ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 57211
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| Date: | Wednesday 30 November 1988 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  Grumman KA-6D Intruder |
| Owner/operator: | VA-165, US Navy |
| Registration: | 152920 |
| MSN: | I-224 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 0 |
| Other fatalities: | 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | USS Nimitz (CVN-68), Arabian Sea, off coast of Bahrain -
 Bahrain
|
| Phase: | Standing |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | USS Nimitz (CVN-68) Arabian Sea, off Bahrain |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
In October 1988, the USS Nimitz (CVN-68) operated in the North Arabian Sea, participating in Operation "Earnest Will", which involved the protection of re-flagged Kuwaiti tankers. On 30 November 1988, while still in the Arabian Sea, off the coast of Bahrain, a 20 mm cannon from an A-7E Corsair was accidentally fired during maintenance, striking a KA-6D Intruder of VA-165 (BuNo, 152920/'505').
The KA-6D was hit by 3 incendiary rounds that caused the right drop tank to explode. The ensuing fire spread to six other aircraft, and two sailors were killed (one immediately, one later in hospital in Bahrain of burn injuries sustained). According to the following eyewitness testimony from one of the fire crew involved:
"Myself and John Alves, from VA-146 were the first two guys with hoses on this fire, me on the port side, tripping over one of our fallen sailors while spraying a hose, John Alves on the starboard side, after stopping to put one of our fallen sailors out who was on fire, who went on to a burn center in Baharain, where he later died.
The planes were dumped after day light that morning, they were not dumped over while on fire. We had the fire totally out in under 12 minutes. Great job by all that were part of this, nobody was afraid to run into this fire and tackle it. Aside from this, it was a pretty good cruise. They had some Chinese on-board when the helicopters collided..it was quite a show, but they landed safely on the deck".
Sources:
1. http://web.archive.org/web/20171103001143/http://www.ejection-history.org.uk:80/aircraft_by_type/a6_prowler.htm
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Nimitz#1980s
3. https://www.flickr.com/groups/25778681@N00/discuss/72157603230423981/
4. https://www.flickr.com/photos/8155146@N03/2044521292/
5, http://www.joebaugher.com/navy_serials/thirdseries19.html
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 10-Jan-2009 11:55 | ASN archive | Added |
| 22-Mar-2016 02:30 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Registration, Cn, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Country, Phase, Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
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