Fatal Accident #2

The remaining XV-5A was rigged with a pilot-operated res­cue hoist, located on the left side of the fuselage just ahead of the wing fan. An evaluation test pilot was fatally injured during the test program while performing a low-speed, steep – descent "pick-up” maneuver at Edwards AFB. The heavily – weighted rescue collar was ingested into the left wing fan as the pilot descended and simultaneously played-out the collar. The damaged fan continued to rotate, but the resultant loss in fan lift caused the aircraft to roll-left and settle toward the ground. The pilot apparently leveled the wings; applied full power and up-collective to correct for the left wing-fan lift loss. The damaged left fan produced enough lift to hold the wings level and somewhat reduce the ensuing descent rate. The pilot elected to eject from the aircraft as it approached the ground in this wings-level attitude. As the pilot released the right-stick displacement and initiated the ejection, the air­craft rolled back to the left which caused the ejected seat tra­jectory to veer-off to a path parallel to the ground. The seat

impacted the ground, and the pilot did not survive the ejec­tion. Post-accident analysis revealed that despite the ingestion of the rescue collar and its weight, the wing-fan continued to operate and produce enough lift force to hold a wings-level roll attitude and reduce descent rate to a value that may have allowed the pilot to survive the ensuing "emergency landing” had he stayed with the aircraft. This was a grim testimony as to the ruggedness of the lift-fan.