ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 185798
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| Date: | Thursday 25 May 1972 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  Grumman EA-6A Intruder |
| Owner/operator: | VMCJ-2 USMC |
| Registration: | 151595 |
| MSN: | I-77 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | 5 miles from MCAS Cherry Point, Havelock, North Carolina -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Approach |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | MCAS Cherry Point, Havelock, North Carolina (NKT/KNKT) |
| MCAS Cherry Point, Havelock, North Carolina (NKT/KNKT) | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
Grumman EA-6A Intruder BuNo. 151595'/'CV' of VMCJ-2, based at MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina. Destroyed May 25 1972: Fuel starvation/wing transfer failure. Crashed 5 miles from MCAS Cherry Point, Havelock, North Carolina. According to the following eyewitness testimony from one of the crew, 1st Lt Jeff D. Buchanan:
"I was the pilot of the USMC A-6 Intruder that ejected on May 25 1972. Here are the details. The aircraft was a combat ready EA-6A Electronic Intruder (Electronic Warfare version of the A-6) BuNo 151595 with 3 ALQ-76 jammer pods and an ALQ-86 ESM system that were destroyed in the crash.
The ejection occurred on a routine training flight out of MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina. The squadron was VMCJ-2. The reason for the ejection was fuel starvation/wing transfer failure. The ejection occurred at 800 feet on final approach in IMC conditions at a rate of decent exceeding 1,500 feet per minute. Both crew members ejected safely the ECM Officer, 1st Lt John W. Pitz, first, after the canopy was jettisoned, Pilot Jeff Buchanan second, with no injuries and both crew members were rescued by a station SAR, CH-46.
The pilot's seat failed to separate after drogue deployment because the seat contacted the side of a pine tree before the drogue was fully deployed at about 80 feet AGL. The force of the decent in the seat was decreased as the seat broke off several large branches of the pine tree on the trajectory to the ground.
I later commanded the squadron, then VMAQ-2, having transitioned to EA-6B Prowlers, from 1983 to 1986. Retired in 1990."
As stated above, both crew - 1st Lt Jeff D. Buchanan (pilot) ejected at 800 feet, and 1st Lt John W. Pitz (ECM Officer) - also ejected
Sources:
1. http://web.archive.org/web/20180422222159/http://www.millionmonkeytheater.com/A-6.html
2. http://www.joebaugher.com/navy_serials/thirdseries19.html
3. http://web.archive.org/web/20171103001143/http://www.ejection-history.org.uk:80/aircraft_by_type/a6_prowler.htm
4. http://www.mcara.us/EA-6A_history.html
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 24-Mar-2016 23:27 | Dr.John Smith | Added |
| 27-Dec-2019 22:02 | stehlik49 | Updated [Operator, Operator] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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