An EA-18G Growler Was Damaged In The F-35C Ramp Strike Incident On USS Carl Vinson In January
April 18, 2022 Aviation Safety / Air Crashes, Military AviationDAVID CENCIOTTI
Growler damaged
An EA-18G of VAQ-136 was also damaged in the F-35C crash on USS Carl Vinson in South China Sea, the U.S. Navy says.
As we have reported in detail, an F-35C of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 147 crashed on the flight deck of USS Carl Vinson and sunk in the South China Sea on Jan. 24, 2022. Seven crew members were injured when the accident occurred. The pilot of the F-35C ejected from the aircraft safely as it went into the water. In the days after the crash, a photo of the F-35C floating in the sea was leaked online, immediately followed by a video shot from the fantail and showing the last seconds before the touchdown. Then, a few days later, another clip was leaked online and posted on Reddit, showing both the PLAT camera video and another point of view from the aircraft carrier’s island.
The clip showed the Lightning II coming in with a rapidly increasing sink rate just before the touchdown, which prompted the Landing Signal Officer (LSO) or “Paddles” to start screaming on the radio “power” and then “wave off, wave off” to instruct the pilot to abort the landing and go around immediately.
The next chilling moments, showed a ramp strike or a very short and heavy landing: the aircraft hit the ship very hard, with the impact shredding off the main landing gear and causing the F-35 to bounce on the deck and hitting it nose-first, before starting to skid sideways while engulfed in flames.
https://theaviationist.com/2022/04/18/growler-damaged-uss-carl-vinson/
