Growler Down
Yesterday, a Navy EA-18 out of Whidbey NAS Washington apparently flew into the terrain near Mt Rainier. No signs the two crewmen ejected. Wreckage has been spotted and helo teams are enroute to the very remote site.
In military aviation, sometimes only a millisecond separates fun from dead.
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Electronic warfare airplane:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/wreckage-found-still-no-sign-122838144.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall
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I was thinking this was about a bottle.
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Reminds me of what happened to Dean Martins son back in '87.
RIVERSIDE —
Capt. Dean Paul Martin, killed in the March 21 crash of his jet fighter, apparently failed to hear a controller’s frantic orders to alter course moments before slamming into a mountainside, authorities said Thursday.
Martin, 35-year-old son of entertainer Dean Martin, and his co-pilot, Capt. Ramon Ortiz, 39, died instantly when their Air National Guard F-4C Phantom crashed into the side of a peak near Mt. San Gorgonio, 90 miles east of Los Angeles, during a training mission.
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I used to fly over and around Mt. Rainier when I lived up there. It is a mountain you don’t want to mess around with. I hope they find the missing pilots alive and well, soon.
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I am surprised with the rescue teams that the Navy has and being that they located the plane that they do not have better info on the pilot’s status.
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For sure. I would think that if they have reached the crash site, they could have determined whether or not the ejection seats were activated. If not, where are the pilots??
.
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No word on the pilots. No word on a search n rescue, or recovery. Smells funny.
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Brings back the military pilot that left a formation and flew his plane into a mountain just NE of me. Took’em several days to trace his flight route.
I don’t think they ever found the plane's bombs ,,,,,,, speculation is he dropped them in a high country lake.3 -
They found the wreckage by air. They still haven't gotten a ground crew in because the terrain is very difficult and no roads anywhere near.
The crew will be at the bottom of the hole. That's why there's no particular rush.
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^^^^^^^ DNA identified the pilot ,,,,,, don’t believe a ‘crew’ was involved, only a pilot in the A-10.
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If it was a 'Growler', an EA-6B, then there was two of 'em. The Warthog/A-10 is a single seat.
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NeoBlackdog: 32593878428699/comments/32593849434523
If it was a 'Growler', an EA-6B, then there was two of 'em. The Warthog/A-10 is a single seat.
Neo ,,,,, I believe we are talking about two different crashes. The one I’m referring to happened many years ago. It was an A-10
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Search Still Underway For Missing Crew Members After U.S. Navy EA-18G Crashes Near Mt. Rainier
The EA-18G Growler belonging to VAQ-130 crashed on October 15, 2024 during a training flight. A EA-18G Growler Electronic Attack aircraft belonging to0 -
Navy finds site of Growler jet crash near Mount Rainier, but fate of crew still uncertain
Search crews have located the wreckage of an EA-18G Growler jet that crashed near Mount Rainier, Navy officials said Wednesday.0 -
forgemonkey: 32593878428699/comments/32593865821211
https://forums.gunbroker.com/discussion/comment/11453851#Comment_11453851
Neo ,,,,, I believe we are talking about two different crashes. The one I’m referring to happened many years ago. It was an A-10
Yessir, and I had my airplanes mixed up! I was thinking of the Prowler. Either way, I sure hope they managed to get out before the plane went in.
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Rocky Raab: 32593878428699/comments/32593849104667
They found the wreckage by air. They still haven't gotten a ground crew in because the terrain is very difficult and no roads anywhere near.
The crew will be at the bottom of the hole. That's why there's no particular rush.
Back in the mid-1970's.......I arrived at the site of a small private plane crash, about 90 seconds after it went in. It was two doors down, from my friends house, and in the middle of the back yard. I arrived with blanket in hand.........useless......…and felt less than helpless.
Neighbors quickly converged with garden hoses, before the fire department showed up.
I could not believe that they later found THREE victims bodies in…....…the tail section.
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When you're at 400 knots and the cloud has a granite lining, the end comes before you realize it.
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Did they find the two crew members yet?
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Rocky Raab: 32593878428699/comments/32593876190747
When you're at 400 knots and the cloud has a granite lining, the end comes before you realize it.
Even if you are not at 400 knots it is not be fun not having any ground orientation.
I used to work for a company and used to have to fly to different plants to meet with management, this was in the 80’s.
I never forget one time, the plane was full with executives and there was only one seat left which was a copilot seat we did not need another pilot because of the plane weigh and distance we were flying.
We were in Eastport ME and it just started to snow as we took off. As we were flying the pilot commented that the wings were icing and the boots were not keeping up with knocking the ice off the wing edges.
So the pilot tried to get above the clouds but they were too high and flying lower was where the icing occurred.
We ended up having to fly back to central ME through the clouds.
I joked with the pilot that we would not even have a chance to scream if we hit something because you could not see anything but white. It was like taking a sheet and putting it over the windshield of your car and trying to drive.
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Flying "on the gauges" is second nature to military pilots. But we spend a LOT of time training for it.
What's challenging is flying close formation in weather! I've been on somebody's wing in a storm so thick I had the wings overlapped and I STILL lost sight of him.
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No news that I can find since about Thursday. No word if they have gotten a ground crew in there yet. Airborne searches have been continuous but no sightings of any crew evidence.
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Rocky Raab: 32593878428699/comments/32593876698779
Flying "on the gauges" is second nature to military pilots. But we spend a LOT of time training for it.
What's challenging is flying close formation in weather! I've been on somebody's wing in a storm so thick I had the wings overlapped and I STILL lost sight of him.
Our company plane did not have GPS because it was before GPS. He did all of his navigation by triagulation. In fact when we got to the destination airport he came down out of the clouds and there was the runway right in front of us.
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Before GPS, there was LORAN. One time when I needed it most, it failed! Left me in an unfamiliar canyon, VFR, with low ceilings. I finally found my way out with a high pucker factor. BTW, it was 10 miles due west of Mt Rainier!
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Update. Sadly the Navy confirmed the deaths of both crew members this afternoon. Names are being withheld pending next of kin notification . Sad salute to the crew and their families with many prayers .
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Like Rocky has been saying. Dead Right There.
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So sad to hear that. Hopefully the following investigation will reveal the true cause of the accident.
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Prayers for the families
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montanajoe: 32593878428699/comments/32593868646555
Prayers for the families
Yes, from here too.
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Dang, they were just kids. Prayers for all.
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