Army finds unqualified F-35 pilot caused Apache crash in Utah

An Army investigation has revealed that an F-35 pilot with no prior experience in the Apache attack helicopter was at the controls when it crashed at a base in Utah last February. According to KUTV, which obtained a copy of the report, the pilot, a colonel, had only 35 minutes of simulator time in the Apache before embarking on an orientation flight with a Master Warrant Officer qualified in the type.

The investigation found that during the colonel's fourth attempt to hover and land the Apache at West Jordan Airport, he lost control. An investigator noted, “In a moment of panic and due to his great unfamiliarity with the … helicopter flight controls,” adding that “the [colonel] reverted to his fixed-wing … training and applied downward movement…. This motion … was not the proper input in a [rotor wing] aircraft.” The report also criticized the Master Warrant Officer, stating that “overconfidence … led to inadequate aircraft flight control management and inadequate altitude selection with an unqualified person on the helicopter's flight controls.”