DWalt
Member
Just saw that a $70M F-18 went over the side of the Harry S. Truman because the tow crew lost control. Any carrier squids here who can explain how that could have happened?
F-18 in Davy Jones Locker
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cherrypointmarine
Member
You'd have to be on a flight deck during flight op's to understand what goes on . It's a tightly choreographed operation being done mostly by people not long out of high school . Now there are officers up there but for the most part it's young people . They are well trained , but mistakes do happen . Ask any of the old timers about the USS Forest Fire , USS Forrestal , if you want to see a s*** storm . Or I'm sure there's a video of it somewhere . It was all caught on the flight deck cameras .
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Boy, I bet that's a lot of paperwork.
OP
DWalt
Member
And the end of a few Naval careers. Maybe more than a few.
Probably gotta send a few charges down there blow it up
OP
DWalt
Member
News story said that the F-18 would probably not be salvageable. A towing vehicle also went over the side.
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I guess there are a few things not to say to the Commander.....
opps....
Chit happens....
Sun glare temp blindness....
The new kid said we had enough room....
The crew members who were in the pilot seat of the Super Hornet and on the small towing tractor both jumped out before the jet and the tug went into the Red Sea. According to a defense official, the sailor who jumped from the aircraft sustained a minor injury. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss personnel details.
LVSteve
Member
I'll come back when attachments are live again.
Latest report is it happened on the hanger deck while putting it on an elevator to the flight deck. Same ship as collided with civilian ship a while back.
I read that the Harry S. Truman was manuvering radically at the time to avoid a missle fired at it by the Houtis.
The news report I read of this incident reported that the Super Hornet “fell” overboard from the hangar deck while in tow as the ship was taking evasive action avoiding incoming Houthis attack. The hangar deck is the maintenance deck, directly below the flight deck, where flight operations occur. An aircraft moving from the hanger deck to the flight deck (or the other way round) would be towed to a side/edge elevator using a tow bar and tow tractor. A Deck Director (officer) is in charge of deck operations for aircraft movements. He has crews of yellow shirt a/c handlers for each a/c to be moved: an aircraft director, tractor driver, two chock walkers (one at each main wheel) and a brake rider in the cockpit. Once secured to the elevator, the tow tractor and bar would be removed and the elevator brings the aircraft up to the flight deck or down to the hangar deck. Another tractor and bar are then hooked up to “spot” the aircraft in its new location. Aircraft aboard a carrier are re-spotted (moved about) continuously to and from the hangar deck to the flight deck. Then moved about the flight deck in preparation for launch and/or recovery ops. Helicopters, which serve as SAR plane guards, are the first to launch and the last to recover. A spot (space) has to be cleared on the flight deck (usually mid-ship) to launch the helo. Aircraft have to be moved. Then aircraft are moved to clear the catapults for aircraft launch ops. For a major strike effort, the air wing may be launching from all 4 cats, at 30-45 second intervals. There are times when the carrier might be doing launch and recovery ops simultaneously: using the bow cats for launch ops and landing aircraft on the after angle deck. Aircraft are shuffled about to make room. This all occurs while the ship is moving at 30-35 mph, sometimes in inclement weather and at night. That can become VERY hairy. All of these a/c movements are choreographed by the Deck Director. Our newer carriers flight decks are about four and a half acres of space and every inch is utilized. During evasive maneuvers the carrier could lean/heel over some 15 degrees, causing things not secured to “move” about. A “hard maneuver warning” would sound (1MC announcement, sirens, etc) to prepare the ship for hard turns - if possible. Action would be taken by the a/c director, the chock walkers (throw the chocks behind the wheels) and the brake rider (hard braking). A hard turn, without warning, while making heavy knots could be the explanation for this incident. An investigation is underway and will determine the causative factors.
The loss of the aircraft is costly and unfortunate but could have turned tragic if the deck crew were also lost. Thank goodness no one was seriously injured.
I served aboard the USS FORESTALL, CV59, in the mid-‘70s, assigned to her Air Wing (CVW17). She was a fine ship but still showed some of the scarred from the ‘67 fire even after several yards visits.
EDIT: Took me a bit to reestablish connection here as my old link gave me a “404” error code. Wasn’t aware we were going thru a major site update.
The loss of the aircraft is costly and unfortunate but could have turned tragic if the deck crew were also lost. Thank goodness no one was seriously injured.
I served aboard the USS FORESTALL, CV59, in the mid-‘70s, assigned to her Air Wing (CVW17). She was a fine ship but still showed some of the scarred from the ‘67 fire even after several yards visits.
EDIT: Took me a bit to reestablish connection here as my old link gave me a “404” error code. Wasn’t aware we were going thru a major site update.
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fiasconva
Member
+1 on the no lives lost and the ship not getting hit by the oncoming attack. I'm sure the retaliation will be swift and effective.
AJ
US Veteran
Like CherryPointMarine posted in Post #2, you gotta be there to understand what happened. Could have been a mistake by the directors, could have been a mistake by the tow tractor driver, could have been the brake rider made a mistake, could have been a mistake by the Blue Shirt (chocks the aircraft) or a combination of any or all of those. The flight Deck is heavily coated with non-skid, but at times it does get slick and things will slide (like aircraft). If the ship rolls to much then things slide easily. Empty weight of an F-18 is 23,000 pounds and loaded (fuel and ordnance up to 52.000 pounds. Can be hard to control with a tow tractor (we used a TA-75 which weighed 10,000 pounds to tow with). Wait until the official report comes out. The media is speculating half the time, or making up what the want to say. Just lucky that no one was killed. The flight deck of a carrier is one of the most dangerous places in the world to work during flight ops. If you have never been there don't make guesses at what happened. I worked the flight deck on USS Saratoga as a "Flight Deck Coordinator" for a couple of years.
AJ, when were you aboard the SARA? When she was at Mayport?
AJ
US Veteran
She had just come out of SLEP and was homeported at Mayport during work ups for our Med Cruise. This was 82-84. We were assigned to CV-17.
