OA-10A 77-0197 was assigned to the 23rd Tactical Air Support Squadron (TASS), 602nd Tactical Air Control Wing (TACW), Davis Monthan AFB AZ. This aircraft crashed, killing pilot Lt Patrick Olson (posthumously promoted to Captain) after a reconnaissance mission over Kuwait on 27 Feb 1991, call sign NAIL 51. Aircraft had been hit by a surface-to-air missile (SAM) in the aft end. Lt Olsen attempted to land it at KKMC FOL in Manual Reversion after loosing all its hydraulics and brakes, in extreme weather conditions and with only one engine. On landing aircraft hit a little short, bounced twice on the soft overrun where on the second bounce the gear sunk into the ground and sheared off. The aircraft started sliding and turned a little sideways when the left wing started gaining lift and the aircraft became airborne again, almost 50 feet airborne. The left wing kept getting lift and the plane rolled inverted until it cart wheeled wingtip over wingtip flipped over on to its back killing the pilot Lt Olson. With the aircraft inverted there was no chance of ejection. On scene reports say the reason Lt Olson didn't eject earlier was because his neck was broken on the first landing bounce. A sad day indeed. There was nothing left of the aircraft. The remains of the aircraft were buried in a desert pit at the FOL (along side 79-0181).
In the photo gallery, the 77-0197 wreckage is in the aircraft on the sling being buried in the pit in the Saudi desert beside A-10 79-0181.
Lt Olson had been victim of another battle damage in an A-10 on 14 Feb 1991 just days before this fatal day. On a low-level mission on Feb. 14, 1991, Olson’s OA-10 was hit by a bullet that struck the lower left-hand part of his canopy and and bounced off. Uncertain if his plane had suffered serious damage he headed for home and landed safely. My ABDR team and I scratched our heads trying how the bullet had gouged out a messy dent in the fuselage only 2 feet from Olson’s head and didn't hurt him. Luck was on his side that day.
