{"id":40188,"date":"2024-04-01T20:55:35","date_gmt":"2024-04-01T20:55:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2024\/04\/01\/contractor-crushed-by-t-38-jet-suffered-broken-ribs-spinal-fractures\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T21:17:03","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T21:17:03","slug":"contractor-crushed-by-t-38-jet-suffered-broken-ribs-spinal-fractures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2024\/04\/01\/contractor-crushed-by-t-38-jet-suffered-broken-ribs-spinal-fractures\/","title":{"rendered":"Contractor crushed by T-38 jet suffered broken ribs, spinal fractures"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A civilian maintainer was hospitalized for nearly a week with multiple broken bones and other injuries after the nose of a T-38A Talon training jet collapsed on him at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico, in February 2023, according to an Air Force investigation<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The unnamed contractor was lubricating the Talon\u2019s landing gear as part of routine maintenance on the jet, assigned to the 509th Bomb Wing at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, when he removed a safety pin that caused the nose gear to retract as he worked on the plane, the service concluded in an investigation report published March 28.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Talon\u2019s nose crushed the man for several minutes, breaking several ribs and leaving him with spinal fractures. It took seven people to lift the aircraft off of him; he was airlifted to a hospital in Texas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aircraft damages cost more than $116,000 to repair, the report said. The Talon\u2019s forward nose landing gear door, an antenna, forward fuselage and pitot boom, which calculates speed, were damaged in the accident, which was classified as a \u201cClass B\u201d mishap. Class B incidents cause between $600,000 and $2.5 million in damages, permanent partial disability or inpatient hospitalization of three or more personnel, or a combination of those factors.<\/p>\n\n\n\t