Air Station Crash Takes Lives of 2 Navy Fliers

An EA-6B Prowler, an electronic warfare plane used by the Navy to jam enemy radar, crashed Monday while taking off from North Island Naval Air Station, killing two of the three airmen on board.

Based at the naval air station on Whidbey Island, Wash., 80 miles northwest of Seattle, the twin-engine jet was operating out of North Island while on “a routine training mission” when it crashed at 5:38 p.m., Cmdr. Bob Pritchard said.

The surviving airman was flown by military helicopter to the Navy Hospital in Balboa Park, where he was listed in stable condition Monday night. The names of the crew were being withheld pending notification of next of kin.

Debris Along Runway

A storage shed at the end of the runway was destroyed in the accident, Pritchard said, with wood and debris from the plane scattered along the length of the airstrip. He said no other property, civilians or naval personnel were involved.

Observers at the scene reported pieces of the fuselage being strewn along the runway and a thick black smudge lining the airstrip for a distance of about 600 feet.

Pritchard said the plane “hit the ground and just burst into flames,” sending up a plume of black smoke that was seen for miles. He said the cause of the crash was unknown but that an investigation was “already under way,” with a report expected today.

Second Crash

As Navy investigators were sorting out the details of the EA-6B crash, an F-14 Tomcat fighter went down 10 miles east of San Clemente Island at 8:57 p.m. Monday.

Pritchard said that “two crewmen of Fighter Squadron 51, homeported at Miramar Naval Air Station” ejected from the F-14 and were picked up at 9:43 p.m. by “small craft in the area.” He said the men appeared to be in good condition late Monday night, but the F-14 was “lost at sea.”

Pritchard said the Tomcat, an “air superiority fighter,” is assigned to the aircraft carrier Carl Vinson but was flying out of Miramar when the crash occurred.

He said names of the crew members were being withheld. San Clemente Island is about 50 miles west of San Diego.

Pritchard said the entire fleet of Grumman-made EA-6Bs is based at Whidbey Island. He said the plane went down several hundred yards from the ocean, and all the debris fell on land, just shy of the shoreline.

“It was just at the end of its takeoff,” Navy Lt. Jack Papp told the Associated Press. “It crashed just as it reached the end of the runway. There was nothing left. The plane’s a complete loss.”

Pritchard said the EA-6B can accommodate a four-man crew, but only three officers (one pilot and two electronics specialists) were on board. He said the plane is used “for countermeasures, for degrading enemy radar,” and the crew was what’s known as a replacement squadron that went by the Navy designation of VAQ-129.

“These were gentlemen who had their wings,” Pritchard said. “They were experienced aviators, just learning the particulars of the EA-6B, the aircraft they’d be flying, prior to joining the fleet.”

Navy spokeswoman Mary Ann Heiserman said by telephone from Whidbey Island that the EA-6B is an all-weather electronic aircraft specializing in “countermeasures.” She didn’t know the age of the EA-6B that crashed but said the first one was built in 1971. She said that it was part of the “tactical electronic warfare squadron” based at Whidbey and that training missions, calling for flights in and out of naval air stations, are common. She said the Prowler is designed to be launched from a carrier and jam land-based enemy radar during bombing missions.

The weight of the EA-6B when empty is 32,162 pounds. It can carry an internal fuel load of 15,422 pounds, according to “Jane’s All the World’s Aircraft.” Its “maximum level speed” at sea level is 651 m.p.h., with a cruising speed at optimal altitude of 481 m.p.h. It was originally unarmed but is now being equipped to carry anti-radar missiles underwing.