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Report: Crew error led to F-15E crash

Aircrew mistakes led to the fatal crash of an F-15E Strike Eagle in Afghanistan on July 18, according to an Air Force investigation released Tuesday.

Killed in the crash were pilot Capt. Mark R. McDowell and weapons systems officer Capt. Thomas J. Gramith, both deployed to Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan from the 4th Fighter Wing at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C.

The accident marked the first time an Air Force fighter crashed in Afghanistan since the start of Operation Enduring Freedom in 2001.

McDowell and Gramith’s fighter and another F-15E were near the end of a night close-air-support sortie when they got permission to practice high-angle strafing runs over a dry lake bed while wearing night-vision goggles in low illumination. The planes wouldn’t fire rounds, but would practice approaches and targeting.

The problem started when the weapons systems officer in the second jet miscalculated the altitude of the dry lake bed at around 4,800 feet. The lake bed was actually about 10,200 feet high.

McDowell and Gramith began their first strafing run, assuming the target was at 4,800 feet. They didn’t pay attention to cockpit instrument readings showing the lake bed’s correct altitude, the report said. In a 31-degree dive and flying at about 515 mph, the crew began the mock attack. Seven seconds after starting the dive, audio and visual alarms from the jet’s ground collision avoidance system came on, warning that the jet was too low, but the crew didn’t pull out of the dive. Three seconds later, the jet crashed into the lake bed, killing the crewmen.

In the aftermath of the accident, Air Combat Command is reviewing training procedures for similar strafing runs, said Brig. Gen. Harry D. Polumbo, president of the accident investigation board.