THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, February 26, 1996 TAG: 9602260063
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: SAN DIEGO LENGTH: Short : 47 lines
The carrier Kitty Hawk steamed back to port Sunday under a Pacific Fleet stand-down ordered after one of its radar-jamming jets crashed into the ocean during a training exercise.
Saturday's crash, the eighth involving a Navy aircraft in two months, left a crew member dead, two injured and fourth lost at sea.
``Losing this many people is certainly not normal,'' said Cmdr. Gregg Hartung, spokesman for Commander Naval Air Force U.S. Pacific Fleet. ``The thread that we see here is that in many of these recent actions, our crews have made the decision either too late or not at all to eject from an aircraft that's too damaged to be saved.''
The EA-6B ``Prowler'' was 40 miles from the Kitty Hawk when it plunged into the sea 150 miles from San Diego. The cause of the crash remains under investigation.
The Naval Air Station Whidbey Island in Washington state, where the squadron was based, identified the dead crewman as Lt. Cmdr. James M. Dee, 35, of New York City. The pilot, Lt. Thomas R. Francis, 26, of Fountain Valley, Calif., was missing and presumed dead.
Lt. Charles E. Luttrell, 35, of Oak Harbor, Wash., was in stable condition and Lt. Derrick J. Busse, 29, of Escondido, was in good condition.
Pacific Fleet Vice Adm. Brent M. Bennitt ordered a two-day stand-down for all 1,600 aircraft stationed at 79 squadrons on the West Coast, Hawaii, Guam and Japan. The aircraft were ordered to undergo 48-hour safety tests.
Squadrons will review safety issues, practice in simulators and review maintenance records. The tests will include reviews of ejection operations and air crew training.
The Prowler crash came six days after an F-14D crashed off the San Diego coast, killing two crew members during exercises involving the carrier Carl Vinson.
That crash was one of 32 in the last five years involving F-14s and prompted the Navy to ground its entire fleet of F-14s through Feb. 25. Each of the last three F-14s to crash was based at Miramar.
KEYWORDS: AIRPLANE ACCIDENT U.S. NAVY STANDOFF by CNB