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Does anyone know the story behind this? A-6 ejection

WRT the actual cause of the mishap, looks like the power never came back on after they touched down.

Brett
 
Just a theory, You hear paddles give him a power call in close, not uncommon to recorrect with too much of a power off correction. Combine that with a bolter and a the slow spool up time of the engines. It's an unforgiving environment.

Where's A4's? A6 driver and LSO, he'd be the resident expert.
 
Single Seat said:
Just a theory, You hear paddles give him a power call in close, not uncommon to recorrect with too much of a power off correction. Combine that with a bolter and a the slow spool up time of the engines. It's an unforgiving environment.

Where's A4's? A6 driver and LSO, he'd be the resident expert.
Click to expand...
Ready Room Commando input:

Well .... just guesswork, of course .... but there was no apparent "LSO excitement" discernible from the tape until touchdown/rollout/bolter/failure to arrest ... then the shit hit the fan.

As an LSO, I would NOT call "EJECT":eek::eek: unless I had a padlock/VID on the subject aircraft and thought it the ONLY solution to come back and do it again another day -- the deck WAS clear and it was day/VFR, soo-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o mebbe the LSO could see 'em. I suspect he saw them go below the flight deck level and called EJECT. I'd have to "be there" to tell what my reaction would have been; based on my past history, I would have not called EJECT in this situation. Pure guesswork, of course. You gotta' BE THERE ...

The spool up time should have not been an issue, as the bird SHOULD have been at MRT during the rollout/bolter/failure to arrest. In any case, P-8's have a "fast" spool up time even when at idle -- which he probably wasn't as the last call was a solo "little power" call. VA-42 was the east coast RAG and it was the LEXINGTON--- so in that light, you do the math. A "puckered" FRP/FRBN crew, initial A-6 qual, etc., etc. .... brain fart, the guy was obviously NOT at MRT or the bird would have flown without settling out of the bolter -- as it did when the engines came up. You can see the residual MRT exhaust on the water as the plane regains flying speed. Unfortunately -- too late for the "bye-bye" crew ....

Where in the fuck was the BOSS in all this (??) ... whoever was talkin' after the fact -- after the crew was in the water, bridge or tower -- I suspect tower -- couldn't even figure out port or starboard for the crew location in the H2O.

I suspect the puckered crew did just like they'd been trained to do -- LISTEN TO THE LSO -- so they stepped out, no matter what. Experience and time around the BOAT could have made the difference and saved the bird. A more experienced crew might have recognized a salvageable condition ... mebbe .... :)

I waved an A-7 at night in a similar situation. The guy overcorrected his attitude (auto throttles) in close and went HBAR as he nosed down too much with the resultant throttle moving towards idle. I yelled "BOLTER" before he touched down -- I usually (always?) did if it was apparent the bird would not arrest. When he moved his hand forward to apply MRT on touchddown, his sleeve caught "something" on the left quadrant/seat (?). He couldn't immediately come up on the power and the A-7's fan WAS SLOW to spool up. He boltered WAY underpowered as a result. I did NOT call "EJECT", just "POWER!!POWER!!POWER!!" as he dribbled off the angle and into the darkness. I couldn't see him and that was my standard for making/not making the call. Padlock/VID ..... however, the BOSS called "EJECT".:eek:

It sure was quiet for a few seconds .... :confused::eek:

Fortunately, the pilot listened to his LSO. :D

/Ready Room Commando input ...
 
I was talking to an old VA-42 instructor. He said the mishap was a hook point departure, combined with cockpit calamity. End result was ejection.
 
BigIron said:
I was talking to an old VA-42 instructor. He said the mishap was a hook point departure, combined with cockpit calamity. End result was ejection.
Click to expand...
If so ... that's the worst, as you get a "little" decel from your forward speed as the hook grabs the wire coupled with the "ahhhhhh ...." feeling in your brain that you've trapped and this cycle is in the logbook.

Like I said, perhaps a more experienced crew .... ???

And I still maintain the BOSS should have been on top of any "EJECT" calls, not necessarily the LSO.
 
I was under the impression the hook was all one piece. Thats an amazing amount of stress placed on that weld/bolt.
 
The hook is a little different design on the A-6 though. The actual hook (called the stinger) is one piece and is removable from the truss assembly. I tried to google a picture, but sadly no dice.
 
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