Air crew ejected and picked up by fishing trawler.

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New footage released shows an EA-18G Growler jet crashing into the San Diego Bay this morning.

The two pilots ejected before the jet crashed into the water.

The crash caused an 80 foot plume of water and mud, according to a witness.

According to the San Diego Union Tribune, the jet was performing a “go around maneuver” when the incident unfolded.

The pilots both landed in the water and were picked up by a nearby fishing boat. They were sent to the hospital and are now in stable condition.

“Captain Brandon Viets and the crew of the Premier acted swiftly, and thanks to their professionalism, were able to bring these pilots to safety,” said the manager of the company that books the fishing boats.

Clear video in link https://x.com/CollinRugg/status/1889856596907626935

Navy EOD will be doing some diving there today of there was any ordnance on it.

Clearly, the plane missed the runway.

That angle of entry was extremely steep. Hard to imagine they just came up short on their approach.

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Originally posted by mrvmax:
Navy EOD will be doing some diving there today of there was any ordnance on it.

Doubtful that an electronic warfare bird had ordnance

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Originally posted by jljones:

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Originally posted by mrvmax:
Navy EOD will be doing some diving there today of there was any ordnance on it.

Doubtful that an electronic warfare bird had ordnance

Beat me to it.


This is the second Growler down in 4 months. Curious what they will list as the cause.

October crash killed the crew and was “Controlled flight into terrain”, likely pilot error last I heard.

Gear was still down. Something went very suddenly wrong during the go-around. A double engine failure seems unlikely unless the pilot screwed up and shut them both down, which I also consider unlikely. Hydraulics, maybe? Or a mechanical failure in one or more control surfaces?

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Originally posted by jljones:

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Originally posted by mrvmax:
Navy EOD will be doing some diving there today of there was any ordnance on it.

Doubtful that an electronic warfare bird had ordnance

Since they were participating in EX Bamboo Eagle, they may have had their pack of flares/chaff installed...maybe.

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Originally posted by jljones:

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Originally posted by mrvmax:
Navy EOD will be doing some diving there today of there was any ordnance on it.

Doubtful that an electronic warfare bird had ordnance

I imagine there might be even more urgency to recover sensitive bits and pieces before someone else gets to them than there would be for ordnance.

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Originally posted by architect:

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Originally posted by jljones:

quote:

Originally posted by mrvmax:
Navy EOD will be doing some diving there today of there was any ordnance on it.

Doubtful that an electronic warfare bird had ordnance

I imagine there might be even more urgency to recover sensitive bits and pieces before someone else gets to them than there would be for ordnance.

Considering the location, it's not in international waters or, an area where there's a threat....it's a few hundred yards from the sub base. Depending on how its sitting on the bottom, they'll remove whatever was hanging off the rails/racks and sweep the floor before raising it.

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Air crew ejected and picked up by fishing trawler.

I'm glad they are safe.

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This is the second Growler down in 4 months. Curious what they will list as the cause.
October crash killed the crew and was “Controlled flight into terrain”, likely pilot error last I heard.

Hope they can figure out the cause. We need these planes.

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EA-18G Growler

Stopped the video at the 13 to 14 second mark right before it hits water and the landing gear is down, clear as day...



Lots of interesting info on them on the innerwebs, and they can and do carry ordnance when on missions no guns though.

E-18GArmament

Guns: None

Hardpoints: 9 total: 6 under-wing and 3 under-fuselage with a capacity of 17,750 lb (8,050 kg) external fuel and ordnance

Notes: The two wingtip missile launcher rails for AIM-9 Sidewinder, found on the E/F Super Hornet, have been replaced with AN/ALQ-218 detection pods, six removable under wing mounted hard points (inboard pylons will carry 480 gal (1,800 L) fuel tanks, mid-board pylons will carry AN/ALQ-99 High Band Jamming Pods, and outboard pylon reserved for AGM-88 HARM missiles), two multi-mode conformal fuselage stations (AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles), 1 centerline fuselage removable hardpoint, for AN/ALQ-99 Low Band Jamming Pod.

Weapons employment: Currently, Phase I of the Growler will carry the AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles for self-protection at the two conformal fuselage stations and AGM-88 HARM missiles. The A/A-49A-2 gun system with the 20 mm M61A2 cannon has been removed and replaced by a pod of electronic boxes that control the AN/ALQ-218 and assist with coordinating AN/ALQ-99 jamming attacks.

According to the possible weapon configurations which were revealed, EA-18G would also be capable of performing "time-sensitive" strike missions, carrying AGM-154 JSOW under wings, or multi-sensor reconnaissance missions with SHARP and AN/ASQ-228 ATFLIR on centerline and left conformal weapon stations, respectively.

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Originally posted by egregore:

Sometimes you can't trust autocorrect....

This message has been edited. Last edited by: HRK,

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Originally posted by HRK:

Sometimes you can't trust autocorrect....

The guy who invented it died yesterday. His funnel will be tomato.

My own curiosity here..can one of our pilots explain the speed? I don’t want to talk out of school but that aircraft looks like it was hauling some ass. Certainly more knots than take off or landing speed. But that’s my untrained eye and non-pilot ass.

That is wild.

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Originally posted by Prefontaine:
My own curiosity here..can one of our pilots explain the speed? I don’t want to talk out of school but that aircraft looks like it was hauling some ass. Certainly more knots than take off or landing speed. But that’s my untrained eye and non-pilot ass.

If the aircraft was doing a touch and go or missed approach, they likely would have gone to full power as carrier pilots are taught to do. If they ejected immediately after the throttles could easily have been at full power at the time of the ejection.

I've been wondering about the apparent speed as well, Prefontaine. I don't think the airplane was even close to normal approach speed at impact, but the flaps and slats appear to be at least partially deployed almost as if they are responding to the high speed of the airplane. I've been told the flap/slat control laws with the landing gear down are completely controlled by the flight control computers based on speed and angle of attack. So if the speed at impact was indeed as high as it appears, the impact was probably in the 220-230 knot (253-264 mph) range. Much higher than the normal approach speed of 130 knots.

This airplane was in the landing configuration at ejection, so either this happened at enough altitude for the airplane to gather that much speed or the motors were still at high RPM. I think at least one is still running at impact because you can see a plume of steam from the exhaust nozzle(s) in the frame that shows the front half of the airplane in the water.

This Mishap Investigation Report (MIR) is going to be very interesting.

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Originally posted by Tailhook 84:
I've been wondering about the apparent speed as well, Prefontaine. I don't think the airplane was even close to normal approach speed at impact, but the flaps and slats appear to be at least partially deployed almost as if they are responding to the high speed of the airplane. I've been told the flap/slat control laws with the landing gear down are completely controlled by the flight control computers based on speed and angle of attack. So if the speed at impact was indeed as high as it appears, the impact was probably in the 220-230 knot (253-264 mph) range. Much higher than the normal approach speed of 130 knots.

This airplane was in the landing configuration at ejection, so either this happened at enough altitude for the airplane to gather that much speed or the motors were still at high RPM. I think at least one is still running at impact because you can see a plume of steam from the exhaust nozzle(s) in the frame that shows the front half of the airplane in the water.

This Mishap Investigation Report (MIR) is going to be very interesting.

Thanks to you and mojo. I’m well aware, carrier landings, full throttle, in case you miss the cable. I understand that as a layman. I just didn’t understand that same MO for a runway landing vs. carrier deck. And the speed I saw, like you and I both said, much higher than normal approach. Very interesting and I’m very curious. Just glad these pilots made it out of it alive.