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VA-115 Eagles A-6E Intruder ~ Hot Pit Fire


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Since we've started adding photos of singed aircraft, here's my submission:

Date: January 29, 1989

Location: NAS Cubi Point, Philippines

Aircraft: A-6E Intruder

Squadron: VA-115 Eagles (NF 502), USS Midway, CV-41

Circumstances: Caught fire while refueling in the hot-pits.

These photos were taken the day after, showing the scorched aircraft, ejection seat, & jettisoned canopy.

Photo Set #1 ~ Taken by me from the flight deck of USS Midway, CV-41:

cubi24b.jpg

cubi25b.jpg

cubi26b.jpg

cubi27b.jpg

Edited by Midway Sailor
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Troy ..this is SO very interesting to read..Thank you for the photos and the article...

Eric .c. Lewis is worhty of being awarded the Navy and Marine Corp's Medal for his heroism.. :salute:

By the way what is a slapping technique .? ;)

TIA :monkeydance:

HOLMES

Edited by HOLMES
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By the way what is a slapping technique .? ;)

TIA :monkeydance:

HOLMES

A refuelling nozzle has two handles on it. Normally, they would be grasped firmly and the nozzle rotated until closed and locked. A slapping technique is when the nozzle is inserted and then one of the handles is slapped to turn the nozzle. It doesn't always lock it into place.

Here's a photo of a nozzle with its handles:

fuelnozzle.jpg

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A refuelling nozzle has two handles on it. Normally, they would be grasped firmly and the nozzle rotated until closed and locked. A slapping technique is when the nozzle is inserted and then one of the handles is slapped to turn the nozzle. It doesn't always lock it into place.

Here's a photo of a nozzle with its handles:

fuelnozzle.jpg

Ah thank you Troy...

HOLMES :thumbsup:

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I just so happen to be scanning more USN pix, so I ran these two again for a closer look. As close as I could get considering I was on the flightdeck of the Midway tied to the pier. Eye ball liberty only.

Eddie,

I've always thought when comparing the angle and similarity of your photos with mine, we must have been standing next to each other that day on the Midway while taking our photos.

Funny that we never met while aboard, but did years later through my site.

Edited by Midway Sailor
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Eddie,

I've always thought when comparing the angle and similarity of your photos with mine, we must have been standing next to each other that day on the Midway while taking our photos.

Funny that we never met while aboard, but did years later through my site.

We may have even spoken to each other about what a bummer it was to loose the B/N of that jet. I know I was certainly surprised when I saw your photos of this event on your site all those years later...

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I was in VA-115 from 93-95. I remember as a plane captain working at the hot pits in Iwo Jima, the pilots were instructed to shut down the starboard engine before entering the pits evidently to prevent a repeat of Cubi. My concern however, was when the engine is shut down, a small amount of fuel dumps out of the engine compartment, and while shutting down while taxiing on a breezy day, I was afraid of fuel splashing on a potentially hot brake causing a brake fire. Fortunatelly that never happened.

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  • 5 years later...

I was the plane captain trainee on this launch. Lcdr Starnes ejected the canopy and jumped out while the fire was still going. ltjg Cook ejected and landed right in front of me as I was pushing the fire extinguisher down the hill(seen in the pictures at the bottom of the hill). Basically when the refueling nozzle came off still charged it sent fuel right down the intake causing what we called a "chug"  or backfire catching the starboard side on fire. My assigned trainer Airman Marty Millar was the person engulfed in flames running across the flight line. A heartfelt thank you to the sailor that saved his life.

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  • 6 years later...
On 1/25/2011 at 5:51 PM, 11bee said:

What happened to the poor B/N? It looks like he landed clear of the fire and I thought the A-6 seat was zero-zero rated?

The B/N had a problem from a stack of high limits to the tolerances.  I met him a few days before this, we went to the same high school a year apart but we didn't know each other there.  I was in a Marine squadron in Cubi at the same time.  


What happened, as I recall, is that Cook was a big guy, on the high end of what's allowed for the seat to function properly.  Then he had the seat all the way up and all the way forward so that he could observe the ground activity better, which put the seat at the far end of what was allowed to function properly.  Finally, there was a tail wind, which again was at the far end of the limits for the seat to function properly.  All of those factors being at the far end of the envelope added up to his chute not deploying and he landed still in the seat upside down.  Terrible end.

 

Not too much earlier than this incident, our sister squadron, VMA(AW)-121, had a similar accident in the hot pits in Fallon.  No one hurt that I recall, or maybe the plane captain, but the damage to the plane was essentially the same.  It had just been rewinged and I was sent with a team to Fallon to get it flying again a few years later after the depot finally replaced the right intake.  

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Both these inicidents resulted in the introduction of a go/no-go gage on the lugs for the refuel adapter on the aircraft.  They determined that the lugs were worn out, making it easy for the fuel hose to slip off the connection.  No one had ever thought such a check was necessary before.

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  • 1 month later...

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