“We are confident we have identified what we think is the likely cause,” RAAF Group Capt. Tim Alsop
Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Group Capt. Tim Alsop told Las Vegas Review-Journal that “a particular component failure” on one of the engines of EA-18G had a role to play in the fire at Nellis Air Force Base (AFB) on Jan. 27, 2018.
Alsop cited ongoing investigation as the reason to go into specifics.
“We are confident we have identified what we think is the likely cause,” Alsop added.
As we have previously reported the RAAF EA-18G Growler experienced an engine failure and skidded off the runway at Nellis AFB last month.
No serious injuries were reported in the incident.
“The crew did an amazing job. They conducted an emergency abort and brought the aircraft to a safe stop,” Alsop said “We then had a very rapid response from the Nellis first responders, the fire brigade here. They were quite astounding actually.”
The two crew members were uninjured, though both were “a little shaken,” Alsop said.
The aircraft involved in the incident was one of the four Growlers from 6SQN deployed to Nellis AFB for Red Flag 18-1.
The EA-18G Growler is a variant of the combat-proven F/A-18F Super Hornet and flies the airborne electronic attack mission. Thanks to its array of sensors and weapons, the aircraft is able to perform a wide range of missions such as Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD), Stand-off and Escort Jamming (where the Growler not only fly the traditional stand-off jamming mission but also provides the escort for other air assets thanks to the speed and agility inherited form the Super Hornet), Non-Traditional Electronic Attack (where thanks to its enhanced situational awareness the EA-18G achieves an unmatched degree of integration with ground operations) and Self-protection and Time-Critical Strike Support (where thanks to its Advanced Electronically Scanned Array [AESA] radar, digital data links and air-to-air missiles, the EA-18G has self-protection capability and is also highly effective for target identification and prosecution).
Photo by COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA, DEPARTMENT OF DEFENCE