SOUTHWEST ASIA -- Soaring at over 60,000 feet above the Earth, a pin-sized hole in a hydraulic line resulted in an in-flight emergency for a U-2 pilot and a network of Airmen ready to get him back on the ground safely at an undisclosed location, May 20.
“The indication light wasn’t even on longer than a second at first,” said Major Erik, the U-2 Dragon Lady pilot, assigned to the 99th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron. “Once there was a long steady indicator I asked myself ‘Is this really happening?’”
Erik explained how the high flying altitude provided two hours for him to communicate with air traffic controllers who then relayed the information to the appropriate response agencies to prepare for an emergency landing.
“Host nation air traffic controllers were great and gave me the time and air space to get down safely,” said Erik.
According to Airman 1st Class Jonathan, of the 380th Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, the hydraulic failure prevented the flaps and landing gear from operating in support of the landing.
“Upon landing we could hear the hydraulic pump shelled out, we could hear the high whining sound and automatically knew the pump went bad,” said Jonathan. “The great thing about the U-2 is that the emergency gear release is all cable driven, in the event of a complete hydraulic failure.”
Erik explained the landing procedures, and the limited number of applications that are allotted with the cable-driven emergency braking system.
“The chase car was guiding me and telling me when the full weight of the aircraft had settled on the landing gear so I didn’t waste my five brake applications,” said Erik.
The U-2 Dragon Lady always requires an assisted landing with the use of a chase car, but Lt Col Matthew, assigned to the 99 ERS, explained how the emergency landing differed from standard flying operations.
“In this emergency landing, Erik needed to fly a relatively slow final approach speed about two-to-three knots above stall onset. Each nautical mile per hour adds an extra 1,000 feet to the landing distance,” said Matthew. “The margin for error was very small.”
Erik agreed that the level of risk was higher, but emphasized the training and planning that account for such emergencies.
“Every aircraft has a plan for a no-flap approach, and we practice this all the time,” said Erik.
As the aircraft reached the runway, seven emergency vehicles and 14 fire and rescue personnel assigned to the 380th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron stood ready to respond. According to TSgt Mark, a responder for the 380th ECES, it took less than four minutes for his crew to check the aircraft for hazards, chalk the tires, and ensure the pilot could exit safely.
“The incident response went off without a hitch,” said TSgt Matthew, of the 380th ECES. “There’s a lot of potential for bad things to happen but the landing went just fine.”
In total, the runway was shut down for a mere 15 minutes while responders and maintainers cleared and towed the aircraft. From the chase car guiding the aircraft for landing, to the airfield operators, maintenance personnel and emergency responders, over 20 Airmen worked together to ensure a safe landing.
“The responders and maintainers try to make it as much like NASCAR as possible by responding to emergencies quickly and efficiently to limit the impact to airfield operations,” said Lt Col Matthew. “Over all it was a great team effort.”