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F15 Pilot Whos F15 Broke Up In Mid Air Sues Boeing

  • 26-03-2008 3:08pm
    #1
    Steyr
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,266 ✭✭✭


    A Missouri Air National Guard pilot filed suit this week in U.S. District Court, claiming Boeing Corp. "should have known" the F-15C Eagle that broke in half during a training mission last November was "defective and unreasonably dangerous."

    Maj. Stephen Stilwell suffered severe injuries when he bailed out of the F-15C over rural Dent County, in south-central Missouri, on Nov. 2.

    A native of Chillicothe, Mo., Stilwell, 37, was based with the 131st Fighter Wing at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport.

    After the accident, the Air Force grounded more than 300 older model F-15s after finding cracks in some planes and parts that didn't meet safety specifications in others.

    The older planes were built by McDonnell Douglas Corp. of St. Louis before the company's 1997 sale to Boeing.

    "Boeing knew or should have know that the F-15 as manufactured allowed and permitted for catastrophic flight break-up," said Stilwell's suit, filed by attorney Morry S. Cole.

    Stilwell also claims the manufacturer failed to notify the Air Force and Missouri Air National Guard of "the likelihood of excess stress concentrations, fatigue cracking, structural failure and in-flight aircraft break up as a result of the structural deficiencies."

    In a December interview with the Post-Dispatch, Stilwell said he managed to eject from the plane despite smashing his left shoulder and arm as the aircraft began to fishtail out of control at 18,000 feet.

    His injuries, Stilwell said, required doctors to insert a 10-inch metal plate in the injured arm and shoulder.

    Stilwell, who flies commercially for Southwest Airlines, said he has suffered from chronic pain since the accident.


    http://www.military.com/NewsContent/0,13319,164551,00.html?ESRC=airforce.nl


Comments

  • #2
    BostonB
    Closed Accounts Posts: 18,056 ✭✭✭✭BostonB


    Its probably cheaper to pay the claims than fix the planes.

    Is it happy coincidence that when they want more F22's and can't get them, suddenly the stopgap for the shortfall (the F15) suddenly has a problem. I know they didn't cause the problem but the solution was to order new F15x or F15E and they refused to do this as it would have jepordised the numbers of F22's. Are they overreacting to the problem with the F15?


  • #3
    Kintarō Hattori
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 15,017 ✭✭✭✭Kintarō Hattori


    I love aircraft in particular the military variety but I've never been that excited about the F22. It just doesn't float my boat at all. The F-14 is gone, Sea-Harrier is gone, F-117 is gone....... sigh it's not looking good for the F-15 now either.


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