Date:	Tuesday 29 March 2011
Time:	17:19 LT
Type:	Boeing AV-8B+(R)-27-MC Harrier II Plus
Owner/operator:	HMM-163 USMC
Registration:	165586
MSN:	B323
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Gulf of Aden -   Somalia
Phase:	Take off
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	USS Boxer (LHD-4)
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
US Marine Corps AV-8B Harrier 165586 "YP-55" (Boeing remanufactured 163674) deployed with 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) embarked aboard amphibious assault ship USS Boxer (LHD 4) crashed into the water during takeoff for a routine training flight while operating in the Arabian Sea.

The pilot ejected and wasn’t seriously injured, according to Marine Corps and Navy officials.

The Harrier is assigned to the Camp Pendleton, Calif.-based 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, which is operating in the U.S. 5th Fleet region aboard three ships with the Boxer Amphibious Ready Group.

It took off from the ship at 5:19 p.m. local time, but “immediately after take off the aircraft rolled right and (the pilot) ejected,” officials said.

The pilot, flying with the call sign of “Evil Eye 55,” was picked up by a Navy MH-60S Seahawk helicopter within about seven minutes of the incident.

Once returned to the Boxer, the pilot “walked off the aircraft under his own power.”

The squadron is investigating the cause of the crash.

The 13th MEU and Boxer ARG left California in February on a scheduled deployment to the Middle East and Western Pacific regions.

The 4,000-member naval force arrived in the 5th Fleet region on March 25.

http://web.archive.org/web/20130420034659/http://www.cusnc.navy.mil/articles/2011/035.html
https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2011/03/marine-harrier-crash-in-gulf-of-aden-033011/
http://forum.scramble.nl/viewtopic.php?p=489431
[LINK NOT WORKING ANYMORE:http://www.air-to-air.nl/165586-AV-8B-ElCentro-20101118-2.jpg] (photo)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_of_Aden

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
05-Apr-2011 00:01	MarkStep	Added
09-Apr-2011 03:50	RobertMB	Updated [Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Operator, Source, Damage, Narrative]
19-Aug-2011 03:29	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Location, Country, Source, Narrative]
28-Dec-2019 17:42	stehlik49	Updated [Operator, Narrative, Operator]