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| Date: | Friday 18 January 1991 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  Grumman A-6E Intruder |
| Owner/operator: | VA-155, US Navy |
| Registration: | 152928 |
| MSN: | I-522 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Umm Qasr Naval Base, North of Kuwait City -
 Kuwait
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | USS Ranger (CVA-61) |
A-6E Intruder BuNo. 152928 of VA-155, US Navy, based on board the USS Ranger (CVA-61). Lost on combat operations January 18, 1991 as part of Operation "Desert Storm": Hit by missiles and/or anti aircraft fire while sowing mines around the naval base at Umm Qasr.
Failed to return from combat missions on Iraqi military targets on the morning of Friday, January 18 - believed shot down returning to the USS Ranger following a bombing mission over Kuwait. Both crew - pilot, Lt William Thompson "Tom" Costen possibly ejected but KIA (body recovered on 12th March 1991). Bombardier/navigator Lt Charlie Turner -possibly ejected but KIA (body recovered March 12th). Two emergency radio beeper signals were picked up indicating that both Turner and Costen successfully ejected from the aircraft
Sources:
1. Flight Interntional 15-18 May 1992 p. 24 at https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1992/1992%20-%201220.html
2. http://web.archive.org/web/20180422222159/http://www.millionmonkeytheater.com/A-6.html
3. http://www.joebaugher.com/navy_serials/thirdseries20.html
4. http://web.archive.org/web/20171103001143/http://www.ejection-history.org.uk:80/aircraft_by_type/a6_prowler.htm
5. https://www.nytimes.com/1991/01/23/us/war-in-the-gulf-families-pilots-relatives-are-captives-of-fear.html?pagewanted=all
6. http://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/costen/78/
7. http://www.pownetwork.org/gulf/td021.htm
8. http://articles.latimes.com/1991-03-07/news/mn-3371_1_family-members
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 17 January 1991 | 158539 | VA-35, US Navy | 0 | Airfield H-3, Western Iraq |  |
sub |
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 10-Jan-2009 11:55 | ASN archive | Added |
| 14-Jan-2009 10:45 | harro | Updated |
| 03-Jul-2009 04:45 | Jakub Cikhart | Updated |
| 04-Apr-2016 19:10 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Cn, Operator, Total occupants, Location, Phase, Departure airport, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 04-Apr-2016 19:12 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Narrative, ] |
| 04-Apr-2016 19:35 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Operator, Departure airport, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 04-Apr-2016 19:36 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Narrative, ] |
| 04-Apr-2016 19:55 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Departure airport, Source, ] |
| 16-Nov-2024 13:37 | Frédéric Goudon | Updated [Other fatalities, Narrative, ] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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