Photo: U.S. Navy
Generally speaking, whenever a major incident involving aircraft occurs, such as a crash or a mid-air collision, the flying machines are ruined forever. The U.S. Navy thought the same about an EA-18G Growler involved in such an event, but it thought wrong.
Back in 2017, at a time when the Growler was deployed with the Electronic Attack Squadron 133 (VAQ-133) Wizzards, the plane got into an aerial collision with another, undisclosed aircraft during an exercise. The plane somehow managed to get back to the ground safely (and so did the other aircraft), but the severity of the damage deemed it unrecoverable.
The plane remained where it landed, Naval Air Station (NAS) Fallon, ever since, and for several years was left to rot. Only it was not forgotten, and back in early 2021, for some reason, Navy people decided to perform a refurbishment the kind of which “had never been done before.”
Transported to NAS Whidbey Island, the plane entered something called “special rework,” meaning everything from processes, procedures, and actual repairs had to be devised from the ground up and performed.
In all, some 2,000 man-hours went into getting the plane back into shape, but the effort was worth it. Back on October 17, 2022 (but only officially announced this weekend), the crashed EA-18G Growler “successfully completed a functional check flight”, and is ready to “conduct flight operations for decades to come” in the hands of an operational squadron.
“It was truly amazing to watch the entire Naval Aviation Enterprise team come together to get this much-needed asset back up to flight status,” said in a statement Capt. David Harris, commodore, Electronic Attack Wing Pacific.
“From the engineers who developed the needed repair designs, to the artisans who accomplished the complex repairs, to the VAQ-129 Sailors who ultimately rebuilt the aircraft to a flight status; it was a true team effort.”
The plane remained where it landed, Naval Air Station (NAS) Fallon, ever since, and for several years was left to rot. Only it was not forgotten, and back in early 2021, for some reason, Navy people decided to perform a refurbishment the kind of which “had never been done before.”
Transported to NAS Whidbey Island, the plane entered something called “special rework,” meaning everything from processes, procedures, and actual repairs had to be devised from the ground up and performed.
In all, some 2,000 man-hours went into getting the plane back into shape, but the effort was worth it. Back on October 17, 2022 (but only officially announced this weekend), the crashed EA-18G Growler “successfully completed a functional check flight”, and is ready to “conduct flight operations for decades to come” in the hands of an operational squadron.
“It was truly amazing to watch the entire Naval Aviation Enterprise team come together to get this much-needed asset back up to flight status,” said in a statement Capt. David Harris, commodore, Electronic Attack Wing Pacific.
“From the engineers who developed the needed repair designs, to the artisans who accomplished the complex repairs, to the VAQ-129 Sailors who ultimately rebuilt the aircraft to a flight status; it was a true team effort.”
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