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| Date: | Sunday 2 February 1975 |
| Time: | 19:59 |
| Type: |  North American RA-5C Vigilante |
| Owner/operator: | US Navy |
| Registration: | 156623 |
| MSN: | |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | USS Saratoga, North Atlantic about 150 miles west of Gibraltar - |
| Phase: | Landing |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | USS Saratoga |
| USS Saratoga | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Little or no information is available |
Struck ramp while attempting to land on USS Saratoga in bad weather off the coast of Africa, exploded and went over the side into the sea. Both crewmen were killed.
Ramp strike while making a night landing on USS Saratoga following a 2-hour infra-red photo mission. Vigilante and crew were lost at sea.
On a normal case three TACAN approach to a CCA final, the aircraft impacted the round down nose high on the main gear mounts, tail hook and nozzle area. It pitched over and began to disintegrate and burn across the flight deck. It continued up the angle deck then crashed into the water alongside the ship.
After the Vigilante disappeared from view the RAN’s rocket motor was seen arcing forward and to the right of the port bow of the carrier. The aft canopy and seat minus the seat bucket were found on the flight deck. The navigator had ejected during the crash sequence with his canopy departing the aircraft while still on the angle deck. His seat fired after the aircraft departed the flight deck in a nose down, right wing down attitude. The seat minus the seat bucket was recovered on the bow just aft of the ship’s numbers and the canopy was recovered near the foul line abeam the island. There was no apparent ejection by the pilot.
Vigilante was carrying Modex (side number) “603”. The Fresnel lens with the class system in line was being utilized for the recovery. While landing the ship was moving three to five feet with a Dutch roll of two degrees in addition to the ship’s heaving up to eight feet. Sea State: 4, Sea Height: 2-3 feet, Swell Height: 4-5 feet. Wind direction relative to landing line was 340-to-360 degrees at 25-28 knots. Weather was 2,000’ scattered clouds with 7 miles visibility.
The LSO had radioed, “Slightly right of course, slightly below glide path.” No ball call or fuel state was made to the LSO. The landing commenced and the LSO then radioed, “Ok Vig, paddles contact three, you’re looking good” 20 second prior to impact with the ramp. The deck was down about four feet and the LSO told the pilot he would have to highball. The LSO saw the nose of the aircraft pitch over and he called, “Attitude. Attitude. Power. Power. Power. Wave off!” while simultaneously triggering the wave off lights. The Vigilante then struck the round down nose-high on the MLGs and tail hook.
A SAR effort was conducted all night and the next morning but neither crew was apparently recovered; only their helmets and small pieces of wreckage. An A-7E (BuNo 158830), SH-3H (BuNo 149718) and MB-5 fire truck were all damaged by flying debris.
Pilot Commander Thomas W. Hogan
RAN Lt. Commander Wayne T. Mulholland
Commander Hogan was the XO of RVAH-11. This was the last fatal Vigilante crash.
156623 had been to delivered to the US Navy on 20 January 1970 and had accumulated 1,623.8 total flight hours.
Sources:
http://www.forgottenjets.warbirdsresourcegroup.org/A-5.html
US Navy accident report.
Location
Images:
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 11-Jun-2024 10:40 | ChrisB | Updated [Time, Location, Phase, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, Category, Photo] |
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