Date:	Monday 7 October 1996
Time:
Type:	McDonnell Douglas AV-8B-11-MC Harrier II
Owner/operator:	VMA-223 / MCAS
Registration:	163206
MSN:	119
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Chocolate Mountain gunnery range, 56 miles NW of MCAS Yuma, AZ -   United States of America
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	MCAS Yuma, AZ
Destination airport:
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
CAPT. DALE W. MULKEY
Call Sign: Pops Died: Oct. 7, 1996

Mulkey was blown out of the sky when three bombs, all with expired fuses, detonated prematurely aboard his AV-8B as he flew a training mission over California's Chocolate Mountains. One fellow pilot compared the descending plane to a meteorite.

Investigators initially blamed Mulkey for flying too slow at too steep an angle when he tried to release the bombs. Higher-ranking officials rejected that finding and harshly criticized the ordnance handlers who had loaded the bombs.

Scramble
n[LINK NOT WORKING ANYMORE:http://www.joebaugher.com/navy_serials/thirdseries22.htm]l
Flight International 4-10 June 1997
http://www.pulitzer.org/archives/6725
http://www.interment.net/data/us/co/denver/logan/m/m19.htm
http://www.locategrave.org/detail/1049819/Mulkey

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
07-Sep-2010 14:30	ASN Archive
20-Mar-2011 16:19	harro	Updated [Total fatalities, Total occupants, Source, Narrative]
19-Aug-2011 03:48	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Operator, Other fatalities, Location, Phase, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]