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The X-15 3-65 Accident: An Aircraft Systems and Flight Control PerspectiveDespite the NASA X-15 program's outstanding success in developing and operating the first manned hypersonic research platform, the program suffered a fatal accident on November 15, 1967, when X-15-3, the only aircraft outfitted with advanced pilot displays and an adaptive flight control system, was lost after entering uncontrolled flight at an altitude of 230,000 feet and a velocity near Mach 5. The pilot, Major Michael J. Adams, was incapacitated by the aircraft accelerations and was killed either during the ensuing breakup or upon ground impact. In light of mitigating risk to current and emerging manned aerospace vehicles, a comprehensive systems level analysis of the accident is presented with a focus on the electrical power, flight control, and instrumentation failures that affected not only the vehicle dynamics but substantially impacted the pilot decisions that led to an inevitable loss of control. Insights based on reconstructed flight data as well as analysis and simulation of the X-15's unique adaptive control system, yield new conclusions about the reasons for the control systems anomalous behavior and the system-level interactions and human-machine interface design oversights that led to the accident.
Document ID
20190001985
Acquisition Source
Ames Research Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Orr, Jeb S.
(Draper (Charles Stark) Lab., Inc. Huntsville, AL, United States)
Statler, Irving C.
(Ames Associate (retired) Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Barshi, Immanuel
(NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Date Acquired
March 29, 2019
Publication Date
October 20, 2014
Subject Category
Air Transportation And Safety
Report/Patent Number
ARC-E-DAA-TN18607
Meeting Information
Meeting: Annual International Association for the Advancement of Space Safety Conference (IAASS 2014): "Space Safety is no Accident"
Location: Friedrichshafen
Country: Germany
Start Date: October 20, 2014
End Date: October 22, 2014
Sponsors: International Association for the Advancement of Space Safety
Funding Number(s)
WBS: WBS 510505.03.01.01.04
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.
Keywords
Accident Investigation
X-15
Adaptive Control
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