THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, April 25, 1996 TAG: 9604250401
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JACK DORSEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Long : 139 lines
They were the ``bandits,'' dueling it out in a 350 mph dogfight nearly four miles above the Atlantic Ocean, pursuing a group of F-14 Tomcat fighters when they collided.
``It felt like I had hit a giant speed bump in the sky,'' said Lt. Cmdr. William G. Stubbs, 32, the pilot of the light blue F/A-18 Hornet that lost five feet of its left wing and three feet of its left twin tail and was trailing fuel.
``I saw it coming,'' said Lt. Cmdr. Greg S. Anderson, 33, the pilot of the other Hornet, painted camouflage tan.
``I was maneuvering to get out of the way. So, as I am pulling (on the control stick) to try to get out of the way, I see we are not going to clear completely.
``I guessed it was my time. I was really shocked to find out that it wasn't.''
Both Navy pilots were recovering Wednesday from what most fellow aviators at Oceana Naval Air Station described as a nearly impossible feat to get their two crippled planes safely back to base Tuesday.
``I've never seen airplanes looking like this come back to a field, or a ship,'' said the pilots' commanding officer, Cmdr. Roger Dadiomoff, as he inspected the aircraft, now parked inside a hangar.
Redundant flight control systems and computer-controlled engine systems went a long way to helping the pilots get back, Dadiomoff said.
``This is a real tribute to Navy airplanes. Here we lost half the flight controls (on Stubbs' plane) and it flew back. That is a pretty nice piece of information to know if you are sitting in one and getting shot at.''
The pilots are both assigned to Composite Fighter Squadron 2, which simulates enemy planes in an adversarial role as it helps train other fleet squadrons in the art of aerial combat. It is a Navy Reserve squadron of 12 aircraft and about 250 personnel.
For Stubbs and Anderson, both combat veterans from Desert Storm with more than 10 years of flying experience - four years with each other - this was their first aircraft mishap.
They collided about 3:35 p.m. Tuesday while working with a group of F-14s from Fighter Squadron 41, also based at Oceana. None of the F-14s was involved in the incident.
Although both pilots were prohibited from describing what or who caused the accident, pending an investigation, they were permitted Wednesday to talk about how they saved their planes and got them back.
For Stubbs, the 60-mile flight home was 20 minutes of fighting to control his crippled plane, wondering if his landing gear would work.
``Instincts just took over,'' he said. ``As the plane started to roll left, I did what any pilot would do to right my airplane, using right stick and right rudder.
``My feet were constantly working the rudders back and forth to get the airplane to fly straight ahead.
``I was just trying to keep it under control and kind of evaluate the situation the 50 to 60 mile transit back to Oceana.
``As I descended from 15,000 feet down to landing, I basically slow- flied the airplane and did controllability checks to make sure I could fly the airplane.''
As he continued toward Oceana, Stubbs said, he was concerned whether his landing gear would lower because of a possible hydraulic failure.
``So before we got to the beach, while we were still over the water, we dropped the landing gear,'' Stubbs said.
He slowed the aircraft and tried to place his controls in the exact configuration he normally would use for landing. That way, he said, he could evaluate whether it was controllable. It was.
Stubbs stayed out over the water as he followed the coast north from Cape Hatteras, near where the collision occurred. Each mile, he made certain he was under control, ready to ditch the plane or eject if he wasn't certain he could make it.
His left wing, exposing wires and metal, dripped jet fuel the whole way back. The fuel mostly evaporated before it hit the ground, officials said, and posed no pollution or fire hazard to anyone on the ground.
Anderson had lost his F/A-18's nose cone and canopy in the collision. He fought swirling winds inside his open cockpit. There were no instruments to tell him direction, air speed or altitude. One hydraulic system was out.
He couldn't even tell the time.
``The wind tore the watch off my wrist.''
His aircraft was out of control for ``just a few seconds,'' Anderson said. It careened off in a left roll.
``My natural reaction was to neutralize control and keep it flying,'' he said. ``Once you realize we're hit and we're still here, then it's back to business: Do we have everybody in sight? Is everybody safe? What do we do with the airplane to prevent any further catastrophe?''
Anderson elected to pick his own route back, using land features he was familiar with since he had no compass.
He sighted Back Bay Wildlife Refuge and followed it to the Intracoastal Waterway, then Oceana, making certain he avoided populated areas, he said.
Other aircraft flew alongside, monitoring both flights home, inspecting their landing gear. Coast Guard and Navy helicopters stood by for possible rescue if either had to eject at sea.
The two fighters had been at the Tactical Air Combat Training System range off Cape Hatteras, where electronic monitors attached to tall concrete towers in the ocean track the combat maneuvers and record them for later review, said Dadiomoff, the squadron commander.
It was a standard four-plane mission that used a variety of maneuvers, said Dadiomoff, who was flying in one of the F/A-18s when the collision occurred.
The squadron took Wednesday off to review procedures and allow the investigation to get under way, Dadiomoff said.
``If we can make it better, we will,'' he said. ``This is an inherently dangerous business. In training to fight a war there are going to be casualties. So we train very, very hard.
``It's a dynamic environment. We try to minimize it, but we will never eliminate it completely. That risk is there.''
As far as what's in store for his two pilots, Dadiomoff didn't know.
``These guys are pretty humble right now,'' he said. ``But I will tell you that I sit on the board that selects these guys and I can say they are probably the finest fighter pilots in the world. Both of those guys fought in Desert Storm. They were hand-selected. They are fleet accomplished. They have been through cruises with other tactical airplanes, and they are instructors in the fleet.''
It wasn't just luck that saved their lives, said the men, both married. Stubbs is the father of three; Anderson the father of four.
``I have a tremendous faith in God,'' Stubbs said, ``and I put a lot of trust in Him. I told (Anderson) I thought we had a couple of angels riding with us yesterday.''
Anderson agreed: ``I am absolutely convinced of that myself.'' ILLUSTRATION: LAWRENCE JACKSON
The Virginian-Pilot
F/A-18 pilots William G. Stubbs, left, and Greg S. Anderson collided
Tuesday. Stubbs' jet, behind them, shows the scars of the impact.
KEYWORDS: INTERVIEW F-14 ACCIDENT PLANE ACCIDENT MILITARY by CNB