Phantom going for a swim....

[Navy Chief]

Check out the guy in front of the JBD. Probably saying, "Er, isn't it supposed to go up?"

[Navy Chief]

I was on the Indy when a S-3 took a cold cat shot. All four crew members ejected successfully, and reportedly the first time that had happened. NC

[n4gix]

That was a very expensive swim!

[Blackbird686]

Scratch one F-4J... Betcha the pilot and his WSO had a pretty good scare when their "toom" took a nosedive into the cold blue sea....

BB686

[Daveroo]

Scratch one F-4J... Betcha the pilot and his WSO had a pretty good scare when their "toom" took a nosedive into the cold blue sea....

BB686

you think they survived?..i mean its in full afterburn isnt it?..it wouldnt even take a second to hit?..water is pretty damned hard....id think they wouldn't stand a chance...ofcourse they may have ejected before they got that far?..i hope thats it anyway....

[TARPSBird]

This accident happened on the fly-off to Miramar at the end of the 1969-70 USS Coral Sea cruise. VF-151 jet. Nose gear collapsed on launch and the bridle dragged it down the deck. Both guys ejected, RIO was pulled down the deck by his chute and went into the water, he was recovered OK. Pilot was fatally injured when he landed on deck, I believed he slammed into an aircraft. It's a dangerous business.

[Daveroo]

This accident happened on the fly-off to Miramar at the end of the 1969-70 USS Coral Sea cruise. VF-151 jet. Nose gear collapsed on launch and the bridle dragged it down the deck. Both guys ejected, RIO was pulled down the deck by his chute and went into the water, he was recovered OK. Pilot was fatally injured when he landed on deck, I believed he slammed into an aircraft. It's a dangerous business.

thanks for that info.

[Navy Chief]

The Phantom had Martin Baker type ejection seats, but I think the model installed in Phantoms at that time may not have had zero-zero capability. By that, I mean the aircraft would have to be at a minimum altitude for a successful ejection. The zero-zero ejection systems employed a rocket motor under the seat to give a added "boost", which then propelled the seat high enough for a chute to fully deploy, even if the aircraft was still on the runway, or in this case, just departing the carrier angle deck. There were, of course, limitations on the "attitude" of the aircraft when ejecting, but the zero-zero capability truly saved lives. NC

[gray eagle]

I remember (65-66~) on the Hancock CVA-19, when as an A3D "whale" was being shot off the deck, the nose bridal cable snapped the nose gear off and she slid down the cat rail nose low over the side.
Lost three souls, one of them was his first ride as a crewman. I was in my shop below deck on the 03 and it shook the bulkheads in my shop.
As huge as the A3D was. it was something to watch as they landed and launched on a 824 foot Essex class carrier.

Found out later in life that the A3D also meant All Three Dead. There were no ejection seats on the Whales.

[Victory103]

Reminds me of a cold cat off the Big E and one VFA-81 F-18. I was able to get outside our berthing quick enough, will never forget the sight of watching the jet sink in the clear Caribbean waters.