Hostage, cva66snipe is right on the money here with this. In this particular case.
I was trained in high power engine testing, so I understand the concept of wet starts and hot starts, how they happen and how you prevent them. Even though I worked with A-7 Corsairs, the concepts are no different than they are in a A-4 Skyhawk.
Ironically, I served in VA-46, the same squadron McCain was in when the accident happened, and McCain was actually my commanding officer for a few months in a training squadron before I went to that squadron. So I have had some closer familiarity to the events than many people...we heard jokingly for years about how our squadron was responsible for the fire on the Forrestal.
McCain had nothing to do with this. He was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was fortunate to have survived. When you mentioned a possible wet start/hot start as a reason for the fire, it is impossible. At the time of the accident, McCain had not even started the engine. He had just closed the cockpit and they were preparing to start when the rocket fired by the F-4 Phantom on the other side of the flight deck passed completely through his plane without exploding and splashed into the sea behind him.
It tore open his fuel tanks, and the JP5 gushed out of the holes onto the flight deck, where it set everything around it on fire when it caught.
It was likely ignited by the rocket exhaust as it passed through.
I Photoshopped this image of how the planes were spotted when the fire began, and the F-4 Phantom manned by LCDR Bangert likely fired the rocket due to a stray electrical current that followed the path of least resistance down to the Zuni pod. It went across the flight deck, hit LCDR White's A-4 Skyhawk (side number 405 in the image below) was slightly deflected and passed directly through LCDR McCain's A-4 Skyhawk, and the rest is history. They don't know for certain if it hit White's plane, but it certainly did hit McCain's.
The point cva66snipe makes it valid: there are plenty of reasons to dislike and discredit McCain, and we should stick to those. We have enough information to know what a tool he is on the merits of what he has done, we don't need to make anything up.
The problem with putting forth opinions like this is that it marginalizes people like us who legitimately oppose John McCain and what he stands for. It is not hard for liberals to discredit us when some of us put forth this kind of thing as fact.
Thanks. McCain was either one of the luckiest men on ship that day or God was with him. This was back in an era when carriers went to sea on a deployment you could almost bet several shipmates would die. It amazed me some of the carriers came back from Gulf War two deployments with zero losses by combat or otherwise. I remember we'd loose several usually either pilots or plane handlers to either accidents or catastrophic failures. Technology advances would slowly improve safety and survivability as well as reduce accidents and failures.
I'm relying on 35 years after fact memory but I remember a huge issue with A-6 {can't remember variant} launching and dropping like bricks within a few miles on takeoff. This would have been maybe 1777 or so and they grounded the entire fleet of them. I can't re remember the cause.
We had some bad crashes and some lucky crashes. One night CNO, SECNAV, and others were on the bridge watching ops. A Tomcat came in low and popped the round down. He snapped the landing gear & used hard starboard engine to steer it on off the angle. He and second seater popped out after they cleared the fligh deck and were OK. A Hoover came in one night and missed 1-3 wires snagging #4 which couldn't handle it. They went over the side and while in the plane were suspended over the side. The crew had initiated jettison and it fired at that point. One went across the water like a skipping rock the other into the side of the ship. Another guy was killed in a F-14 respot. He was an ABH carrying the wheel chalks & was ran over. This wasn't combat Ops these were post Nam shipboard accidents.
BTW my shop ran the morge. It sounds gruesome but remains were taken to the Aft Walk in food coolers and remained there under watch until a fly off or off load could be done. We stationed an AC&R guy there 24/7 for duration. I can recall only one death that was natural causes and it was a chief that passed in his sleep.
Politically my former C.O. was in the Hanoi Hilton longer than McCain. He supported McCain's 2008 POTUS run. I saw his name on a list of retired Admirals and Generals supporting McCain for POTUS. That was his choice and I would not question my formers CO's loyalty or dedication to this nation because of his choice. I remember seeing the after effects of his stay at the Hilton when I first got on the ship and saw him in a passageway. I can't begin to imagine the hour by hour hell that place would have been for both of them.
That said I judge McCain solely on his post service record in elected office and that tells me all I want to know about him politically. He's a liberal RAT Oppertunist and Media Attention Addict.
As for military careers vs post military political abilities? I think the nation would run smoother with CPO's in elected office. They know the needs & what it takes to get things done, they are diplomatic enough to get their objective accomplished making both those over them and working under them feel their input and concerns mattered, and if push came to shove most have an an iron which all respected. LOL