EA-18G Growler Crash

Navy Chief

Navy Chief

Senior Member

Military Plane Crash San Diego Bay​

A military plane crashed into San Diego Bay near Shelter Island Wednesday morning, with two pilots rescued and taken to a hospital in stable condition.236 The plane, identified as a Boeing EA-18G Growler, was involved in an exercise and crashed into the bay at around 10:15am local time.247 The cause of the crash is not yet known, and the incident is currently being investigated by federal authorities, with the U.S. Navy, Coast Guard, and Harbor PD responding to the scene.257
  • Boeing EA-18G Growler: A military aircraft that crashed into San Diego Bay, with two pilots on board236
  • Shelter Island: The location near where the military plane crashed into San Diego Bay247
  • U.S. Navy: The branch of the military that owns the Boeing EA-18G Growler, with officials confirming the crash and rescue of the two pilots256
  • U.S. Coast Guard: The federal agency that assisted in the rescue of the two pilots, with reports indicating they were in stable condition after being underwater for about a minute
 
If my memory is still good (it could happen, lol) I believe another jet went into the bay some time last year...? Glad to see the crew got out OK in this latest mishap.
 
Wonder if it was based at NAS Whidbey Island? My old VAH and VAQ squadrons were based there and VAQ-129 switched over to the EA6-b then to the EA-18 Growlers.

Damn, I'm good:
The Navy later confirmed the plane that had crashed was an EA-18G Growler assigned to Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 135, based out of Naval Air Station Whidbey Island in Washington state.
 
Apparently they came off Rwy 29 at North Island. Whatever went wrong, the crew was lucky to get out in time. Shelter Island is just across the harbor channel from the NAS. NC, when were you in the VAQ community? I was at Whidbey 1974-77 with VA-128, the A-6 RAG squadron.
 
It was always on the night shift that the guys would talk about the Whidbey Island Skode. Trying to scare us newbies. The duty driver who took us
mid-watch guys over to the seaplane base hangar for the security watch always mentioned it.

The seaplane base hangar was only used for training the ECM officers who flew 3rd seat on the Whales and was a top secret floor that had a night-watch on duty.
It became known as "The Spook Watch". The watch had to make sure all of the doors were locked and then just sit at a small desk in the middle of the hallway.
I had the great idea of buying a a very small portable TV to watch and keep me awake. 👻🧌
 
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