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| Date: | Thursday 2 October 1980 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  Grumman A-6E Intruder |
| Owner/operator: | VA-115 US Navy |
| Registration: | 159185 |
| MSN: | I-546 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Indian Ocean, off the USS Midway (CVA-41) -
 Indian Ocean
|
| Phase: | Take off |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | USS Midway (CV-41), Indian Ocean |
A‑6E Intruder BuNo. 159185/'NF 512' of VA‑115, US Navy, based aboard the USS Midway. Lost on October 2, 1980, when lost control following single‑engined wave‑off. Crashed into Pacific Ocean near to the carrier. On 17 August,1980, the USS Midway relieved USS Constellation to begin another Indian Ocean deployment and to complement the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) task group still on contingency duty in the Arabian Sea. Midway spent a total of 118 days in the Indian Ocean during 1980. (Deployment August-November 1980: West Pac-Indian Ocean-Persian Gulf).
Both crew - Lt W. E. McCole (bombardier/navigator) and Lt (JG) M. D. Anderson (pilot) - ejected safely and were recovered by the carriers "plane guard" SAR helicopter
Sources:
1. http://web.archive.org/web/20180422222159/http://www.millionmonkeytheater.com/A-6.html
2. http://www.joebaugher.com/navy_serials/thirdseries20.html
3. http://web.archive.org/web/20171103001143/http://www.ejection-history.org.uk:80/aircraft_by_type/a6_prowler.htm
4. http://web.archive.org/web/20171110000931/http://www.navy.mil:80/navydata/ships/carriers/histories/cv41-midway/cv41-midway.html
5. http://www.hullnumber.com/CV-41
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 31-Mar-2016 16:35 | Dr.John Smith | Added |
| 07-Nov-2017 17:51 | skywalker | Updated [Narrative, ] |
| 10-Feb-2020 11:45 | Iwosh | Updated [Operator, Operator, ] |
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