Software prevents fatal crashes, scientists say
An F-16 pilot takes aim at a ground target, losing track of just how steep and low his jet is. Too confused to eject, he crashes.
Every year, one or two pilots die because they couldn’t get their bearings in time. Now, scientists for the Air Force and Lockheed Martin Corp. think they can virtually eliminate those fatal accidents with onboard computer software that takes control of the Fighting Falcon when it goes into a deadly dive.
“We looked at past accidents and this would have prevented 98 percent of them,” said Don Swihart, program manager of the Fighter Risk Reduction Program at the Air Force Research Lab.
The F-16’s flight control system activates the software when it determines — by comparing altitude, speed and direction with a virtual map of the terrain below — that the plane is within 1.5 seconds of crashing.
The software pulls the fighter into a 5-G climb until it reaches a safe altitude and is flying level. Only then does the computer return control to the pilot.
If the pilot is unable to immediately control the fighter, the jet will continue at level flight until the pilot recovers or the jet runs out of fuel, Swihart said. When the landing gear is extended, the software can’t be set in motion.
The Air Force conducted initial flight testing of the software earlier this year at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center in California, Swihart said. Flight testing will resume in March.
The software should be installed in Block 40 and 50 F-16s starting in 2013 as part of an overall upgrade of Falcon software, Swihart said. The upgrade is budgeted for about $30 million, less than half the cost of a new F-16.
Older Block 30 F-16s lack the newer jets’ digital flight control computer and will be more difficult to upgrade.
Other fighters — the F-22 Raptor, F-35 Lightning II and F-18 Hornet — can use the software, but no decision has been made to install it on those planes, Swihart said.
The Air Force is still undecided about whether to let the pilot turn off the software, he said. Swihart prefers not to have a kill switch; some commanders want one.
Researchers settled on the 1.5-second activation point after talking with pilots who managed to pull out of dives.
Air Force crash investigations found common reasons for why pilots didn’t pull out of dives on their own. Sometimes, pilots lost consciousness during a stressful high-G maneuver. Over deserts and dry lake beds, pilots confused the light-colored surface for clouds. Still others became so focused on a target point that they didn’t pay attention to altitude or alarms sounding in the cockpit.
The most recent fatal F-16 accident was June 22. Capt. George Houghton crashed his Falcon during a night close-air support training mission over the Utah Test and Training Range.
Investigators said Houghton started his dive about 2,000 feet lower than rules called for; he may not have been aware how close he was to the ground because of the darkness and his inattention to cockpit readings. There was no evidence he tried to bail out.
Swihart sees the software as insurance for pilots.
“A pilot should not see [a deadly dive] in his lifetime,” Swihart said. “This is a backup system that is there when you need it.”