Contact Lost with Two U.S. Marine F/A-18s [V]
With no reports of hostile fire, it’s being discussed on a couple other forums as a probable mid-air… I’d have to tentatively agree, but we’ll have to wait and see when more solid information is made available.
I believe that VMFA-323 is the only Marine air unit currently aboard the 'ole Gold Eagle…
Fade to Black…
Blackwolf, this is the first I heard of this. I’ll ask the Marines here on Det. if they know anything. - Calvin
It was a bad day, I guess for the army.
The American-Italian report concerning the italian secret agent probably gave a blow as well.
Concerning mid-airs? How likely is this to happen, really I wonder. I figure you’re flying with a buddy, and you always see what he’s doing. Unless offcourse you get into a dogfight, or hostile fire: in that case the manouvres from your buddy would seem unpredictable and thus dangerous for mid-airs.
Let’s hope the ejection seats have done their thing properly…
Contact loss with one could be avionics failure…contact loss with 2…a disaster. Let’s hope our boys make it back to friendly lines safely, and that they were able to eject with little or no harm.
Just update from what I read in the news. The F-18s are still missing, no report yet if they went down over land or sea, still no contact from them yet. Speculation is that they had a mid-air collision in bad weather, but nothing is confirmed.
There was a similar incident last summer over the Columbia River near Hermiston, OR when two Marine Reserve F-18’s had a mid-air over the river. The weather was not a factor here, as conditions were CAVU at the time. I don’t know if they ever determined what happened, but hewy did manage to recover the aircraft (at least one), I think. Our prayers and our thanks are with all the brave men and women serving our great country all over the globe.
Brian
Sadly, they’ve recovered the body of one Marine pilot. It does appear that they’d had a midair and went down. No sign of the second pilot yet. Keeping my fingers crossed that he’s ok.
Jon’s heard the same thing i have heard, still waiting for word on the second pilot, my sympathies to their families
Hi svankreijl,
As long as aircraft have flown in formation, or even been in the same sky as another, they’ve been mid-air collisions. With the advent of radar and other flight following procedures, the chances of that happening was reduced, but there are still mid-airs.
Regardless of their altitude or flying conditions, if the precession falters for just a second (etc. looking away from the plane you’re flying beside of to scan the instruments… the other aircraft makes a slight attitude adjustment… or a system failure occurs), wingtips touch, and the game’s over. Not to mention the detractions associated with flying over hostile territory. Pilots of all services do this every day without incident, but the margin for error is VERY small, and terribly unforgiving.
“From the sky we do our dying, let the angels rest… winged soldiers are we”
Take care,
Frank
Very sad… they and their families will be in our prayers.
My thought and prayers go to the family and fellow crew of the ship and squadron alike. We lost an A-6 crew in the early hours of Desert Storm and it really hits home when one of the birds doesn’t come back.
To illustrate Oldhooker’s point, here’s a link to a page with a F-15 midair. Military aviation is dangerous,indeed.
Eddie
http://www.alexisparkinn.com/aviation_videos.htm
The sea and sky are cruel mistresses. They can be beautiful, and their storms are terrible. They rarely forgive mistakes.
Prayers for the pilot’s families.
Eric
Life in the military is frequently harsh and rarely forgiving of mistakes. May God be with these pilots, their families and friends.
Darwin, O.F. [alien]
They found the other pilot yesterday. Both have now been recovered and are heading home. Semper Fi…
Here’s the latest on the Navy site…
[url=“http://www.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=18211”]
Second Pilot Identified in F/A-18 Crash[/url]
At least they’ve been found and are coming back home… [V]
Fade to Black…