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| Date: | Sunday 30 July 1972 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  Grumman A-6B Intruder |
| Owner/operator: | VA-196, US Navy |
| Registration: | 151559 |
| MSN: | I-41 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Pacific Ocean, off USS Enterprise, near San Diego, California -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Initial climb |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | USS Enterprise (CVW-14) Pacific Ocean, off California |
| MCAS Miramar. California (NKX/KNKX) |
A-6B Intruder BuNo. 151559/'NK-520' of VA-196, US Navy, based on board the USS Enterprise (CVN-65) as part of CVW-14. Crashed July 30, 1972: after experiencing control difficulties about five minutes into its flight to MCAS Miramar, California. One source (see link #4) states that the A-6B pitched up on catapult launch from the USS Enterprise, after a wing slat failure, then stalled and dived into the Pacific Ocean near the carrier, which was en route between San Diego and Alameda (San Francisco) at the time (see link#7)
Pilot - Lieutenant Commander Richard J. Toft ejected, sustaining injuries requiring extensive treatment. The Bombardier/Navigator Lieutenant (JG) John D. Austin, Jr. - ejected successfully
Sources:
1. A-6 Intruder Units of the Vietnam War By Rick Morgan
2. http://web.archive.org/web/20180422222159/http://www.millionmonkeytheater.com/A-6.html
3. http://www.joebaugher.com/navy_serials/thirdseries19.html
4. http://web.archive.org/web/20171103001143/http://www.ejection-history.org.uk:80/aircraft_by_type/a6_prowler.htm
5. http://rickmorganbooks.com/a-6b-standard-arm.html
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Enterprise_(CVN-65)#Southeast_Asia
7. http://www.public.navy.mil/airfor/enterprise/Documents/Enterprise/1972.pdf
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 25-Mar-2016 22:06 | Dr.John Smith | Added |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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