Article

2005-06-22 Afghanistan/South Asia

U.S. spy plane crashes in southwest Asia, military says

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Posted by tu3031 2005-06-22 08:52|| || Front Page|| [3 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 Pakistan????

Posted by Cheaderhead 2005-06-22 09:33|| 2005-06-22 09:33|| Front Page Top

#2 I care more about the dedicated and professional pilot than the circumstance and location. Aside from the potential tittilation of detail.. how about the pilot? I pray he survived and is recovering.

Posted by Fun Dung Poo 2005-06-22 09:35|| 2005-06-22 09:35|| Front Page Top

#3 Sorry, FDP. Fox News reported this morning that the pilot was killed.

Posted by BH 2005-06-22 09:42|| 2005-06-22 09:42|| Front Page Top

#4 Not a good airframe to eject from, but then again what is? Also a lot of bad things have to happen for one to crash. Two things I would bet on are airframe failure or pilot incapacitation. Once one of these beauties lost the entire tail section at take off. These are old birds and maybe the Air Force needs to look more into Global Hawk and retire the Dragon Lady.

Posted by Cyber Sarge">Cyber Sarge 2005-06-22 10:22|| 2005-06-22 10:22|| Front Page Top

#5 Paranoid as I am, when I recently heard Francis Gary Powers couldn't reach the ejection handles and had to climb out - I wondered if the ejection seat wasn't really an explosion seat, because dead men tell no tales.

It could alo be Iran and a missle hit, no?

Posted by Bobby 2005-06-22 10:51|| 2005-06-22 10:51|| Front Page Top

#6 Likely based in the UAE.

Posted by Shipman 2005-06-22 11:40|| 2005-06-22 11:40|| Front Page Top

#7 BAGHDAD, Iraq - A U.S. Air Force U-2 spy plane involved in a mission in Afghanistan crashed while returning to its base in the United Arab Emirates, killing the pilot, the military said Wednesday. U.S. Central Command said the crash occurred in "southwest Asia," a term that can be a substitute for the Middle East.
"The Airmen of the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing mourn the loss of a true American hero in the service of his country," said Col. Darryl Burke, the unit's wing commander.
The wing has been based at the al-Dhafra air base near Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates, since early 2002. The wing flies various types of aircraft, including aerial refueling tankers. It was visited in August by Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Burke appointed an interim investigation board to determine the cause of the crash. It was not clear when the results of the investigation would be completed. The location of the crash could not be released "due to host nation sensitivities," U.S. Air Force Capt. David W. Small, a Central Command spokesman, said in an e-mail when asked for more information.
In Washington, Lt. Col. Barry Venable, a Pentagon spokesman, said the plane had completed a mission related to Operation Enduring Freedom and crashed while returning to its base. A U.S. security team was at the site of the crash, he said.

So it crashed in semi-friendly territory. Maybe Pakistan, Saudi, Oman or UAE.

Posted by Steve ">Steve 2005-06-22 11:50|| 2005-06-22 11:50|| Front Page Top

#8 Bloomberg news reported that it was Oman, but I don't have a link for that. They said it was supporting efforts in Afghanistan, but it could just as easily have been surveiling Iran, I suppose.

Posted by Captain Pedantic 2005-06-22 13:22|| 2005-06-22 13:22|| Front Page Top

#9 I just went back to Bloomberg, and they've changed the article so it no longer says where the crash happened. I don't know if the Oman thing was an error or if they realized they weren't supposed to print that. So consider that unconfirmed info!

Posted by Captain Pedantic 2005-06-22 13:25|| 2005-06-22 13:25|| Front Page Top

#10 I don't think the US has any more pure "U-2" aircraft. Most of them have been replaced with the multirole TR-1. It's basically the same airframe, made a little safer, with a wider mission capability. They're still being manufactured - two a year, by hand - by Lockheed. The TR-1 airframe is newer, but still vulnerable to most of the foibles of the original U-2. We had a squadron of them at RAF Alconbury when I was there in 1986. It's still a dangerous aircraft to try to bail out of.

Posted by Old Patriot">Old Patriot 2005-06-22 14:18|| http://oldpatriot.blogspot.com/]">[http://oldpatriot.blogspot.com/] 2005-06-22 14:18|| Front Page Top

#11 OP download the trial software and give us an expert opinion.

Posted by Shipman 2005-06-22 15:24|| 2005-06-22 15:24|| Front Page Top

#12 OP, all remaining TR-1s were designated U-2R a few years ago, joining the handful of U2Rs that preceded them. All were redesignated U-2S after fleet-wide updates. The original U-2's, the A through C were quite a bit different in detail, basically smaller and less powerful. The whole series has been out of production since 1989.
AF website- U-2R

Posted by Atomic Conspiracy 2005-06-22 18:27|| http://www.nuclearspace.com]">[http://www.nuclearspace.com] 2005-06-22 18:27|| Front Page Top

#13 AC, I don't doubt your source or your information. Mine came second-hand from the guy that ran the imagery reconnaissance program at Beale up until last year. He was my boss at the 497th, just before I retired. He was an O-3 then, now he's an O-6!

Posted by Old Patriot">Old Patriot 2005-06-22 20:56|| http://oldpatriot.blogspot.com/]">[http://oldpatriot.blogspot.com/] 2005-06-22 20:56|| Front Page Top

#14 OP, as I said, the immediate source is the AF website. Once rebuilt, the TR-1s and surviving U-2Rs would be identical, so there was little point in having two separate designations.
Aviation Week carried articles about the redesignation in 1994 and about the end of production in 1989.

Posted by Atomic Conspiracy 2005-06-22 21:56|| http://www.nuclearspace.com]">[http://www.nuclearspace.com] 2005-06-22 21:56|| Front Page Top

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