A Royal Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon F2 based at RAF Conningsby has made what appears to have been a gear-up landing during training at China Lake Naval Weapons Air Station in California, Western United States.

The accident happened last week and the aircraft is reported to have come to rest with only ‘minor’ damage. While most sources suggest no mechanical issue was to blame, it amazes me that you could land the Typhoon gear up at a controlled airbase. Surely the usually breathy female voice of the aircraft’s automatic announcer would have risen to a scream of “TOO LOW! - GEAR!” just before the metal-rending moment? Aside from that, you’d think the air traffic controller might have ordered the Typhoon to go around when it became apparent that it wasn’t going to make contact with the asphalt in the customary fashion.

Wing Commander Andrew McGill commented:

“The damage to the aircraft is still to be fully assessed and until a board of inquiry has been convened it would not be appropriate to comment further until the investigation is complete.”

Now, allegedly, the damage is not such that the aircraft has become un-airworthy but it’s hard to imagine how putting an 11-15 ton aircraft on the ground at 130 knots without the benefit of wheels could only scratch the paintwork.

I presume they’ll be fixing the aircraft in situ at China Lake, quite what resources that will need is anyone’s guess.

Note: Image is example of Type, not actual aircraft.

The BBC reported earlier that an RAF Eurofighter Typhoon, presumably of 17 Squadron RAF Coningsby, went supersonic over Shropshire at about 4pm today.

The Typhoon with two crew reportedy made an emergency descent from 30,000 feet down to 10,000 feet and inadvertently exceeded the speed of sound causing a sonic boom. The reason for the emergency descent was given as a ’systems failure’.

I would speculate that the most likely ’systems failure’ to necessitate a rapid descent to 10,000 feet would be a failure of a crew ‘breathing vest’ or loss of breathing oxygen (perhaps even a wardrobe-malfunction with a mask). The crew would probably use oxygen at any altitude above 10,000 feet. Loss of oxygen would lead quickly to hypoxia and unconsciousness.

Pushing the nose down at high subsonic speeds in the Typhoon would probably take you supersonic in short order and to be frank; if I was at the controls and thought I could be risking unconsciousness, I’d get get down below 10,000ft as soon as possible, supersonic or not.

Unfortunately for some Shropshire residents, they were treated to what would probably have been a loud ‘double-boom’ (one from the nose, one from the tail) with no obvious source. Of course, like all good citizens, they have been trained to be scared of their own shadow and the BBC carries quotes from suitably ‘anxious’ and ‘frightened’ people.