That B-2 Crash and Other Things

From the Air Force Association’s Daily Report:

More on the B-2 Crash: While the lessons learned from the crash of a B-2 bomber in February aren't applicable to the Air Force's other stealth platforms, the F-22 and F-35 fighters, there are "other systems being deployed" that will benefit from the insights, Maj. Gen. Floyd Carpenter, vice commander of 8th Air Force, who led the B-2 accident investigation board, told reporters June 5. However, Carpenter declined to elaborate on what the other platforms might be, although a best guess would be next-generation long-range strike prototypes. Whatever the case, the AIB found that distorted data introduced into the B-2's flight control computers during takeoff from Anderson AFB, Guam on Feb. 23 caused "an uncommanded, 30 degrees nose-high pitch-up" resulting in a stall and subsequent crash. Both pilots ejected. Moisture in port transducer units--which are essentially air data sensors also called pitots--during air data calibration led to faulty readings for which the flight control computers then tried to correct, leading to the pitch and stall. Carpenter said the aircraft lost, named Spirit of Kansas, was one of the best-performing and least problem-prone of the B-2 fleet, now down to just 20 aircraft. It had accumulated about 5,200 hours of flying time. Carpenter said the AIB doesn't assign culpability and any disciplinary measures will be up to unit commanders to determine. (Click here for Air Combat Command's Web page on the accident investigation, which includes the AIB documentation and videos of the actual mishap.)

I took the liberty of uploading the AIB’s animations of the crash to YouTube. And here they are:

There are also security camera videos and an amateur video of the crash at the “Click here” link above, but they’re not all that good. I suppose it takes skill to remain calm when viewing a catastrophe, and the person that shot the amateur vid didn’t have the “right stuff.” The security camera videos are a lot better. A fully-fueled B-2 creates a helluva fire when it goes down…

In case you hadn’t heard, both pilots ejected safely and had only minor injuries.

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Via Doc, a most useful and entertaining site: WikiQuote’s “List of Misquotations.” Sample:

“Play it again, Sam”

· Actual quote: "Play it Sam, for old times' sake, play 'As Time Goes By'." - Ingrid Bergman (Casablanca)

· Actual quote: "You played it for her, you can play it for me. ... If she can stand it, I can! Play it!" - Humphrey Bogart (Casablanca)

· Note: Woody Allen paid homage to Casablanca under the title Play It Again, Sam, which is likely the source of much such misquotation.

· The line first occurred in the Marx Brothers' film A Night in Casablanca (1946), another possible source of the misquotation.

There’s lotsa stuff there that I’ve misused for years and years now. Which, I suppose, all goes to prove “common knowledge” isn’t common. And it’s wrong sometimes, too.

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Some hockey notes… First, from Tony Gallagher of Canwest News Service… a critical view of the officiating in the Stanley Cup Final. Excerpt:

VANCOUVER -- Now that the Stanley Cup has been awarded to the Detroit Red Wings and any emotion from any one particular game has faded, we would be remiss if we didn't seriously ask some questions about what actually took place in that final series with respect to the officiating.

Having been around the NHL pretty much since the dawn of man, I have watched a lot of games and have seen a lot of good and bad calls by good and bad referees, and I rarely address this topic.

By and large the NHL officials are outstanding individuals whom any corporation would be thrilled to have represent them in almost any situation.

[…]

And when the most important games were played, the most experienced, senior officials were front and centre.

And even though the referees of the day would frequently call virtually nothing once the third period began and the game moved into overtime, there was never any sense of anything fishy.

The breaks involved in officials' judgments always seen to balance out over a series of games. There was no such feeling at this year's final.

While nobody really wanted to say so, how could you have possibly watched the calls in that series and not had the feeling that somehow, consciously or more likely unconsciously, there was a slant toward favouring the Pittsburgh Penguins?

Read the rest here. SN1 and I definitely thought the officials were biased, and not only in the Finals. The NHL needs to seriously re-evaluate the “goalie interference” rule. Bad calls by the officials waved off at least two Detroit goals due to goalie interference, one of which occurred during Game Five of the final…and Fleury was clearly NOT interfered with. There might not have been three overtimes had that goal been allowed, as it should have been.

That said… there’s another POV here. Sorta. The implications of the photographic evidence provided at the link aren’t suitable for a PG-13 blog, but it IS work-safe. And funny.

Second… about that Red Wings victory parade in Detroit. From The Freep:

On a day that began on one knee and ended with arms -- and a Cup -- raised, Detroit boasted over and over: Regardless what anyone else says, this is Hockeytown.

That was rarely more evident than Friday, when an entire region turned out to honor the Stanley Cup champion Red Wings with a parade and rally on a stunning 92-degree day.

The team estimated 1.4 million fans came downtown for the event, while the Detroit Police Department simply sized up the crowd at more than a million. Fans started gathering on Woodward Avenue early in the morning, with lines extending north of the I-75 bridge. The parade ended with thousands spilling into Hart Plaza for a 1:15 p.m. rally that lasted a half-hour.

The human mass stood seven or eight deep in most spots, with not a chunk of sidewalk to be seen along the route. Fans young and old flooded the avenue's sidewalks with red and white.

They came from across Michigan, Ontario and the surrounding states, skipping work, missing school and just spending a day thanking their heroes for the enjoyment of the past season, and the two-month playoff run, in particular.

Over a million people turned out on a sweltering day to celebrate their team! Hockey may be a minor sport in the great grand scheme of things, but I don’t recall reading about a million people turning out for the winners of any frickin’ Sooper-Dooper Bowl… I could be wrong, of course.

Last… Wings goalie Dominik Hasek, two-time winner of the Hart Trophy (League MVP), winner of the Conn Smythe (SCF MVP), and God-Only-Knows how many Vezina trophies (six, actually…Best Goalie) announced his retirement today. Hasek shared goal-tending responsibilities equally with Chris Osgood during the regular season and played four games against Nashville before Osgood replaced him for the remainder of the playoffs. Hasek’s name appears on the Stanley Cup twice…once for 2002 and again this year, both times as a Red Wing.