A F/A-18C from VMFA-232 crashed near Royal Air Force Lakenheath, England on Oct. 21, 2016. BBC has seen the accident investigation report which says the Hornet’s Inertial Navigation System was not “100%” before it took off.
By English: Cpl Aubry L. Buzek [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
The crash had killed the pilot Maj. Taj Sareen.
Investigators say a combination of “stress from wanting to get home”, “stress of not wanting to be the reason for an additional delay”, and Maj Sareen’s “confidence to manage the problem after successfully flying the past two legs” lead to his decision not to declare the jet unserviceable.
Compounding the issue was that the aircraft took off from Lakenheath in instrument meteorological condition, forcing Sareen to fly by instruments.