NORFOLK, Va. — A highly respected F-16 fighter pilot who died in a December crash in the Middle East didn’t realize he was descending until the last second before impact, which didn’t give him enough time to recover, according to an Air Force report released Monday.
Capt. William H. DuBois, 30, of New Castle was flying in support of Operation when he crashed. The Air Force has not identified the country where he crashed, but the military has said it wasn’t Iraq or Syria, where the U.S. is carrying out strikes against the Islamic State.
DuBois crashed just before 5 a.m. in an unpopulated area, about 10 miles away from the classified base to which his jet was returning, according to the report by an crash investigation board at Air Combat Command in Virginia. DuBois had night-vision goggles, but the report stated that it’s impossible to know whether he was wearing them at the time of the crash.
He had worn night-vision goggles on 18 of his previous 19 missions during the deployment. Regardless of whether he was wearing the goggles, DuBois still would have needed to scan the cockpit’s instruments for the necessary information to maintain the correct altitude, pitches and descent rates, the report found. The report stated without properly scanning his instruments, his maneuvers would have resulted in a false sensation and exacerbated what’s called an “elevator illusion,” which refers to a common circumstance of a long elevator descent with no visual references.
DuBois was considered an “outstanding young officer,” who squadron leaders said was likely to be the next chosen for the elite U.S. Air Force Weapons School. He was considered a natural leader who often spent extra time mentoring younger wingmen, the report stated.
The morning of the crash, another jet that was accompanying DuBois had a landing-gear door malfunction shortly after takeoff, so they were trying to return to base and swap out jets before continuing with their combat mission, the report found. The pilot of that jet landed safely.
The report stated DuBois already was flying below the minimum altitude before starting his landing approach, which reduced the time available to recognize and recover from the subsequent unintentional descent.
The report stated that DuBois attempted to pull up before hitting the ground, but there wasn’t enough time to recover. He did not attempt to eject.
The report also stated that DuBois didn’t follow published procedures on an instrument approach. The remote airfield has a tower controller but no radar approach control, the report found.
DuBois was assigned to the 77th Fighter Squadron, which flies out of Shaw Air Force Base.
