The White Falcon - 12.06.1987, Blaðsíða 8

Crippled Navy Jet
rescued by KC-135
by Amn. Cynthia Strayer
Public Affairs, McConnell AFB, Kansas
fl KC-135 tanker crew from the 384th Air
Refueling Wing here helped keep the Navy in the air
during an exercise in the Caribbean earlier this
year.
The crew, one of two from McConnell taking part
in a naval fleet exercise, was flying out of
Roosevelt Roads Naval Air Station, Puerto Rico.
'During one strike mission, our aircraft was to
orbit about 30 miles from the carrier USSSaratoga
to refuel the Navy fighters,' said Capt. Warren R.
Cole, 91st Air Refueling Squadron aircraft
commander.
'The fighters were dispersed all over the
Caribbean, and they were all good distances away,'
Cole said.
'We were working with a KA-6 (a small Navy
tanker aircraft, call sign 'Sugar Bear'). Mean-
while, we heard Sugar Bear conversing with an A-6
(a Navy attack aircraft, call sign 520).
“Listening on the radio, we realized 520 was a
crippled A-6. Its fuel was draining out and it
couldn't hold any gas. The pilot stated he didn't
have enough gas to get back to Roosevelt Roads or
to the carrier,' Capt. Cole explained.
"The KA-6 tried to refuel the A-6, but the nozzle
on Sugar Bear broke,' said the captain.
Capt. Chris Nichols, the co-pilot, heard all of
this over the radio.
'Immediately, we turned our plane toward the
A-6, pushed the power up fast, and told Sugar Bear
to let the A-6 know we would get there as soon as
possible to give them gas,' Capt. Nichols said.
'We were at 20,000 feet going 350 knots — the
maximum allowable speed. The navigator, 1st Lt.
Randy Mayberry, ran the rendezvous and Capt.
Nichols made all the coordination with Sugar Bear,"
said Cole.
'When we approached the A-6, it was venting gas
out of both wings. The pilot made a real quick
fighter turn on. He came from our 12 o'clock and,
before we knew it, he jumped right on us.
'We made a good rendezvous and the boom
operator, Airman 1st Class Thomas C. Day, made a
real quick contact to give the A-6 gas,' Cole
explained.
'The fighter wasn't venting fuel quite as fast as
we were feeding fuel to its thirsty tanks. We gave
him around 12,000 pounds of fuel as we turned
around with him still connected to the refueling
boom and headed toward the ship about 50 miles
away,' said the captain.
A crippled Navy A-6, with fuel venting from its
wing, takes on fuel from a KC-135 tanker over the
Caribbean (Air Force photo by 1st Lt. Charles R.
Mayberry).
'Without a doubt, the A-6 fighter crew was
extremely happy. Without the fuel, they would
have had to punch out or ditch,' Cole said.
For Capt. Cole, this was the "most real-life,
war-like situation" he has experienced.
As the KC-135 and its crew departed, the Navy
fighter pilot stated with relief, "Boy, I never
thought I would appreciate you boys in blue."
8
The White Falcon