Tomcat Ramp Strike

[@d.clifford8759]

It was a sad night. I was an Avionics Electrician in VMFA-314. Capt. Hubbard was in our squadron. It was one of those things you never forget. I was actually on day crew at the time and had just laid down in my rack in the berthing area when it crashed. We felt the jolt when it hit. Our berthing area was 2 or 3 decks down at the back of the ship. When they came over the loudspeaker and said "fire on the flight deck", we all jumped up and was trying to get dressed as we ran to our shop to get suited up to go on the flight deck. By the time we got on the deck, the AFFF fire retardant had been dispatched. About 3 feet of white foam on the entire deck. We did FOD walks on our hands and knees picking up bits and pieces of the jet and collecting it to throw them over the side. Navy crews were busy pushing the rest of the jet over the side and getting the ordnance cleared so the rest of the planes in the air could land. Very busy night. Like he said, no jet had a FODed engine on landing and taxing. Everybody on that ship did a great job in a bad situation. I am so proud to have served with all of them. Sgt. Clifford (was a LCpl at the time)

[@hawkeyeted]

I was a Wallbanger in VAW-117 and I distinctly remember this night. I recall that we were south of the Bay of Bengal on our way West aboard the USS Lincoln.

[@toddbishop5886]

Was there that night. Worked the waist cats. Remember feeling it and hearing it

[@JCT442]

I went to college (Villanova NROTC '86) with the pilot Matt Claar. Matt was a very good man who didn't deserve his fate.

[@howardcroft3748]

I can remember during my early flying training, flying solo... on a base leg I heard the engine revs suddenly climb... I knew I had overbanked the aircraft....I thought of this when he said that the F14a engine made I very distinctive sound...my point? I can imagine how he felt when, as a senior aviator he heard that sound....and he knew what was coming...but could now only watch. It's a dangerous job. I couldn't have done it ... I know I wasn't up to the job.

[@countdingo]

I was in VFA-94. This was my first deployment, a month after I got to the squadron, 7 months after I joined.

[@toddbishop5886]

Work center was between cat 3 and 4 scary as hell hearing it go across deck

[@TerryT0114]

Such a crazy job those people have. I admire them but I don't envy them, dangerous as hell even during peace time.

[@dasboat64]

For anyone who's ever flown or worked a flight deck at night.... Bravo Zulu. It's like NOTHING a civilian has ever seen! Got the t-shirt! 😊

[@FrankSleighter-pm5vx]

I was onboard USS Forrestal, one night an F-4 put 7 new dents in the round down. Half the bird went into the engine shop on the fantail other half went over the side. The Rio made it, they found what was left of the pilot next day. Tough night in deed!!

[@gregoryleewalker]

Spent almost three years aboard the IKE and we never had a ramp strike. We did have two barricade landings though.

[@CaliSpecial]

I was a flight deck chief for the helo squadron (HS-6) on that cruise. I remember that night. The fire on the flight deck was out in seconds but the fantail fire almost took out the jet shop. They lit of afff 2 times in hangar bay 3. It was a mess. I have been on deck for serval crashes in my career but this one scared me the most. VF-213 had a run of bad luck for several years. Lost a couple of pilots and 5 or 6 aircraft. Sad time.

[@werewolf5674]

Great job, paddles. Pilot failed to listen. Back of the ship at night is a bitch.

[@Т1000-м1и]

I admit to reading about ramp strikes on Quora

[@bigjax-lf7jr]

I was there when it happened. I was working V2 Bow cats. that was a hairy night. I picked up pieces of that aircraft. airman hawk and I unslotted cat 2 to put a tanker in the air. and while we were on slotting cat 2 for the launch, EOD was in the far catwalk on the port side, they were disarming a sparrow missile when we were telling them to get the fuck out of the catwalk. I watched him throw it overboard. when I got on deck, all I saw was a wall of fire, and the pilot was laying on the deck by the weapons elevator between cat one and cat 2. his parachute was Tangled up in an A6. I still have nightmares about that night.

[@jtuttle11]

One of the B-I-G Problems with carrier landings is the pressure Every Pilot is under to execute a 'Perfect #3 wire trap. I've personally seen MANY pilots violate the rules of carrier landings by 'Cutting the power and forcing the plane onto the carrier deck, Not all of them catch the wire and are Forced to go around. That can be a problem since most of them Cut their power in order to force the landing. I watched one young A-7 pilot learn this the HARD way. He Boltered the landing and when he got to the end of the landing area his plane didn't have enough energy to continue flying in a normal attitude. After successfully recovering flight speed, his next landing attempt was 'BY THE BOOK!'

[@roneagle8038]

Maybe I missed it. What happened with the RIO? Did he eject?

[@TomcatTales]

@@roneagle8038 Yes he did…he survived the ramp strike.

