n68188 Review of Afterburn

Afterburn (1992 TV Movie)

**spoiler warning**--accuracy of events

[14 November 2008]

**Spoiler Warning** The events of this movie are essentially accurate but there is a certain anti-everything flavor that is a bit obnoxious. The F-16 was the first fighter plane in US inventory with a 100% fly by wire control system (no mechanical or hydraulic linkage to the stick or rudders.) It also had a head up display (HUD) which served as the primary Attitude indicator (tells the pilot which way is up.) Early F-16A models were all 'steamguages' except for a stores management display that looked like a glorified calculator, the HUD, and the radar display which was essentially a 5 inch TV screen between the pilot's legs. In the movie (and in the real mishap,) Wire chaffing had caused a short in one of the wire bundles which resulted in a false indication of which way was up on the HUD. The pilot, trusting his HUD, flew into the ground. Within the Air Force there is an adage,"When a plane is destroyed and the pilot lives, it's the maintenance crew's fault. If the pilot is killed, it's the pilot's fault." The idea is to save the pilot's career if possible or to save the ground crew's conscience if necessary. This particular Air Force widow was a little less than understanding when it came to Air Force 'tradition.' Previous to the incident, a training video had been produced by General Dynamics (maker of the F-16) warning ground crews to check for wire chaffing during inspections. This was a preventative measure which was later supplemented by rerouting certain wire bundles that were found to be prone to chaffing. This was used by the widow and her lawyer to 'prove' that General Dynamics was aware of a fatal flaw in their jet. They were forced to pony up some serious cash and the Air Force eventually cleared the pilot's name. Before and since, all Air Force personnel doing any maintenance on the F-16 have to undergo recurring 'wire chaffing' training. Even though I was an F-15 maintainer, I had to sit through the briefing twice just because I was on a base that had F-16s. Go figure, a defense contractor does the right thing and makes a video to show maintainers what to look for during inspections and they get sued for it. The settlement was one of those lucrative multi-million dollar jobs, plus royalties from the movie. And as I recall, a documentary came out a short while after the movie. The real widow was interviewed and yes, she struck me as being a bit obnoxious and somewhat ignorant of how dangerous and unforgiving her husband's job had been.