Navy crew ejects from strike fighter over Philippine Sea
Crew members from the aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan on July 6 direct an F/A-18F Super Hornet from Strike Fighter Squadron 102. The Reagan was sailing the Philippine Sea. (MC2 Kenneth Abbate/Navy)
…cause of mechanical glitch under investigation
By: Carl Prine
An F/A-18F Super Hornet strike fighter assigned to the aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan suffered what authorities say was a “mechanical issue” during “routine operations” on Monday over the Philippine Sea, forcing the crew to eject.
A search and rescue MH-60S Seahawk from the “Golden Falcons” of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 12 retrieved the Carrier Air Wing 5 crew, and medical personnel aboard the Reagan pronounced both aviators to be in “good condition,” according to the Japan-based 7th Fleet.
Officials said that the carrier had resumed normal operations and the crash is under investigation.
The F/A-18F is the two-seat variant for the Super Hornet.
Not the E Ticket ride I would want to take. The good news is both were recovered. A large part of that outcome is the emergency radios and other signaling devices that were available to them, and they were trained to use. Its a very big ocean, SAR crews need all the help they can get for a sucessful rescue.
The rest of the article may be found at The Navy Times
Category: Navy, Search and Rescue
BZ to the SAR team, great news the crew were rescued.
You know I can’t pass up a good SAR story.
Anything to roll out that same photo.
Poor guy has been busy lately.
Thank God they were all recovered and in good health!
BZ to their Parachute Rigger. One bottle of their choice coming right up.
If the number of safe landings does not equal the number of safe take offs, pray for a good SAR Crew and a working radio/beacon. BZ to the crew. Local fish rag had an article on this by lined NY Times. They quoted Gen Neller from talk in January “we’ve got too many of them…….We need to get rid of some because we don’t have time to fix them. Seems to me, you could recruit and train several mechanics for the $57 million price tag on a Super Hornet. Glad both crews made it back safe to their floating air field.
Was there something wrong with the plane, or did they just decide to punch out?
Mark from the article I read, “had a mechanical problem during routine operations.”
Presuming they punched out.
From the article above:
‘An F/A-18F Super Hornet strike fighter assigned to the aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan suffered what authorities say was a “mechanical issue” during “routine operations” on Monday over the Philippine Sea, forcing the crew to eject.’
Please note: ‘forcing the crew to eject.’
No crew in Naval Aviation will ever ‘just decide to punch out’ of an aircraft. Ejecting from an aircraft is not a decision that is taken lightly or done on a whim for fun. It’s only done in extreme emergency situations.
Ejecting from an aircraft puts the crew in extremis during the ejection sequence, and depending on where one ejects, i.e. over water out at sea or over remote wooded terrain, the SAR crews may never find the crew, especially if crewmembers are injured and can’t operate their survival and signaling gear.
Not to mention the $54M USD they would have to come up with to pay for the aircraft after “just deciding to punch out.”
*grin*
Thanks, Mick. I figured you would come along and set Mark straight.
Not a good time to be on the Reagan.
This is the second lost aircraft in a month, and with the nukes LSD ring, etc…