylight time, a Hawker Hunter MK-58, registration N338AX, was destroyed when it impacted open water approximately 80 nautical miles southwest of San Diego, California. The aircraft was participating in an exercise with a United States military fighter jet. The airline transport pilot received minor injuries. The airplane was registered to Hunter Aviation International, Inc. and operated by Airborne Tactical Advantage Company (ATAC) under contract with the U.S. Navy as a Public aircraft. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and an instrument flight rules flight plan was filed for the local flight that departed Point Mugu Naval Air Station, Oxnard, California at 1517.
According to ATAC, their pilots were supporting an adversarial mission for a carrier air wing defense vulnerability period. The accident pilot and his wingman, flying as Red Air, checked in with the controller to understand roles and frequencies. Their objective was to overfly the military ships without being escorted. After an uneventful outbound flight, the aircraft were escorted by two F/A-18 fighters, which were later relieved by two F-35 fighters. While flying at 14,000 ft msl, one F-35 flew alongside and about 1,500 ft from the accident pilot's right wing. The F-35 then accelerated ahead and crossed in front of the pilot's flight path. The pilot attempted to follow, but the F-35 initiated a right turn and passed in front again. As the pilot started a right turn to follow, he heard a "thump" which he dismissed as jet wash. He continued his maneuver, rotating to about 60° angle of bank and applying back pressure, but the airplane immediately rolled left. The pilot briefly stopped the roll with right aileron but could not move the controls more than one inch right of center. The airplane then entered a 35° nose-down attitude. The pilot applied back pressure, but the airplane repeated the left roll. After about two full 360° rotations, he stopped the movement with right aileron, but control movement remained limited. Passing through 4,000 ft msl, the pilot notified his wingman and ejected.
F-35 Pilot Statement
The trailing F-35 pilot stated he was supporting the exercise. He rejoined on the accident pilot about 500-800 ft off his right wing and rocked his wings, but the accident pilot did not acknowledge. After another attempt, the F-35 pilot accelerated ahead and crossed in front of the accident pilot's flight path. He estimated he was about 2,500 ft in front and slightly higher. After about 90° of turn and a snap roll, the accident pilot appeared to line up a gun shot. The accident airplane then rolled inverted in a nose-high attitude, followed by a snap roll and a descending right-hand turn. The F-35 pilot engaged with simulated ordnance. The accident airplane never recovered from the dive.
Radar Data
Radar data from the Southern California Offshore Range (SCORE) showed the accident airplane (Jest11) and its wingman (Jest12). Data began at 1530:00 at about 15,800 ft. The airplane performed various turns. In the final minute, it maintained about 14,800 ft on a southern heading. Several seconds of data were missing between 1616:03 and 1616:09. The last radar data point was at 1616:25 at 14,733 ft.
Personnel Information
The pilot, age 44, held an airline transport pilot certificate with ratings for airplane single-engine land, multi-engine land, instrument airplane and a type rating for the Hawker Hunter MK-58. His most recent FAA first-class medical certificate was issued on February 8, 2017, with no limitations. He had accumulated 3,138 total flight hours, with 420 hours in the accident airplane make and model.
Aircraft Information
The airplane was manufactured by Hawker-Siddeley in 1959 as a single-engine, swept-wing tactical military aircraft, powered by a Rolls-Royce AVON 207 turbojet engine with a full functioning emergency ejection seat. At the time of the accident, it was owned by Hunter Aviation International, Inc. and operated by ATAC as an armed forces Public aircraft. The most recent conditional inspection was completed on May 11, 2017, at 3,242.6 hours total time in service. The engine had about 323 total hours since its most recent overhaul and 41 flight hours since the inspection.
Maintenance Deficiencies
The airplane's flight logbook noted a reported deficiency on August 15, 2017: "aileron trim indication was found inoperative during pre-flight checks." The position transmission cable, trim motor bellcrank, and trim operating rod were replaced. Aileron travel was confirmed in accordance with the applicable manual.
Wreckage and Impact
The airplane impacted open water about 2 nm from its final radar data point. ATAC reported the debris field consisted of an oil slick; no physical remnants of the aircraft were found. The wreckage was not recovered.
Flight Control System
The airplane had hydraulically operated ailerons and elevator. The flight control magnetic indicators (MIs) show hydraulic power availability. During the accident sequence, the pilot observed the MIs obscured by condensation and sun glare, but they appeared black, indicating hydraulic power. Power Mode ON was selected for both flight controls when control was lost. No change was observed when the pilot momentarily cycled the power mode.
The manual includes emergency procedures for out-of-control flight, including spin recovery. The pilot reported he did not execute the first procedure because he did not have a yaw rate. He attempted the second procedure but was unsuccessful. He returned the flight controls to neutral after observing airspeed of about 350 knots.