ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 57227
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| Date: | Monday 3 February 1986 |
| Time: | 19:00 |
| Type: |  Grumman A-6E Intruder |
| Owner/operator: | VA-42, US Navy |
| Registration: | 161085 |
| MSN: | I-604 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | 4 miles east of Alligator River, Dare County Bombing Range, North Caro -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | NAS Oceana, Virginia Beach, VA (NTU/KNTU) |
| NAS Oceana, Virginia Beach, VA (NTU/KNTU) | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
A-6E Intruder BuMo. 161085/AD-511 of VA-42 based at Oceana NAS. Crashed on February 3, 1986, four miles east of Alligator River, Dare County Bombing Range. According to a contemporary newspaper report:
"Bomber Crash Kills Navy Flier From Valley
February 05, 1986|The Morning Call
Navy Lt.j.g. Kevin S. Metzger, 29, a son of Allentown attorney John M. Metzger and Jean C. Metzger of Center Valley R.I, was killed at 7 p.m. Monday when the attack bomber he was flying crashed during a training exercise over the tidewater area of Dare County, Va.
Also a victim of the accident was Lt. Cmdr. Stewart D. Ivey, 34, of Chandler, N.C., the bombardier-navigator.
Metzger, who was assigned to Squadron 42 at the Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia Beach, was married to the former Jennifer Branton, a daughter of Dr. Leon N. Branton, an Allentown pediatrician. He had been living at Virginia Beach with his wife and their two young sons, Timothy and Joshua.
John Metzger left for Oceana early yesterday and was there when the family received official confirmation of Lt. Metzger's death at 3 p.m.
Lt.j.g. Cam Martin, a spokesman for the Naval Air Force Atlantic in Norfolk, said the bodies of the two fliers were found in the wreckage of the plane, an A-6E Intruder jet. The downed craft was spotted by Navy and Coast Guard helicopters at 8 p.m. Monday, four miles east of the Alligator River on the Dare County bombing range.
The crash happened in darkness during a low-level run by the attack plane when highly accurate instrument readings are vital. Martin said the plane crashed three miles west of its target. He did not know whether the crew had reported any trouble before the accident. The bodies were found by Navy employees searching the swampy, wooded terrain.
Martin noted that the bombing range has been the site of four other air crashes within the past 13 months. The 46,000-acre range has been used by the Navy and Air Force for 20 years for low-level bombing practice. Between 3,000 and 4,000 bombs are dropped on the area every month.
On Dec. 11, two Oceana-based Navy fliers were killed when their A-6E Intruder jet crashed during a night-time pass over the bombing range. Two other Oceana fliers ejected to safety last Aug. 1, when their tanker version of the A-6 slammed into an unpopulated area about two miles north of the range, also at night.
On Dec. 27, 1984, two fliers from Oceana died when their A-6E Intruder crashed on a foggy night in dense swamps near the Alligator River. Oceana-based jets were involved in two other crashes last year.
But despite crashes and other problems last year, Martin said, "Certainly 1985 was the safest year the Navy has had on record. In the grand scheme of things, it was a very good year."
Metzger, a 1975 graduate of Southern Leigh High School and a 1979 graduate of Ursinus College, grew up in Oakhurst, a residential development near Center Valley. Attracted by flying and a Navy career, he seemed to be following in the footsteps of his father, John, who was a Navy carrier pilot in World War II and remains a captain in the Naval Reserve.
Metzger was in the third year of a six-year hitch when he was killed. He had just celebrated his 29th birthday on Sunday. In addition to his wife, children and parents, Metzger left three brothers: attorney Kristofer of Center Valley, who is a partner in the firm of Metzger & Metzger; Michael of Bethlehem R.3 and John B. of Lansdale, a pilot who flies out of Bader Field in Atlantic City."
Sources:
1. Flight International 16 May 1987 p.38 at https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1987/1987%20-%200460.html
2. http://articles.mcall.com/1986-02-05/news/2513697_1_a-6e-intruder-oceana-naval-air-station-bombing-range
3. http://web.archive.org/web/20171103001143/http://www.ejection-history.org.uk:80/aircraft_by_type/a6_prowler.htm
4. http://www.joebaugher.com/navy_serials/thirdseries21.html
5. http://web.archive.org/web/20180422222159/http://www.millionmonkeytheater.com/A-6.html
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 10-Jan-2009 11:55 | ASN archive | Added |
| 03-Apr-2016 18:03 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Time, Location, Phase, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 03-Apr-2016 19:31 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Cn, Operator, Location, Source, Narrative] |
| 03-Apr-2016 19:34 | Dr.John Smith | Updated [Source] |
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