Air USA on hankkinut noin vuonna 2013 12 eteläkorealaista Hawk Mk 67 -konetta, joista ainakin yksi on menetetty onnettomuudessa. Koneet ovat edelleen Air USA:n nettisivuilla kalustolistauksessa. Varustuksena luetellaan mm. AESA Radar, ACAP Pod (Level 4 EW), Advanced IRST ja Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing System (JHMCS).
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Yuma Hawk Accident: Lessons on Ex-Military Aircraft Operation
A fatal accident with an ex-Korean Hawk, operated by a defence contractor, highlights some of the issues of civil use of ex-military aircraft. On 11 March 2015, the BAe Hawk Mk 67 (known in Korea as a T-59), N506XX, operated by Air USA, struck a vehicle after a stall during take off at the joint military / civil airfield at Yuma, AZ. The driver of the vehicle died in the crash. The two occupants of the Hawk (pilot and passenger) were not injured but the aircraft was destroyed by fire.
The Wreckage of Air USA Hawk TMk67 N506XX (Credit: Unknown)
The Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) had ordered 20 Hawk Mk67s in July 1991. They were retired in 2013 with Air USA purchasing 12. The aircraft had an Experimental Certificate of Airworthiness and was being operated as a Public Aircraft (effectively the FAA equivalent of a civil ‘State Aircraft’, to use ICAO terminology), on contract to the US Air Force (USAF) in support of a Special Operations Terminal Attack Controller Course (SOTACC).
A US fatal accident with an ex-Korean Hawk, operated by a defence contractor, highlights some of the issues of civil use of ex-military aircraft.
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