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.
per your ping request
Solid looking aircraft. Hope they find the crew, intact even if a little cold and wet.
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.
The same aircraft type that Bush rode on.
Thanks. Hope they find the crew alive.
So what you are trying to say is, it's Bush's fault.
You mean it's not?(sarcasm!)
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.)
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.
Godspeed to our men
The Navy effectively killed the S-3's carrier based ASW mission in the early 90's. No real blue water ASW threat anymore.
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.
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