ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 57254
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| Date: | Saturday 29 December 1979 |
| Time: | 14:15 |
| Type: |  Grumman KA-6D Intruder |
| Owner/operator: | VA-52, US Navy |
| Registration: | 152632 |
| MSN: | I-180 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | off the USS Kitty Hawk, Camel Station, NW Arabian Sea, off Yemen -
 Yemen
|
| Phase: | Take off |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63), Camel Station, NW Arabian Sea |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
KA-6D Intruder BuNo. 152632/'NL-521', of VA-52, shore based at Whidbey Island NAS. Destroyed December 29, 1979 when launched from the No. 2 catapult from the USS Kitty Hawk (CVA-63) at "Camel Station" in the north-western Arabian Sea, off the coast of Yemen. Aircraft was on a scheduled tanker sortie, at 14:15 hours. Almost immediately, NL-521 settled off the bow of the Kitty Hawk, due probably to low airspeed resulting from catapult errors (129 knots was the required airspeed; the KA-6D had attained only 92).
A plane guard helicopter (HS-8) ¼ mile aft of the ship, immediately initiated a SAR, supported by a helicopter from HC-1 Det 2. Those concerted efforts proved fruitless: neither of the men - Commander Walter "Butch" Williams (pilot) and Lt Commander Bruce Miller (navigator) - were recovered. Commander Williams was recovered but could not be revived.
(152632 had previously collided in midair with F-8E BuNo. 150857 over South China Sea near Da Nang, South Viet Nam on February 23, 1968. Pilot ejected and was rescued. Pilot of F-8E killed. Was not lost in 1968 but was recovered and converted to KA-6D; continued to serve with VA-52 until Dec 29, 1979 when it was lost at sea due to a bad catapult launch as per the above)
Sources:
1. http://web.archive.org/web/20180422222159/http://www.millionmonkeytheater.com/A-6.html
2. http://www.joebaugher.com/navy_serials/thirdseries19.html
3. http://web.archive.org/web/20171103001143/http://www.ejection-history.org.uk:80/aircraft_by_type/a6_prowler.htm
4. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1980/02/17/navy-town-stunned-by-11-pilot-deaths/55e1bd24-cd64-4759-b34b-81382b1558de/
5. The Tuscaloosa News - Feb 21, 1980 p.12 at https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1817&dat=19800221&id=ywgdAAAAIBAJ&sjid=5p4EAAAAIBAJ&pg=5023,4581260&hl=en
6. The Victoria Advocate - Feb 19, 1980 p.27 at https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=861&dat=19800219&id=oiJIAAAAIBAJ&sjid=84AMAAAAIBAJ&pg=6959,4590254&hl=en
7. https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/k/kitty-hawk-cva-63-ii.html
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 10-Jan-2009 11:55 | ASN archive | Added |
| 19-Aug-2013 08:05 | Uli Elch | Updated [Cn, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Location, Country, Phase, Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 30-Mar-2016 17:26 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Time, Operator, Other fatalities, Location, Country, Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 30-Mar-2016 17:28 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Departure airport, Narrative] |
| 30-Mar-2016 17:29 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Source] |
| 30-Mar-2016 17:31 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
| 11-Mar-2018 10:52 | A6 Plane Captain | Updated [Narrative] |
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