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ysobellehttp://www.hse.gov.uk/foi/releases/richardhammond.pdf
It's the Health and Safety report on Richard Hammond's crash. I have to hand it to the Brits-- they know how to make a legal document readable.
The important bits:
90. RH’s instantaneous reaction to the tyre blow out seems to have been that of a competent high performance car driver, namely to brake the car and to try to steer into the skid. Immediately afterwards he also seems to have followed his training and to have pulled back on the main parachute release lever, thus shutting down the jet engine and also closing the jet and afterburner fuel levers. The main parachute did not have time to deploy before the car ran off the runway.
91. RH seems to have displayed considerable presence of mind, and to have managed to deploy the parachute following the blow out, albeit too late for it to be effective.
92. The NYP report, having studied the parachute deployment times for earlier runs, suggests that the accident may not have been recoverable even if RH had reacted perfectly and with no more delay than was humanly possible.
93. Mike Gray, senior HSE ergonomist, doubts that any person, however adept and accustomed to high performance driving, can be trained in such a short length of time to unlearn a long-ingrained reflex action, such as stamping on the brakes in an emergency, and to replace that reflex action with a new one, namely to pull back on the parachute / engine shutdown lever in the event of a malfunction such as a tyre blow out. The driver may take the appropriate action, as RH seems to have done, but this will be as a result of a reasoning process during an emergency situation and will inevitably take longer than a well-practiced reflex action.
94. Combining the human and mechanical system response times and comparing them with the time between the tyre blow out and Vampire crashing off the runway, suggests that the situation was not recoverable, even by an experienced jet car driver.
It's the Health and Safety report on Richard Hammond's crash. I have to hand it to the Brits-- they know how to make a legal document readable.
The important bits:
90. RH’s instantaneous reaction to the tyre blow out seems to have been that of a competent high performance car driver, namely to brake the car and to try to steer into the skid. Immediately afterwards he also seems to have followed his training and to have pulled back on the main parachute release lever, thus shutting down the jet engine and also closing the jet and afterburner fuel levers. The main parachute did not have time to deploy before the car ran off the runway.
91. RH seems to have displayed considerable presence of mind, and to have managed to deploy the parachute following the blow out, albeit too late for it to be effective.
92. The NYP report, having studied the parachute deployment times for earlier runs, suggests that the accident may not have been recoverable even if RH had reacted perfectly and with no more delay than was humanly possible.
93. Mike Gray, senior HSE ergonomist, doubts that any person, however adept and accustomed to high performance driving, can be trained in such a short length of time to unlearn a long-ingrained reflex action, such as stamping on the brakes in an emergency, and to replace that reflex action with a new one, namely to pull back on the parachute / engine shutdown lever in the event of a malfunction such as a tyre blow out. The driver may take the appropriate action, as RH seems to have done, but this will be as a result of a reasoning process during an emergency situation and will inevitably take longer than a well-practiced reflex action.
94. Combining the human and mechanical system response times and comparing them with the time between the tyre blow out and Vampire crashing off the runway, suggests that the situation was not recoverable, even by an experienced jet car driver.