Posted on 01/29/2006 6:05:15 PM PST by Aussie Dasher
United States officials have confirmed an FA-18 Hornet strike fighter plane has ditched into the sea while attempting a night landing near Brisbane.
The aircraft was attempting to land on the flight deck of the USS Ronald Reagan during a training exercise early yesterday morning about 200 kilometres south-east of Brisbane.
Lieutenant Commander Gary Ross says the pilot ejected safely but the $37 million aircraft was lost. The pilot was rescued from the sea.
Lieutenant Commander Ross says five other jets were forced to fly in to Brisbane because they were short on fuel.
"There were five aircraft that were sent into Brisbane International Airport. The reason why they went into Brisbane was because of their fuel state," he said.
The USS Ronald Reagan is the world's largest aircraft carrier. It left Brisbane on Friday after a five-day visit.
"It should be noted that there was no damage or impact in the operational capability of the USS Ronald Reagan during the incident," Lieutenant Commander Ross said.
The US Navy is investigating the accident.
Meanwhile, the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) wants the Navy to explain why it might not salvage the jet.
ACF spokesman Chris Smyth says there need to be good reasons why the wreck may be left where it is.
"What we would need to find out is more details about the depth of water and the sorts of logistics that would be required to get the plane out of there and how much fuel is on board," he said.
"We just don't know any of those things. We would hope the US Navy would give us very good information about that, as to why or why they can't get the plane back up to the surface and taken away."
It doesn't sound like he had a lot of fuel.
Somehow "ditch one for the Gipper" doesn't inspire me. Yeah, I know: accidents happen, but WHY the CVN-76?
"Oops" to "screw the pooch" ??
Duh. Possibly the recovery would cost more than the jet.
The nature of the training operation is that none of them have a lot of fuel.
The mainland, apparently, was their "out."
Don't worry about the greenies. They're just Yank-bashing again...
Thank God the pilot is okay.
If one of yours went down off of our "special" east or west coast states , then you would hear screaming too. I don't know your cause but I suspect it's from all the high priced coffee ours drink:')
I understand that there are usually multiple fatalities among the crew in a carrier battle group, particularly on the carrier and among the crew and flight operations folks, during every deployment. I've seen several accounts about one of the standard parts of being a CAG is to write several letters about lost servicemen during any deployment and that's part of why the job is so hard.
It ain't a safe profession, regardless of all that we've learned. They are "going in harms way" even without an active enemy in the field.
It's part of carrier aviation. You do lose planes fairly regularly, and you can't expect a carrier not to have losses. At least in this case, the pilot is OK.
Service on any warship has risk. Pilots on carriers have one of the most dangerous jobs at all.
technicality, but ditching and ejecting are not the same thing. Landing the aircraft in the water and swimming away from it is ditching. Punching out and letting it slam into the water is the preferred method.
And landing on a carrier deck at night is one of the trickiest things an aviator has to do. Glad to hear pilot is okay. This kinda thing happens alot.
Yes, it's one reason why I have mixed feeling about Australia getting back into the carrier game. Yes, I want us to - as a sailor who tried to plan a career on carriers only to see Australia get out of the business, I want to see them come back (even if the limited form that is likely) but I think that after twenty five years our media won't be able to handle the fact that this is a dangerous profession. Their reaction to the loss of a RAN Sea King last year shows that.
People need to understand that the job can be dangerous - and people join up understanding that. The risk is worthwhile.
Honestly, I think it's the anti-military nature of the media at work. They get that firefighters and police have a dangerous job, but they see what they do as noble enough to risk your life for.
Criminy. I can't even imagine landing a jet aircraft on a carrier at night. Glad the pilot is safe. Guys like that we can never replace or have enough of.
Criminy. I can't even imagine landing a jet aircraft on a carrier at night. Glad the pilot is safe. Guys like that we can never replace or have enough of.
Love it! Where can I get a print?
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