T-6B crash report leads to changes

FOLEY, Ala. - A year after an Oct. 23, 2020, Navy T-6B trainer aircraft crash into a Magnolia Springs, Ala., neighborhood, the Navy’s Command Investigative report, obtained by WPMI-TV, provides some insight and recommended changes to the training syllabus for naval aviators at Training Air Wing FIVE at NAS Whiting Field, Fla. Lt. Rhiannon Ross was the instructor pilot on the Training Squadron (VT) two flight that left NASWF. Lt. Ross had more than 1,100 flight hours in the T-6B. The student naval aviator was Coast Guard Ens. Morgan Garrett, a Coast Guard Academy graduate, who had just begun flight training in August 2020 and had 7.1 flight hours in the T-6B. She had celebrated her 24th birthday on Oct. 22. The flight was headed towards Barin Outlying Field (OLF)) in Foley for touch-and-go landing practice. Barin is also used for emergency landing procedures. Forty minutes into the flight the duo began maneuvers 4-miles east of Barin OLF. The plane began a high angle of bank turn to the left at 3,800 feet, stalled, and 22 seconds later crashed, bursting into flames and setting one home on fire. No civilians were hurt. The report concludes neither pilot tried to eject. Through “black box” data the crew experienced 4.8g’s of force while inverted 16 seconds before impact and in a spin. “I am singularly dismayed that the aircrew moved the control stick to the full aft position, precipitating the stall,” according to the Wing Commander’s report. Relaxing control stick deflection to neutral “could have crucially provided both aerodynamic and situational awareness improvements to recover from the [out of control flight].” The report could not determine a definitive cause, but concluded it was likely pilot error. The report recommends changes in three key areas of Naval Aviator training, 1) stall recognition and reaction, 2) ejection procedures and 3) adapting the Digital Video Recorder For continuous recording. Changes to ejection guidance and training have been implemented and a crash-survivable voice recorder for the T-6 is under development. (Source: WPMI-TV 11/22/21) Mississippi Note: Training Air Wing ONE at NAS Meridian, Miss., receives Student Naval Aviators upon completion of Primary Flight Training in the T-6B Texan II.  REPORT: US Navy implements changes following fatal air crash near Foley | WPMI (mynbc15.com)