Airborne Tactical Advantage Company
 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1994 |
| Headquarters | Newport News, Virginia, USA |
Area served | United States |
| Services | contracted air services and adversary air combat training |
| Website | ATAC.com |
Airborne Tactical Advantage Company (ATAC), is a government contractor based in Newport News, Virginia, United States. It operates Dassault Mirage F1, Mk-58 Hawker Hunter, Israeli F-21 Kfir, Douglas A-4 Skyhawk, and Aero L-39 Albatros military aircraft in tactical flight training roles for the United States Navy, United States Air Force, and Air National Guard.
Its main air operations base is at Naval Air Station Point Mugu, California.[1] It sends aircraft as far away as Naval Air Facility Atsugi in Japan.[2][3]
ATAC was acquired by Textron in 2016 and continues to operate as a subsidiary.[4]
Fleet
[edit]The ATAC air fleet includes the following aircraft[5]
- 20 Hawker Hunters
- 6 IAI F-21 Kfirs
- 1 Douglas A-4 Skyhawk
- 2 Aero L-39 Albatroses
- 63 Dassault Mirage F1s[6][4]
Accidents and incidents
[edit]
- 8 July 2010: Douglas A-4 Skyhawk N132AT lost power during takeoff and crashed in a field near Naval Air Station Fallon. The pilot ejected safely. Investigations by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) were completed.[7]
- 6 March 2012:IAI Kfir N404AX crashed into a building near at Naval Air Station Fallon in inclement weather, killing the pilot. Investigations by the FAA and NTSB were completed.[8]
- 18 May 2012: Hawker Hunter N329AX crashed in a field on final approach to Naval Air Station Point Mugu, killing the pilot. Investigations by the FAA and NTSB have been completed.[9][10]
- 29 October 2014: Hawker Hunter N332AX crashed in a field near Naval Air Station Point Mugu, killing the pilot. Investigations by the FAA and NTSB have been completed.[11][12][13]
- 22 August 2017 : Hawker Hunter crashed about 100 miles off the coast of San Diego, California. The pilot was able to eject and was recovered by a U.S. Navy helicopter from aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt.[14]
- 25 February 2021: Mirage F1B slid off the end of the runway at Tyndall Air Force Base. Both pilots were transported to the local hospital.[15]
- 14 April 2021: Hawker Hunter N331AX suffered a runway excursion incident at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma.[16]
- 20 June 2022: Hawker Hunter N337AX crashed approximately 41 nautical miles off the coast of Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina. The pilot was able to eject, suffering a spinal injury upon ejection. Investigations by the FAA and NTSB are in work.[17]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Airborne Tactical Advantage Company Wins Up to $47,080,902 Contract". Bloomberg BusinessWeek. Archived from the original on 27 January 2015. Retrieved 20 July 2012.
- ^ ATAC Hawker Hunter F Mk.58 N322AX @ NAF Atsugi Retrieved 18 February 2017
- ^ "Naval Air Facility (NAF) / Japan Maritime Self Defence Force (JMDSF) Atsugi". Airshow Action. 27 April 2013. Archived from the original on 25 October 2016. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
- ^ a b Giangreco, Leigh (19 September 2017). "Textron unit acquires 63 Mirage F1s". FlightGlobal. Archived from the original on 22 September 2017. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
- ^ Federal Aviation Administration. "US Civil Aircraft Registry, Query="ATAC"". Federal Aviation Administration. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
- ^ Arnaud (18 July 2017). "L'enterprise américaine ATAC racchète 63 Mirage F1 Français !". Avions Legendaires (in French). Archived from the original on 22 September 2017. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
- ^ "WPR10LA339". National Transportation Safety Board. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
- ^ "DCA12PA049". National Transportation Safety Board. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
- ^ "DCA12PA076". National Transportation Safety Board. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
- ^ "Jet crashes in Southern California, killing pilot". CBS News. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
- ^ "WPR15GA030". National Transportation Safety Board. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
- ^ "'Top Gun' style military jet crashes outside Navy base in California, killing pilot". NYDailyNews. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
- ^ "PILOT DIES IN MILITARY PLANE CRASH IN PORT HUENEME". ABC News. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
- ^ "ATAC HAWKER HUNTER CRASHES OFF THE COAST OF SAN DIEGO". The Aviation Geek Club. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
- ^ "Contract pilots in F1B Mirage suffer non-life-threatening injuries in Tyndall AFB crash". NavyTimes. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
- ^ "Runway excursion Incident Hawker Hunter Mk 58 N331AX, 14 Apr 2021<".
- ^ "ERA22LA277". National Transportation Safety Board. Retrieved 8 August 2022.