[@sb859]

@@TomcatTales "Mean Dean" was one of my instructors at VT-86 in Pensacola. Cool as a cucumber. He relayed the story of this night, it was very sobering for a young aviator going through training.

[@viperdriver82]

Dam it man ....did the RIO make it out ?

[@TomcatTales]

Yes, he did.

[@stanstenson8168]

@@TomcatTales Good. It still sucks, but I'm glad at least one got out.

[@terrancepinkney777]

I 100% remember this happening I was working nights AO IM-3 shop 6 and I was in HB 3 walking to the jet shop when this happened. The impact was loud and I saw the flash of light and heard the call about the crash etc. That was scary as sh** no lie! I remember a Marine from VMFA-314 showed us the video and I saw the medical photos also. The very next year in 94' same squadron different pilot crashed off the coast of San Diego Lt. Hultgreen. Wow!

[@CombatAviationist]

So sad! What a terrible decision to make him flying that night!! RIP

[@KK_on_KK]

Are the CAG LSOs qualified to waved every aircraft in the air wing?

[@benjaminperez7328]

Yes

[@kevinking5406]

I was there. Weapons Dept.

[@chadwhite7290]

I was an E2 interior electrician communications fireman apprentice. I was on trouble call watch when theat happened. Someone called Central control they called the Aft IC and Gyro watch that the Boswain Mate on the fantail tool off running when this happened and was lucky he didn't get hit by debris bit he had on a sound powered headset hooked into the X5J circuit that was a direct line to the bridge and he ripped it out of the bulkhead in doing so. They had birds in the air and had to have coms. So I went out there with EOD guys who had on apprroatie gear all I had on was dungarees and my shirt..anyway t took a self and pepper line and spliced it to the wires hanging out and they had coms again. The next day I went out there and reinstalled the x5j circuit box.

[@zZrEtRiBuTiOnZz]

Did the RIO survive?

[@TomcatTales]

Yes 👍

[@e.l.norton]

Did the RIO also die?

[@TomcatTales]

The RIO survived👍

[@Nghilifa]

@@TomcatTales That's incredible! I assume he managed to initiate ejection shortly after the ramp-strike then?

[@chadwhite7290]

No

[@giantmanice]

​@Nghilifa The RIO - LCRD “Animal” Jennings saw what was coming and he initiated ejection just after the plane impacted the round down of the ship

[@adamlyman8293]

The RIO was Lt. Dean A. Fuller. He survived. The pilot sequenced out first as the airframe was extremely nose-down and impacted on parked aircraft. The RIO ejected into the water off the angle and recovered in a matter of minutes. Dean Fuller is my niece’s father-in-law.

[@shawnbyers6291]

This is sad, but I put a lot of the failure on leadership’s decision to fly him that night. It’s not said whether or not he ignored a waive off earlier that day but I can’t imagine they didn’t attempt to send him around being that low that he “taxiid” to the one wire. To me that’s a huge red flag. Likely should’ve been temporarily grounded and reevaluated before going up again. Was his RIO called also? It wasn’t mentioned in the clip.

[@dks13827]

hit the water and survived.

[@neil7813]

So sad.

[@jordanmascarenhas7974]

That’s terrible. Some pilots’ skills were overmatched by those early Cats. Those TF-30s really had no business continuing service on F-14s once the Navy began fielding the Bravo models with the VASTLY superior F110 turbo fans. ALL Tomcats should have been upgraded to at very least Bravo standard right from the late 80’s, when the GE F110s became available. It was reckless of the Navy not to have done so. With the amount of money squandered on stupid projects, they could have easily budgeted in engine upgrades to the Alpha models

[@TomcatTales]

That was the only thing I didn't like about the F-14A! I simultaneously lost both TF-30s to compressor stall during a dogfight on a training mission over the pacific. It caused the Tomcat to departure from controlled flight so I found myself out-of-control with 2 engines close to exploding due to rising inter-turbine temperature. Well timed engine shutdowns and restarts saved my ass. Luckily I was at 28,000 ft so I had time to do all that and still recover her before becoming shark bait. Still love the Tomcat!!!

[@ajtabbilos]

@@TomcatTales is there an event where a tomcat crew have been injured by a shark? Thanks.

[@BrianRhodes9763]

@@ajtabbilos I was with VF-32 on the USS John F Kennedy in 86' (TAD to Ship Security). During the cruise an A-6 Intruder went down somewhere in the Med. When they recovered him he had shark abrasions on his body (that's what security was told). He didn't make is, we had to stand watch on his body that was in the ship's freezer until he could flown home.

[@ajtabbilos]

@@BrianRhodes9763 thanks for the response and sorry for my curiosity.

[@BrianRhodes9763]

@@ajtabbilos No need to be sorry, life happens and so do bad things.

[@schwag91]

I was there. Walking forward from the fantail. 🫡