Two fighter pilots passed out over Nevada last year. Software saved them both.
In separate incidents, F-16 aviators
were rendered unconscious, but a ground-collision avoidance system righted the
aircrafts.
On January 23 of last year, a pilot
flying a single-seat F-16 over Nevada lost consciousness. Around 6 months later,
on July 16, another pilot operating the same type of fighter jet, also in
Nevada, passed out as well. Both of them would have almost certainly been killed
were it not for built-in software that took over the controls before they
crashed.
Both pilots experienced an aviation
phenomenon called G-LOC, which stands for G-induced loss of consciousness, and
both were operating in the Nevada Test and Training Range. And in each case, the
onboard software system saved the aviators’ lives, according to the Air
Force.
The software that saved them is known as
Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System, or AGCAS, and in the January
instance, it engaged when the jet was about 2,600 feet above ground level. In
the July incident, the software activated at about 4,000 above the
deck.
The Air Force Safety Center explained
via email to Popular Science that in both cases, “AGCAS is credited with saving
the pilots’ lives.”
The Safety Center added: “In both
incidents, the pilots were able to regain consciousness during the AGCAS pull-up
and they assisted in the recovery of the aircraft; however, their actions alone
would not have been in time to prevent collision with the ground.”
Referring to the altitudes above the
ground at which the AGCAS engaged, the Safety Center said: “Based on the
airspeed and flight paths of the aircraft, these were the altitudes where the
system calculated that immediate flight control input was needed to avoid an
impending crash.”
Lockheed Martin, which manufactures F-16
and F-35 fighter jets, created the AGCAS software. In simple terms, the code
realizes when the jet is going to fly into the ground and attempts to fix the
problem. The defense behemoth, which also own Sikorsky helicopters, describes
how it works this way on the AGCAS website: “the system consists of a set of
complex collision avoidance and autonomous decision making algorithms that
utilize precise navigation, aircraft performance and on-board digital terrain
data to determine if a ground collision is imminent. If the system predicts an
imminent collision, an autonomous avoidance maneuver—a roll to wings-level and
+5g pull—is commanded at the last instance to prevent ground
impact.”
In the January 2020 event, the pilot was
at an altitude of 15,800 feet when they succumbed to G-LOC. In the July event,
they were at 17,000 feet.
What is G-LOC?
A fighter pilot experiences G-LOC if
they pass out during a maneuver, but safely managing the Gs on a
high-performance jet is an everyday task for any pilot at the controls. As a
pilot turns the airplane sharply, for example, the G-forces they feel increase
rapidly, causing their blood to want to move away from their brain. Two tools
exist to help a pilot prevent themselves from passing out: one is a muscle and
breathing exercise called the anti-G straining maneuver, and the other is a
G-suit the aviator wears. That suit dynamically responds to what the jet is
doing, and squeezes the pilot’s lower body, like a high-tech blood-pressure
cuff. The two tools together should keep the blood from pooling in the lower
portion of the pilot’s body. If a pilot does not cope with the Gs appropriately,
they could pass out.
To be sure, not all G-LOCs result in an
imminent crash and the activation of the emergency software. The Air Force
Safety Center reported to Popular Science that in the fiscal year 2020, there
were eight G-LOC events, including the two in which the emergency software
activated. The eight occurred in Texas, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, or Florida,
and involved F-16Cs, T-6A trainers, a T-38C trainer, an F-15C, and an F-22A. In
all eight instances, no pilot was hurt and no aircraft was damaged. That number
of incidents is a decrease from fiscal year 2019, in which there were 12 G-LOC
events that the Safety Center reported to Popular Science.
In March of 2019, an aviator over Oregon
experienced a G-LOC event that was serious enough to result in major damage to
the aircraft, even if it didn’t crash. That pilot was not hurt.
And in 2018, tragically, a member of the
Thunderbirds demonstration team died during training as a result of
G-LOC.
So far, in this fiscal year, there have
been two G-LOC events that the Safety Center reported to Popular
Science.
All told, the AGCAS software is now
credited with saving 11 pilots and 10 F-16 aircraft, according to a Lockheed
Martin spokesperson.
The software is on F-35s and F-16s, but
not all of them. Of the F-35s that the Air Force and Air National Guard have,
the Safety Center said that 98 percent have the software installed. As for the
F-16s, the AGCAS is on those jets from “Block 40” and newer—the “block” is like
its lot number. A Safety Center spokesperson said via email that the software
“is projected to begin fielding on over 300 F-16 Pre-Block 40 (Block 30s)
aircraft with analog flight controls in early 2022.”
The events in January and July of 2020
in which the AGCAS system activated were previously reported by Military.com,
although at the time it wasn’t yet clear if the software could be credited with
saving the life of the pilot in the July incident.
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