This is the first C-2A Greyhound to crash in a long time. A FIRST for passengers and crew to survive crashing (ditching) at sea. Have flown it. It’s a big hydraulically controlled whale sized cargo plane. True miracle they were not all killed.
All praised to the skillful pilots, brave aircrew and passengers.
Agreed. I have always thought it was a great plane, though I have a soft spot for the old Grumman C1A COD!
I remember seeing those take off...they would be on the fantail, and when the engines revved up, the plane seemed to crouch or squat, almost like it was gathering itself to hurl itself into the air...how I loved them.
And I loved seeing them arrive...Mail!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sigh, nowadays, I guess they don’t have that feeling...everything is probably email or something.
I loved mail. I wrote a lot, and got a lot...and I loved seeing them unload those sacks!
I never flew in one, but looking at them, I didn’t envy anyone who had to get out of one if it ditched.
Always looked like a deathtrap to me (those and the E2)
Was this the plane that went down?
Sounds like some excellent work by the pilot and crew to have that many sailors rescued.
E-2 Hawkeye
The Grumman E-2 Hawkeye is an American all-weather, aircraft carrier-based tactical Airborne Early Warning (AEW) aircraft. The twin turboprop aircraft was designed and developed in the 1950s by Grumman for the United States Navy as a replacement for the E-1 Tracer. The aircraft has been progressively updated with the latest variant, the E-2D, first flying in 2007.
The aircraft was nicknamed “Super Fudd” because it replaced “Willy Fudd” (the E-1 Tracer). In the present day, it is most commonly nicknamed the “Hummer” due to the distinctive sound of its twin turboprop engines. Designed as a flying radar station, the Hawkeye is sometimes called “the affordable AWACS,” and is just what the Navy needs to guard its aircraft carrier battle groups and to direct friendly warplanes when the action begins.
Today the US Navy flies 75 E-2C Hawkeye-2000 and plans to maintain a fleet of at least 70 aircraft in operational service well into the 2020s. Each carrier air wing has a four-Hawkeve squadron, although a back-up aircraft is usually available as well. During typical flight operations, an E-2C is airborne at all times-the Hawkeye is the first aircraft to take off and the last to land.