MORE Aircraft Carrier Crash Lowlights

Comments · 1.9K

• DA

  @davidgreen40 · 5 years ago

  I met an A-6 pilot who had an ejection seat handle on his desk. I asked about it and the sea story started “That is all that’s left of a $40M aircraft….”

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• TI

  @timferguson1593 · 3 years ago (edited)

  The Prowler hitting the S-3 was an accident that cost EVERYONE: LSO PERSONNEL, Air Boss, Mini Boss, ATC, ATC Division Officer, radar operations personnel. Basically everyone running the show that night were reprimanded and discharged. The Boss Mini Boss and ATC and the LSO running the comms with the aircraft discharged from Naval service

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• RI

  @Riverplacedad1 · 5 years ago (edited)

  The A7 pilot who pulled power (actually he shut down his engine) on the bolter, got the nickname “the 9 million dollar man.” That was his 3rd A7 ejection and he was only a LT. A very lucky man!

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• VI

  @vidar7106 · 4 years ago (edited)

  I had recently left VS-22 prior to the EA-6B hitting Vidar706 in the landing area. Luckily the S-3 only had front seaters. Skipper Wallace ended up in the water and the CoTac ended up in the mast on the island. His new call sign? “ Swinger”. I’m a modeler and built a model of Vidar 706 for Skipper Wallace. He teared up when I presented to him.<br>I’m a soul survivor of an S-3 ejection that rolled right off cat 1 in Oct 1989. Currently a 737 pilot out of Miami with American.<br>Skipper Renninget was the pilot of the nose gear issue that took the barricade. He later became the Commadore of the East Coast SeaStrike Wing. He’s now a County Commissioner in Northeast Florida.

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• JA

  @jamescatrett2608 · 5 years ago

  James Mitchener said it best in The Bridges At Toko-Ri : “Why is America lucky enough to have such men? &nbsp;They leave this tiny ship and fly against the enemy. &nbsp;Then they must seek the ship, lost somewhere on the sea. &nbsp;And when they find it, they have to land upon its pitching deck. &nbsp;Where did we get such men?”

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• SE

  @SeranStorme · 4 years ago

  My senior instructor for NJROTC in high school was a B-52 pilot during the Vietnam War. He retired when my class graduated and the entire school, and some of his previous students, came to give him a salute in our graduation gear, service uniforms or whatever we still had when his retirement was announced at graduation. More than 5000 people saluting him made him, a man who never showed any weakness and was always there when you needed help, tear up. He was and I&apos;m sure still is the happiest vet I&apos;ve ever met, but he cared for every single student like his own child. I know several crewmen aboard ships managed to stream their salutes back to their instructor.<br><br>I miss that man. By far the coolest and most level-headed man I&apos;ve ever met. I&apos;m honored to have known him.

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• JI

  @jimz68 · 5 years ago

  Rest In Peace to all who perished in service to our country.

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• JA

  @jamesmasonaltair · 3 years ago (edited)

  My heart bleeds Army, but the sight of US Navy sailors streaming towards danger, with zero regard for their own lives, just to try to save their aviators, makes me so proud. &nbsp;It gets me right in the feels.<br>When men know that their bros have their back no matter what, they will risk much. &nbsp;That willingness to lay it on the line for your shipmates is a powerful force multiplier.<br>And a shout out to my Navy bro onboard the Mahan (DDG 72). &nbsp;May he and all our Navy boys and girls return home safe.<br>Mr. Carroll, sir, thank you for the great vids and the expert, succinct analysis. &nbsp;You Naval Aviators are some ice cool, disciplined, and highly trained individuals.

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• -N

  @-nixwite- · 5 years ago

  Man, some of this footage is hard to watch. Rest in Peace to those who gave all.

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• BR

  @Brick702 · 3 years ago

  <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pBA4dF7aPw&amp;t=130">2:10</a> That inflight engagement is insane. I was a yellow shirt on the flight deck of a carrier and I remember seeing a Rhino from a training squadron have one. You see thousands of traps so after a while you can tell if an aircraft is above/below glide slope long before they trap. I was in Fly 3, right on the foul line next to the wires, and I remember seeing this aircraft waaay below glide slope on final. They were so extremely low that for a split second I thought they were going to slam into the fantail. Right as they get to the ship, the engines kicked on as the initiated the wave off, and they hovered above the deck with absolutely nothing touching deck except the tailhook which I spotted at the last second. They get a positive rate of climb and start flying away when the hook caught the wire and it just SNATCHED this jet out of the air. It pitched nose down so violently that I thought this pilot was going to go nose first into the deck and kill themselves. LUCKILY, the nose gear took the brunt of the impact and the rear gear slammed into the deck so hard that a few of us got hit with shrapnel flying off the aircraft. &nbsp;Needless to say, it got towed away, but major credit to the maintainers because that thing was up and flying a week later or so. I imagine that pilot was promptly assigned the callsign &quot;SLAM&quot;.<br><br>I saw a lot of crazy things working on the flight deck, including an aircraft crashing in the water on the downwind leg right off the side with both the crew ejecting safely, but that jet having the inflight engagement scared the absolute hell out of me.

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• SC

  @scenepointjudge · 5 years ago

  The Prowler striking the Viking is absolutely heartbreaking.

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• GE

  @geobeo6449 · 4 years ago

  Ward - at the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pBA4dF7aPw&amp;t=180">3:00</a> mark: the F-8 (VF-11, AB-212) - my Dad was in the squadron on that cruise. &nbsp; Fortunately, pilot LTJG J.T. Kryway was recovered and able to continue flying. &nbsp;He eventually became the CO of VF-96, 12 years later.

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