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US carrier jet crashes near Japan, 4 crew missing
Reuters | August 10, 2004

Posted on 08/10/2004 2:27:49 PM PDT by HAL9000

WASHINGTON, Aug 10 (Reuters) - An S-3B Viking warplane from the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis crashed during an exercise in the Pacific near Japan on Tuesday and four crew members are listed as missing, the U.S. Navy said.

Search-and-rescue efforts were being conducted by the Stennis and another carrier taking part in the exercise, the USS Kitty Hawk, the U.S. Seventh Fleet in Japan said in a statement. The cause of the crash was being investigated, according to the statement.

The incident took place 45 miles (70 km) off the coast of the island of Iwo Jima during an annual training exercise involving U.S. Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps forces near the Japanese island of Okinawa.

The jet was conducting a "routine training mission" when it went missing, Seventh Fleet said.

The Viking is a workhorse U.S. Navy warplane, used by aircraft carrier battle groups for missions ranging from aerial refueling of other planes to radar jamming and attacking enemy ships with missiles.



TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: iwojima; japan; planecrash; stennis; usn; ussjohncstennis; ussstennis

1 posted on 08/10/2004 2:27:52 PM PDT by HAL9000
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To: Conspiracy Guy

per your ping request


2 posted on 08/10/2004 2:28:14 PM PDT by HAL9000
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To: HAL9000

Solid looking aircraft. Hope they find the crew, intact even if a little cold and wet.

3 posted on 08/10/2004 2:31:47 PM PDT by Lazamataz ("Stay well - Stay safe - Stay armed - Yorktown" -- harpseal)
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To: HAL9000

I's surprised to see this coming to the media, since I thought the location of most of the 10 deployed carrier groups was secret.


4 posted on 08/10/2004 2:32:11 PM PDT by Truth666
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To: Lazamataz

The same aircraft type that Bush rode on.


5 posted on 08/10/2004 2:33:29 PM PDT by RoughDobermann
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To: HAL9000

Thanks. Hope they find the crew alive.


6 posted on 08/10/2004 2:34:58 PM PDT by Conspiracy Guy (Conspiracy Guy, Secretary of Humor and Tomfoolery)
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To: RoughDobermann
The same aircraft type that Bush rode on.

So what you are trying to say is, it's Bush's fault.

7 posted on 08/10/2004 2:36:03 PM PDT by Lazamataz ("Stay well - Stay safe - Stay armed - Yorktown" -- harpseal)
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To: Lazamataz
So what you are trying to say is, it's Bush's fault

You mean it's not?(sarcasm!)

8 posted on 08/10/2004 2:43:53 PM PDT by crusty codger (I am a Republican goon and proud of it !)
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To: Lazamataz

9 posted on 08/10/2004 2:50:02 PM PDT by knarf (A place where anyone can learn anything ... especially that which promotes clear thinking.)
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To: Lazamataz

The waters around Iwo Jima are shark-infested.

Here's hoping the aircrew is all lawyers. (Sharks don't eat lawyers, out of professional courtesy.)


10 posted on 08/10/2004 2:51:22 PM PDT by Poohbah (If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much room.)
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To: HAL9000
I am a former Navy aircrewman. My thoughts and prayers are with my aircrew shipmates.

The Viking is a workhorse U.S. Navy warplane, used by aircraft carrier battle groups for missions ranging from aerial refueling of other planes to radar jamming and attacking enemy ships with missiles.

The Navy may have changed the mission of the S-3, but I flew aboard the land-based version, the P-3. Our mission was shipping patrols and anti-submarine warfare.
11 posted on 08/10/2004 2:57:09 PM PDT by DustyMoment (Repeal CFR NOW!!)
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To: Truth666

The Navy would have provided this info as part of its press release. No real harm done when locations of exercises are known. Sometimes you even want exercises advertised.

Bad news here though. Hope they find the crew alive.


12 posted on 08/10/2004 3:05:34 PM PDT by Magnum44 (Terrorism is a disease, precise application of superior force is the ONLY cure)
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To: HAL9000

Godspeed to our men


13 posted on 08/10/2004 3:07:45 PM PDT by Vision ("This is in God's hands now")
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To: DustyMoment

The Navy effectively killed the S-3's carrier based ASW mission in the early 90's. No real blue water ASW threat anymore.


14 posted on 08/10/2004 3:08:22 PM PDT by Magnum44 (Terrorism is a disease, precise application of superior force is the ONLY cure)
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To: DustyMoment
The War Hoover is a solid AC, has a fairly low stall speed and ejection seats, so good chances of survival in in a ditch and if they couldn't ditch they could eject.
All Naval Aviators are well trained and all quals are maintained all that being said my fingers are crossed for their safe return.
15 posted on 08/10/2004 3:11:02 PM PDT by TexasTransplant (I made my Fortune selling Sugar Coated Cat Turds on a Stick at the DNC Convention)
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To: Magnum44
No real blue water ASW threat anymore.

Not that I doubt it, but I hear differently from other VP sailors. However, it would be consistent with other things I have heard that the Navy has done. In my second tour, I ended up in EA-6Bs. Great aircraft, but no peacetime mission except for training, shuttling VIPs and serving as a "bogey" for the Air Wing. Sad.
16 posted on 08/10/2004 4:27:38 PM PDT by DustyMoment (Repeal CFR NOW!!)
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To: HAL9000

Update: http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGBI7WSVQXD.html


17 posted on 08/10/2004 8:13:44 PM PDT by BenLurkin ("A republic, if we can revive it")
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To: HAL9000

Four dead in US Navy carrier jet crash in Pacific

LOS ANGELES, Aug 13 (Reuters) - Four aviators died in the crash of an S-3B Viking warplane from the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis earlier this week during an exercise in the Pacific Ocean near Japan, the Navy said on Friday.

The wreckage of the airplane and the remains of the crew were found on Kita Iwo Jima, an uninhabited island about 45 miles (72 km) miles north of Iwo Jima, the U.S. Seventh Fleet in Japan said in a statement.

The crew members were identified as Lt. Patrick Sean Myrick, 31; Lt. James Joseph Pupplo, 34; Lt. Cmdr. Scott Allen Zellem, 35; and Aviation Electronics Technician Second Class Joshua Brent Showalter, 24.

The San Diego-based Stennis and the USS Kitty Hawk carrier strike groups were conducting joint exercises involving U.S. Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps forces near the Iwo Jima island chain on Tuesday when the aircraft was lost, the Navy said.

The Navy is probing the cause of the crash. A memorial service was scheduled for the crew on Friday.

The Viking is a workhorse U.S. Navy warplane, used by aircraft carrier battle groups for missions ranging from aerial refueling of other planes to radar jamming and attacking enemy ships with missiles.


18 posted on 08/13/2004 11:51:46 PM PDT by HAL9000
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