Posted on 03/31/2010 7:13:50 AM PDT by jhpigott
Developing: One U.S. crew member was missing and three were rescued after a surveillance plane stationed with the USS Eisenhower crashed in the Arabian sea Wednesday, the U.S. navy said.
The E-2C Hawkeye craft from Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron crashed at approximately 2 p.m. local time.
It was returning to its ship after conducting operations in support of Operation Enduring Freedom when it experienced mechanical malfunctions and the crew performed a controlled bailout, the U.S. Navy said in a statement.
The affected service personnel were not identified, pending notification of their next-of-kin.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Hate to think if the balloon goes up in the region that we would be short a recon bird . . .
If the plane ditched at sea,I hope the crew were ok and the sea was very deep.(So undesirable countries cannot retreive what was left.)
God Bless and Save the U.S. Navy
We got “stuff” on that bird........I hope they preformed “the checklist”..............
Four three.
Probably have one flying out to replace it as we type.
Isn't it SOP to destroy the sensitive electronic devices if a crash or capture is imminent?
Not having any clue to navy SOP . . . Will 3 E-2Cs be enough to provide 24 hour aerial recon coverage for the Eisenhower CAG??
According to the article they bailed out. That would mean the airplane itself hit the water at several hundred miles an hour. Consider it destroyed.
Yes, BUT I doubt there was enough time.
I’m pretty sure USAF AWACS are in the area.
I believe the usual SOP is to have one aloft during flight operations. Trying to do it on three aircraft is probably pushing it a bit. However, the Air Force probably has AWACS in the area. I don't think the task force will be uncovered.
The airplane itself was certainly destroyed, but the various electronics would likely survive a high speed impact intact, at least enough for qualified engineers to sift through whatever was left to reverse engineer the components or at the very least get an idea of how they were made. Hopefully, there was time to carry out the "prime directive".....
good thing . . . not a part of the world where you want to be short on recon
Prayers up for our Navy buddies.
A lot of times, it’s not the hardware, it’s the software and the data, which reveal collection methods and targets.
Thar's non-volatile memory in them thar boxes.....not usually destroyed by high speed impact if you know how to extract the data.....
US surveillance aircraft crashes in Arabian Sea; reason unknown
Published: 03.31.10, 16:48 / Israel News
An American surveillance aircraft crashed into the Arabian Sea, between the Arabian Peninsula and India, according to the American fleet command in Bahrain.
According to the report, three crew members were safely rescued and a fourth member is still missing. The reason for the crash was not disclosed. (AFP)
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3870306,00.html
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odd, this report from AFP says the reason for the crash was not disclosed
This is a radar plane, early warning, command and control. Not jamming or intelligence gathering. There is nothing highly secret about the electronics onboard. We sell E-3s all over the world,
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