"Marine AV-8B Harrier Crashes in Djibouti" Topic

The Harrier was taking off from Djibouti Ambouli International Airport around 4 p.m. local time (9 a.m. EST) when the nose of the aircraft rose too quickly, causing the pilot to lose control of the aircraft and forcing the pilot to eject, according to eyewitness accounts of the crash a source told USNI News. Witnesses say the pilot was able to walk to the ambulance after the ejection…

link

Glad the marine aviator is okay. The Harrier has been called the "widowmaker" by some. The F-35B should be able to shed that reputation, though it may earn another one, "bankbreaker."

Never heard the Harrier called the "Widowmaker", certainly not RAF or FAA. That sobriquet was well earned however by the F-104

Might be a misquote from the Falklands referring to its victims.

Never heard the Harrier called the "Widowmaker"

"The Harrier has been called "The Flying Coffin" and "the Widowmaker" due to the number of crashes and fatalities associated with the airframe since it first entered service with the Marines as the AV-8A in 1971. As the accidents became more numerous, so did the protests over the continued use of the Harrier by the Marines.

But in recent years, the accident rate has dropped dramatically with the Harrier fleet. The 1980s and ‘90s were especially harsh on the community with over 35 airframe losses (including three shot down by Iraqi forces during Operation Desert Storm) and the death of 32 pilots.

Losses among Marine forces were also substantial in the proceeding decade; however, the situation has begun to correct itself, and that is in large part to the Harrier Independent Readiness Review program the Marines launched in 2014, which took a very hard and critical look at the way they had been doing business with the Harrier."

Excerpted from this article: link

The US Harrier is to all intents and purposes a different aircraft to any form operated by the UK.

The Harrier was always a difficult aircraft to fly. It was generally accepted in the RAF that only the most skilled pilots went on to fly it. Change in accident rates may be due to improvements in training and selection. Also any aircraft that relies on a single engine over wing lift capacity, with a large intake, flying at low level is going to suffer from bird strikes and debris through the engine.

You forgot "flown by marines"

Marine Aviators have a bad habit of hitting the beach at high speed…