The aircraft began to tumble, the pilotejected, and the plane hit the ground in a fireball and large cloud ofblack smoke about 5 seconds after the ejection about one mile from thethreshold of Runway 33 at Martin State, slightly south of the runway'sextended centerline.Īndy Kunkowskisaid he waswatching the show from a small boatnear the shoreline and immediatelywent to the scene of the crash andspoke to the pilot. After theF-117A pitched to the high angle of attack, it appeared unstableand out of control. Under 3 seconds elapsed fromthe start of large elevon oscillations to the gear being down. A second later,the main landing gear was visible in the down position, probably due tothehigh loads or loss of hydraulic pressure. The aircraft rolled 90 degrees left within 0.8seconds, then sharply pitched to a high angle of attack.
Theoscillations deflected the left wing, which broke off 2.5 ft. when theleftoutboard elevon made several large deflections up and down. Theprevious day, the pilot and aircraft participated in aflyby at Arlington National Cemetery before arriving at Syracuse. This rotation for the mishap aircraft and Maj. Aircraft and personnel serve in 60-dayrotations. It was one oftwo F-117Astemporarily located at Langley to support community and military airshowsin the eastern United States. The F-117A had left HancockInternational Airport at Syracuse, N.Y., and wasperforming at the airshow while en route to Langley AFB, Va. Knight is an instructor pilot in the 7th FSwith more than 2,770 flying hours,including 500 in the F-117A. Bryan Knight, who safely ejected and was taken to Malcolm Grow MedicalCenter at Andrews Air ForceBase, Md., for treatment of minor injuries to his neck and back andfor observation. The final pass was a45-degree arcing pass at 380 kts and 600-700 feet, providing a plan-formviewof the aircraft, optimum for pictures. First the pilot did a straight and level pass at 400 kts and 500 feet.Next, astraight and level pass at 300 kts and 500 feet to give those attendingthe airshow a better look at the F-117A Nighthawk. It was making itsthird and final pass of the airfield at the Chesapeake Air Show in frontof 12,000people andwas preparing to return to its base when the crash occurred. F-117A #81-793 with approximately11,000 pounds of fuel aboard crashed intoA house about 100 feet from thewater of theChesapeake Bay, near the GlennMartin State Airport near Middle River, Md., about 13 miles east of Baltimore.
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