VirginFlyer From Australia, joined Sep 2000, 4268 posts, RR: 54 Posted (3 years 10 months 3 days 18 hours ago) and read 1891 times:
This was just on the news here. An F/A-18 from the USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) crashed at sea today, about 400km south-east of Brisbane. The aircraft was on a training exercise, and experienced difficulties landing, according to a spokesman from the ship. The pilot eventually ejected, and the aircraft was lost. Thankfully, the pilot was uninjured, and rescued by helicopter.
I haven't been able to track down any new items about this online yet, but if I come across any, I'll post them here.
Good to hear the pilot got out safely - it must be rather frightening having to eject at sea.
V/F
[Edited 2006-01-29 09:07:46]
Dream no small dream; it lacks magic. Dream large. Then make the dream real. - Donald Douglas Snr
GOCAPS16 From Japan, joined Jan 2000, 4039 posts, RR: 33 Reply 2, posted (3 years 10 months 2 days 23 hours ago) and read 1734 times:
It's common to hear now. It's just suck to have a crash on the first deployment of the Ronald Reagan. We lost two jets during my time at sea. One was our squadron's F-14 during work ups on the USS John C. Stennis CVN-74 about 2 years ago, crashed while performing an emergency landing to NASNI due to engine failure. And during the actual cruise, we lost an S-3 Viking and 4 crewmen in the Sea of Japan.
Just happy to hear the pilot with VFA-25 was uninjured. The jet can be replaced, but the pilot cannot. I'll be looking forward to hear the cause of the crash either if it was mechanical or pilot error.
Interesting to note that the other F/A-18s went to Brisbane - would this be standard procedure when one has difficulty landing, or is it an indication of some sort of problem on the ship? The ABC articles say the diversion was required because of the amount of fuel on the aircraft. Without knowing the fuel burn for the aircraft, I would have thought flying 200km would require more fuel than holding briefly then landing if nothing was wrong with the ship. Would it just be a standard precaution to divert?
V/F
Dream no small dream; it lacks magic. Dream large. Then make the dream real. - Donald Douglas Snr
Sponsor Message: 
From Australia, joined Sep 2000, 4268 posts, 
From United States, joined Jan 2004, 4885 posts, 
From Japan, joined Jan 2000, 4039 posts, 
Sponsor Message: 
Printer friendly format
