ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 77351
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| Date: | Monday 2 October 1978 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  Hawker Siddeley AV-8C Harrier |
| Owner/operator: | VMA-513 / USMC |
| Registration: | 158960 |
| MSN: | 712121/43 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Chocolate Mountain Aerial Gunnery Range, CA -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | MCAS Yuma, Arizona (KNYL) |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
Crashed into mountainside at Chocolate Mountains Aerial Gunnery Range, California, killing the pilot.
Obituary of pilot:
CAPT. JOSEPH GALLO
Call Sign: Cobra Died: Oct. 2, 1978
Dana Gallo said her husband advised her to sue if he died flying a Harrier.
"He had lost too many friends in accidents," she said. "He loved the aircraft, loved what it could do, but it was not a forgiving aircraft."
His AV-8A Harrier crashed in the Chocolate Mountains east of California's Salton Sea during a bombing training run. He flew into the ground inverted, according to his wingman. No cause was ever determined, Dana Gallo said. She never sued.
Gallo had flown Cobra helicopters in Vietnam and was one of the first Marine helicopter pilots to make the transition to the Harrier. After learning to fly the plane, he had served in Japan and the Mediterranean.
The son of a career Army officer, Gallo was due for a promotion to major when he was killed, Dana Gallo said. He was 34. He left two sons, who were 2 and 5 at the time of his death.
Sources:
http://www.pulitzer.org/archives/6725
http://www.harrier.org.uk/history/AV8APROD.PDF
http://www.joebaugher.com/navy_serials/thirdseries20.html
http://web.archive.org/web/20121118000509/http://www.scramble.nl:80/sb.htm
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 07-Sep-2010 14:30 | ASN Archive | |
| 03-Aug-2011 13:25 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Cn, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Country, Phase, Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 24-Aug-2011 11:30 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Operator, Source] |
| 09-Nov-2022 07:14 | Rodger Asai | Updated [Total fatalities, Narrative] |
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