USMC F-35B - Fired For Ejecting?

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We cover a news report about a USMC commander/pilot fired for losing an F-35B.

What do you think? Totally justified? Gotta be more to the story? Total BS? Marines eat crayons and shouldn't be allowed to have nice toys? Leave your comments below!

Every Monday at 8PM ET, Mover (F-16, F/A-18, T-38, 737, helicopter pilot, author, cop, and wanna be race car driver) and Gonky (F/A-18, T-38, A320, dirt bike racer, author, and awesome dad) discuss everything from aviation to racing to life and anything in between.



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*Views presented are my own and do not represent the views of DoD or its Components.*

[HonorJackson]

I served under LTCol Del Pizzo when he was a Harrier pilot. He is one of the best pilots I’ve ever met. If he felt he needed to eject then anyone else would have done the same.

[stgeorge]

I think Gonky is spot on, this sends the message that pilots need to second guess how their career will be impacted before bailing out of an out of control aircraft. Great way to start losing pilots.

[vincentlopez]

The pilot IS a very good friend of mine. With that said I do believe he was a scape goat for the Marine Corps. I served with the Col for many years and if he made that decision, it was the only decision left.

[Kolobochok]

Gonky is 100% spot on. A life is worth a lot more than a jet or a career. Let alone an experienced pilot like that. A jet is a tool, just like any other weapons system.

[josephking]

Civilian pilot here. My concern is seeing how this guy has been shafted by Command, how many other pilots are now going to hesitate pulling the handle because they are second guessing themselves and want to be triple sure they are going to depart a failing machine and don't want to lose their job?

I flew with a motto / saying _If in doubt, there is _*_no_*_ doubt._ Obviously didn't relate to me having a bang seat but it was something I needed to be very aware of when flying _Lawn Darts_ where I was required to wear a pilot's rig in case someone had a premature deployment and took out the horizontal stabiliser as they very quickly got dragged over it.

[rElliot]

I am a retired Naval Aviator and this mishap became very public. I agree with both of you, I think the mishap became too public, and now, the higher ups wanted to hold someone accountable to relive pressure. In this case, the easy way out was to hold the pilot accountable. He was in the goo, had issues with his instruments/displays, slowing down in IMC, and all sorts of changes to your internals are happening (spatial D). A tough situation to be in, period. My guess is, the General went against the recommendation of the FNAEB, and others in the chain, ending with his final decision.

[PeypaMikko-]

They are sending a very dark message to young military aviators. "In doubt, stay later, even if your life is at risk". Maybe that officer could have done better... but he lived to see another day, and was able to share his experience.

[AndrewH]

It a a real stain on the USMC that they fired this highly seasoned aviator for doing it by the book.

[sectionusmc]

Retired Marine Corps airwing. Helicopters. If you don't have altitude, you're dead. You have no ejections in a helo, and at that altitude, it doesn't matter what you are in, the ground can be there in seconds.

Vertigo can set in without you even realizing, and I've been to the funerals because of it. People have no idea how crazy and dangerous military aviation is.

I can't imagine the pucker factor trying to auto rotate in a helo in those conditions at that altitude.

It's also amazing how many people you can piss off in the squadron chain of command just by downing an aircraft for anything that is going to take more than a few minutes to fix. They are mad when it's down, but they won't hesitate for a second to throw you under the bus if there's a mishap. They will sell you right down the river. So, pilots, aircrew, or ground crew, the command is never going to be cool about anything other than perfect performance, which is fun with half the squadron awaiting parts at the end of the fiscal year because were broke. Toxic leadership for the loss.

I do miss being on the boat and the flightline though. Especially hot summer evenings. It's a magical place. I'd sit and watch planes after work.

[scottyballgame]

Thank you for calling out the stupidity in your comments. The CO who grounded him with no flying experience is maddening. I certainly hope leadership in the military changes drastically in the years to come.

[SeligTiles]

“Perfectly good”? It stopped being, “perfectly good” when the aircraft’s problems started.

[CGC]

This is just another example of the problems the US military today. Operations are over publicized with incomplete information to a public that has little understanding of how these things work. The top brass is also woefully inept.
Thank you gentlemen for having this aviators back.

[misterX-Good-old-games]

I think being a pilot supposes you to take the damn aircraft away from any buildings before you eject, even if it will cost your life... You just have to do it, it's part of your job and that's why you're paid for so well...

[RayMears-sg]

The decision at the time to eject seems right: instrument conditions, jet’s instruments experience significant issues, low alittude. Gonky is bang on: they can make another jet. The challenge with the public narrative / perception is that the aircraft flew on for several minutes and the ever growing complexity of modern jets making losses more expensive. The judgement in the report feels like an example of the insidious tendency towards applying full 20:20 hindsight after the event - I’m reminded of the plot of the fictionalised film Sully.

[ThatGeezer]

Where was the 'perfectly good airplane' in this incident? The pilot ejected from one with multiple instrument failures, in circumstances where he was TRAINED to eject.

[bernieeod]

In his book "On Yankee Station" John B Nickols wrote "If you can't afford to lose it, you cannot afford to use it!" As an F-8 Crusader pilot, he decried the over reliance on technology. The over sophistication and complexity of fighters. He stressed K.I.S.S. Keep it simple stupid. When a combat plane is so valuable the pilot has a duty to bring it back intact or don't come back alive, It's too complex, too expensive, and unfit for combat

[Dcscockpit]

That sends the message “if you eject you’re going to be punished” so now we are going to have aviators flying to their grave for fear of losing wings or being demoted, and that sucks.

[TheOrthodoxMoor]

The guy obviously new how to fly if he was a Harrier pilot since 93...He went from flying non fly by wire jets that still had some steam gauges, to flying a 5th Gen fly by wire jet that's all digital etc...With all those electronic instrument failures with NO manual backup wtf was he supposed to do??? EJECT EJECT EJECT!!!

[nick_pappagiorgio]

John McCain lost like 5 aircraft under his command, but his dad was also an Admiral.

[ilookatnews]

Pilot was sacrificed to save the F35 image