Tampabay: F-16 shares blame in collision

F-16 shares blame in collision

The Air Force says two F-16s were off course when one hit a Cessna. The report also blames TIA and the civilian pilot.

By JEAN HELLER

TAMPA -- The Air Force is accepting most of the blame for an in-flight collision last November between a jet fighter and a private airplane near Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport that killed a pilot from Citrus County.

The chief Air Force investigator said at a news conference Tuesday that two F-16 pilots from Moody Air Force Base in Valdosta, Ga., were not where they were supposed to be, were flying too fast and were out of radio contact with air-traffic controllers when one of them collided with a Cessna 172 that had just taken off from Sarasota bound for Citrus County.

The Cessna pilot, Jacques Olivier, was killed. The pilot of the crippled F-16, Capt. Greg Kreuder, ejected safely, and his plane crashed into woods.

The investigator, Brig. Gen. Robin Scott, did not accept all the blame for the Air Force. He said Olivier violated the basic tenet of fair-weather flying, the pilot's responsibility to see and avoid other aircraft.

And he said Tampa International Airport approach controllers received a "conflict alert," an electronic warning of an impending collision, 30 seconds before it happened but failed to warn Olivier, with whom they were in radio contact.

Had the controllers responded immediately, Scott said, "likely the pilot would have had the time to maneuver his plane and avoid the collision."

The Nov. 16 accident is one in a series of deadly accidents involving the military, prompting some public questions about training and discipline.

However, Scott said the accident occurred on the pilots' second mission of the day, and a review of their activities to a point just a few minutes before the crash showed they were well-planned and well-executed.

But the lead F-16, flown by Lt. Col. James Parker, developed a navigational error that put it 10 to 13 miles south of Parker's intended course as he looked for the entry point to a low-level flight course to Avon Park. Soon, a second system developed problems that added 30 more miles to the navigational error.

At this point, the fighters were approaching TIA's airspace and were told by the FAA's Miami regional air-traffic control center to contact Tampa approach controllers. Miami instructed Parker to use frequency 362.3. TIA hadn't used that frequency since the previous August.

And Parker punched in 362.35, also the wrong frequency. When he couldn't reach Tampa, he told Miami he was switching to visual flight rules -- the same see-and-avoid rules under which Olivier operated -- and started his descent.

Because of the navigational mistakes, Parker and Kreuder passed through TIA's restricted airspace, where they were not supposed to be without radio communication with controllers, and through restricted airspace at Sarasota-Bradenton.

The two pilots were so far off course that the mouth of the Manatee River, which Parker expected to see several miles ahead of him, was already under him. He expected the entry point to the Avon Park run, a dam on the Manatee River, to be ahead on his left. Instead, he was flying past it.

Meanwhile, the fighters had slowed from 550 mph to 410, still well past the limit of 300 mph inside controlled airspace. Kreuder and Olivier collided at 2,000 feet. Despite the fact that the combined speeds of the Cessna and the F-16 meant they were closing on one another faster than 550 mph, Scott said he did not think speed was a contributing factor in the accident.

"On occasion, equipment will malfunction and competent professionals will make mistakes," Scott said. "Usually these are isolated events that are quickly corrected with little or no impact on safe flying operations.

"There are times, however, when several such events happen in close sequence to each other and in a synergistic way to create tragic results. This accident was one such case."

The FAA said it would review the Air Force report but would have no comment on the reported conflict alert.

Howard Coker, an attorney for Olivier's widow, Danielle, said it was "an insult" for the Air Force to try to shift any of the blame.

Bob Spohrer, also of the legal team, said: "At all times, Jacques Olivier was where he was supposed to be as directed by air traffic controllers, while the F-16s were lost, speeding and not in contact with anyone. And Mr. Olivier is partly to blame? I don't think so."

Coker said he would file a $10-million lawsuit against the Air Force in May, and if reports of the conflict alert proved true, would include the FAA in the suit. Coker also said the National Transportation Safety Board would issue its findings next month.

Parker is on leave pending his retirement, which was planned before the crash. Kreuder is still flying. His commander will decide if discipline is warranted after reviewing the investigation.