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| Date: | Wednesday 20 February 1963 |
| Time: | 20:00 |
| Type: |  North American A-5A Vigilante |
| Owner/operator: | United States Navy |
| Registration: | 149282 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | USS Enterprise, Tyrrhenian Sea, 90 miles E of Sardinia, Italy -
 Italy
|
| Phase: | Landing |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | USS Enterprise |
| USS Enterprise |
Crashed onto the deck of USS Enterprise, operating in the Mediterranean Sea at the time, during landing. Struck the ramp, breaking off the tail. The deck engulved in flames for three or four minutes. Lt Charles Henry Kruse, Jr and Lt (jg) Clarence N. Cottle were lost, when the jet went over the side into the sea.
Night landing at 2000 Hours on USS Enterprise the Vigilante crashed into the ramp, exploded and burned on the flight deck and went into the water. There were no survivors.
There was an apparent ejection as seen by flight deck personnel. USS Fiske (DDR-842) located a man in the water at 2029 Hours. Fiske put swimmers in the water and the man had a broken neck and was deceased. The man’s gear, a parachute believed possibly to have opened in flight, and torn life jacket caused him to be dragged under water. Fiske also picked up an inflated life raft, plus papers and publications. The man was unidentified at the time of the deck log entry.
VAH-7 Crew:
Lt. Charles H. Kruse, pilot, US Naval Academy 1953
Lt(jg) Clarence W. Cottle, RIO (Bombardier/Navigator)
Sources:
http://www.forgottenjets.warbirdsresourcegroup.org/A-5.html
The Evening Star 8 March 1963, pA3
USS Enterprise deck log
Location
Images:
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 11-Jan-2022 19:31 | TB | Updated [Time, Operator, Other fatalities, Location, Country, Phase, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 11-Jan-2022 19:36 | TB | Updated [Total fatalities, Narrative, ] |
| 03-Feb-2022 18:34 | TB | Updated [Total fatalities, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 09-Oct-2022 06:10 | Anon. | Updated [Narrative, ] |
| 09-Jul-2024 09:59 | ChrisB | Updated [Location, Country, Departure airport, Source, Narrative, Category, Photo, ] |
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