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| Date: | Wednesday 28 January 1942 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  Grumman F4F-3 Wildcat |
| Owner/operator: | VF-72, US Navy |
| Registration: | 3863 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Kindley Field -
 Bermuda
|
| Phase: | Take off |
| Nature: | Training |
| Departure airport: | Kindley Field |
On 21 December 1942 the aircraft carrier USS Ranger left Norfolk for Bermuda. Leaving her own fighter squadron VF-41 at Norfold, she sailed with VF-72, usually based aboard USS Wasp, and her own squadrons VS-41 and VS-42. She reached Bermuda on 23rd and started training operations here.
When the ship was moored, training continued with the squadrons based ashore. Near the end of the morning watch on 28 January 1942, VF-72 launched a dawn patrol. The Grumman Wildcat proved unforgiving with its narrow- track landing gear, if a pilot momentarily suffered a lapse in concentration. As Lieutenant Stevan Mandarich was taking off from Kindley Field, his F4F-3 (BuNo 3863) ground- looped to the left and plowed into one of VS-41's parked SB2U-3s (BuNo 0759), which sat parked in its assigned dispersal area near the edge of the field, some 50 yards to the left of the runway. Both planes burst into flames upon impact, forcing Mandarich , who suffered a fractured nose and right clavicle , bilateral maxilla , as well as lacerations of his right cheek in the accident, to hastily exit his burning F4F. A trouble board blamed 25 % of the accident on the F4F's handling qualities, but assessed 75 % of the mishap as due to poor judgment (25 %) and poor technique (50 %) on the pilot's part.
Sources:
"USS Ranger: The Navy's First Flattop from Keel to Mast, 1934-46", by Robert Cressman, pages 178-179
https://www.aviationarchaeology.com/listPages/Navy/asp/USN_Type_F4F.asp
http://accident-report.com/USN/aircraft.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kindley_Air_Force_Base
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 16-Oct-2025 12:13 | Laurent Rizzotti | Updated [Date, Time, Aircraft type, Registration, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Location, Country, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Source, Narrative, ] |
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