"ADAK: The Rescue of AF586"

[ip568]

I got this book out of curiosity and it is a real page-turner. Written by a retired aviator CAPT, it is the true story of a runaway prop, inflight fire, and ditching of a P-3C off Adak in 1978. Hair-raising stuff. Not just for the VP community, either. It details the before, during, and after of how 15 ditched and only 12 survived (barely) in Arctic waters. If you are interested in Naval Aviation, I highly recommend it.

I have no connection to the book or its author.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1591144124/102-1797801-2287334?v=glance&n=283155&s=books&v=glance

 

[Brett327]

I got this book out of curiosity and it is a real page-turner. Written by a retired aviator CAPT, it is the true story of a runaway prop, inflight fire, and ditching of a P-3C off Adak in 1978. Hair-raising stuff. Not just for the VP community, either. It details the before, during, and after of how 15 ditched and only 12 survived (barely) in Arctic waters. If you are interested in Naval Aviation, I highly recommend it.

I have no connection to the book or its author.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1591144124/102-1797801-2287334?v=glance&n=283155&s=books&v=glance

Wasn't that one a bad fuel issue which shut down all four?

Brett

 

[zab1001]

"The ultimate cause of the ditch was catastrophic failure of the reduction gearbox, which resulted in multiple engine fires and eventually became uncontrollable, and extreme vibrations of the No. 1 engine and propeller assembly."

(for you Orion guys, they did not complete Prop-Fails-to-Feather procedure and did not restore oil to the windmilling #1 prop. 5 dead)

quoting myself from a previous book thread:

"Adak: The Rescue of Alfa Foxtrot 586, by Andrew C. A. Jampoler

One of the few books out there on P-3s, and thankfully, an excellent read. TRUE story of the VP-9 crew forced to ditch in the North Pacific and the subsequent rescue by Soviet fishermen. This book should be required reading at the FRS, besides a great layman's explanation of the prop and motor systems and applicable malfunctions, it gives a good, simple insight into the workings of Maritime aircrews. If you are in the P-3 syllabus, order it, you will not be disappointed."

 

[HAL Pilot]

Wasn't that one a bad fuel issue which shut down all four?

Brett

Around the 1995 time frame, they had a P-3 overhead Masirah, Oman throw a prop blade that cut all 4 engine fuel lines and the hydraulics. They deadsticked it into the water using manual reversion and everybody walked (or swam) away.

The Adak ditch was common knowledge and a big part of the Rag syllabus back in my first tour days (mid 1980s). It was talked about at every safety standaround and during NATOPS/survival training.

 

[Brett327]

Around the 1995 time frame, they had a P-3 overhead Masirah, Oman throw a prop blade that cut all 4 engine fuel lines and the hydraulics. They deadsticked it into the water using manual reversion and everybody walked (or swam) away.

The Adak ditch was common knowledge and a big part of the Rag syllabus back in my first tour days (mid 1980s). It was talked about at every safety standaround and during NATOPS/survival training.

Yeah, I remember the thrown prop mishap. Wasn't that in like 30 feet of water? Talk about as good a ditching scenario as you can get (if there is such a thing). I thought for sure that I read about a ditching that resulted from bad fuel and assumed it was the ADAK event. You guys familiar with the mishap that happened while they were working on the KNIP runway where the genius knocked off the landing gear by landing short and running into the 18 inch RWY slab, followed by a belly landing at Cecil? Apparently, after the aircraft spent a couple years at the depot, it got sent to VP-50 and participated in the midair. Talk about a cursed airframe.

Brett