KC-46A F-15E air refueling mishap
An F-15E Strike Eagle fighter bomber belonging to the 391st Fighter Squadron, from Mountain Home Air Force Base (AFB), Idaho, attempted an emergency landing at Fresno Yosemite International Airport on Aug. 21.
The F-15E pilot had to declare an emergency due to hydraulic failure after his aircraft was damaged during an air refueling with a KC-46A Pegasus tanker from McConnell AFB, Kansas. The Pegasus lost part of its boom after the incident.
The mishap took place near Santa Barbara, California while refueling during a CAP (Combat Air Patrol) which was enforcing a TFR (Temporary Flight Restriction) during a POTUS (President of the United States) stay.
The F-15E then diverted to Fresno where the arresting cable broke on the pilot’s first attempt to land on the east end. The pilot pulled up and came back around to try another landing from the west end of the airport but the pilot’s hook missed the cable.
At this point, the F-15E crew pilot followed Air Force procedure and safely landed at Naval Air Station (NAS) Lemoore.
The KC-46 belonging to the 22d Air Refueling Wing instead did an emergency landing at Travis AFB, California.
The mishap
Thenewarea51 provided the full description of the event on X (Twitter):
Wild ATC audio, a lost tail boom and live missiles turn into quite the story:
NOBLE42 (F-15E Mountain Home AFB) had an incident with WIDE12 (Boeing KC-46 17-46028) yesterday near Santa Barbara, California while refueling during a CAP (Combat Air Patrol) which was enforcing a TFR (Temporary Flight Restriction) during a POTUS stay. ATC audio (via @liveatc) gives a wild recount of a KC-46 that lost their boom and a F-15E that diverted to Fresno, CA with hydraulic problems only to break the emergency runway cable and divert to nearby NAS Lemoore as the KC-46 returned to Travis AFB.
Unconfirmed images posted by Air Force amn/nco/snco Facebook Page reportedly show the aftermath of the incident.
The images suggest that the KC-46 landed with the boom still extended since they feature the boom broken in half, with the end shaved off. The photos also suggest a potential collision with the receiving aircraft given that the Pegasus tanker’s APU exhaust cone has wrinkling damage.
An investigation is underway to determine the cause of the incident and details of the damage to both the KC-46A and the F-15E.
Noteworthy, as reported by Aerotime, the KC-46A has already encountered issues with its boom. KC-46A ‘Spirit of Portsmouth’ experienced a malfunction with its boom too during a mid-air refueling demonstration on Aug. 23, 2022, while on an exhibition flight for members of New Hampshire’s state representatives.
That time the tanker was forced to land with the boom extended at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey after its boom failed to retract due to a malfunction in its hoist cable. The boom then scraped the runway during landing.
KC-46A Pegasus
The KC-46A Pegasus has been in development since Feb. 24, 2011, and its initial flight occurred in Dec. 2014. The current contract, with options, provides Air Mobility Command an inventory of 179 KC-46A tankers. The first KC-46A was delivered to McConnell Air Force Base, Kansas on Jan. 25, 2019.
The KC-46A is the first phase in recapitalizing the US Air Force’s aging tanker fleet. With greater refueling, cargo and aeromedical evacuation capabilities compared to the KC-135, the KC-46A will provide aerial refueling support to Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and partner-nation receivers.
Photo by Kimberly Barrera, U.S. Air Force and Air Force amn/nco/snco