A3D goes for a swim.

[Steindaddie]

An A3D-2 (BuNo 138910) from Heavy Attack Four (VAH-4) runs in to trouble on 12 Aug 1957. Looks like his tailhook shoe is MIA. Carrier is USS Ticonderoga.

[Steindaddie]

Splash, but the crew of three are safely out and now enjoying a sunny swim.

[Steindaddie]

The A3D is still bobbing along minutes later. Showed these pics to a pal of mine, a former A3D pilot, and he says he's not surprised to see the plane floating. To quote him: "Given the weight of the aircraft, we landed them as low on fuel as possible, so this guy has almost empty tanks" Although it looks like his tailhook shoes is broken off, another photo came with these and it shows some machinery and states "damage to #3 arresting gear motor" Same date on pic as on others. Might have been the cause of this mishap.

 

It was said that A3D stood for "All 3 Dead" Happily enough, this wasn't the case here. For the crew of this A3D, it stood for "All 3 Dunked"

[hink441]

Man that is a great series of photos. We have a family friend that was also a Whale pilot and was eventually Skipper of Heavy 4. I think he was Skipper of Heavy 4 in the 1962-64 time frame. I am told that the A-3 was a hard jet to land on the deck, and of course there are no ejection seats on the A-3. Great pics and thanks for sharing, I bet that crew had a huge pucker factor !!

 

Chris