ITALIAN NAVY HARRIER INVOLVED IN A MISHAP

The jump jet suffers a loss of engine power during take-off.

Italian Navy Harrier involved in a mishap.

Grottaglie AB, Italy - An Italian Navy AV-8B Harrier II aircraft suffered a loss of engine power during take-off impacting the fence of the airfield, Feb. 22. According to Repubblica.it, the jump jet was flying up to perform a planned training mission when the accident occurred. No injuries were reported, only damage to the fence. As a precautionary measure, the aircraft immediately back to the base.

The newspaper also reported that the Navy technicians immediately started the investigation to identify the causes of the accident. This is the second mishap happened to a Harrier in the last 4 years. According to trnews.it, in April 2014 an AV-8B was forced to carry out an emergency landing due to an electronic equipment failure. The pilot immediately launched the alarm to the control tower in order to activate the firefighting team of Grottaglie AB, it seems that the plane would have risked igniting in the air.

The Italian Navy also lost two aircraft for accidents: in March 2002 a Harrier skidded off the runway during the landing impacting in the forest close to the civil air terminal. During the maneuver the pilot was ejected without reporting serious injuries, while the aircraft suffered serious structural damage.

The second serious accident occurred in July 2010 when an AV-8B fell into the sea off the coast of Calabria due to a technical problem. Fortunately, even in this case, the pilot was able to eject without reporting serious injuries.

Italy has initially purchased 18 Harrier aircraft including 2 TAV-8B Harrier II (two-seater) and 16 AV-8B Harrier II Plus (single-seater), of which 14 remain.

© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED (The copy, modify, adapt, translate of this content is permitted only by citing blogbeforeflight.net)

Written by Matteo Sanzani