Pilot Error Caused Lemoore Super Hornet Crash

Investigators determined pilot error caused the 6 April 2011 crash of a US Navy F/A-18F Super Hornet near Lemoore Naval Air Station, California.  Both the pilot and the backseat NFO were killed.

The pilot, Lt. Matthew I. Lowe, 33, of Plantation, Fla., and the plane’s weapons officer, Lt. Nathan H. “Beefcake” Williams, 28, of Oswego, N.Y., were practicing a “load[ed] roll” when the pilot apparently lost control…

Williams attempted ejection but was out of the envelope.

The sortie was reportedly the last needed for Lowe to be qualified to fly demonstration flights as part of the Navy’s West Coast demo team.  Apparently, the low-altitude maneuver was part of a demo profile.

Vice Adm. Allen Myers, commander of Naval Air Forces Pacific, published an order prohibiting the maneuver from being flown except by experienced test pilots:

Myers ordered loaded-roll maneuvers to be banned from the Navy’s demonstration flights, noting that the maneuver is best executed by experienced test pilots and requires levels of focus and skill not normally employed by tactical-demonstration pilots.