Afterburner Failure During Takeoff

  1. Throttle—INBOARD—Immediately move throttle inboard out of AFTERBURNER range to MILITARY to ensure exhaust nozzle closing.

    Warning

    If afterburner is used and light up is not achieved, considerably less than military thrust is output. Return the throttle inboard to regain military thrust.

  2. External load—JETTISON (if necessary)—If the aircraft starts to decelerate or altitude cannot be maintained, assume either the exhaust nozzle failed to close, or gross weight is too great to continue. In either case, jettison external loads to lighten aircraft gross weight.

Note

In most cases, if external loads are jettisoned at the time of afterburner failure, the takeoff can be successfully completed at military thrust.