A4G 889 went over the front from a 'cold cat shot' - cause never determined/replicated. Pilot had trouble using the upper handle and managed to only jettison the canopy. It is thought that if he had have ejected whilst the aircraft was falling forward and down that he would not have survived. Luckily he stayed with the aircraft as it sank, scrapping down the side sinking, missing the propellors on the way. Once they had passed the pilot unstrapped (he was able to breathe emergency oxygen meanwhile) to then inflate his mae west, to hurtle to the surface from about 60 feet it is calculated. The SAR rescue diver in the PEDRO helo said he rocketed out of the water. You see him being picked up, then temporarily put in the stretcher as SOP; but he complains (because he is uninjured otherwise) to be able to stand up and get rid of his survival gear. You see the same pilot at the beginning of the video closing the canopy (on a different A4G). His name: Barry Evans, date is 08 Nov 1973 in the South China Sea.
Not sure of the exact date of the A4G 871 tip over during arrest but around that time. The RAN did not have a PLAT system so film/still photos were taken of deck ops at all times by several cameramen. The film was usually not developed unless there was a noteworthy incident. So many films were edited to make the one seen. The date of that incident was possibly just before (or after) but during a VF-805 work up, in difficult rolling swell in Jervis Bay, a few miles east of NAS Nowra - the only RAN FAA airfield. Here is another pilot talking about it:
“I was doing D/Ls that day too, and the ship was running up and down in Jervis Bay side on to the swell. On one of my traps, the ship rolled quite a bit and I slid about four feet to the left after arrest. I thought I was going over the side at the time, but the wire held just as the ship rolled back the other way. Shortly afterwards >>>>>>>> had a similar problem, but his wingtip hit the deck and stayed there.”
The aircraft was righted by deck crew with the engine still running so that you see the aircraft taxi away out of the landing area and I'll guess shut down in Fly One to see if there was any damage. There was none - only paint scrapes I'm told.
Another story only read by me long afterwards in this RAN FAA Safety Magazine TOUCHDOWN. Story written by an Aircraft Handler - possibly the 'hook man/deck runner/hook runner' who helps the aircraft disengage from the arrestor wire if required: [there are other good stories therein]
"...As the aircraft quickly decelerated to a halt, our marshaller cleared our ingress and we sprinted across the deck in the darkness. It was an uphill struggle, as the carrier was slowly rolling with a long swell running and as we arrived at the aircraft it began to teeter on the main gear before tipping over onto its starboard wing. With the brakes on hard, the arrester wire still engaged and the engine still producing thrust; to our bemusement, the canopy suddenly popped open and with his best Monty Python ‘run away’ impersonation, the pilot jumped down and ran, putting in some big steps into the darkness and the safety of the island superstructure. This left us with a dilemma. It was dark, the aircraft was still hooked up to a wire, the engine was running with the hungry starboard intake now closer to the ground, the ship was rolling, it was noisy and it was unclear if the ejection seat had been made safe. Other deck crew were now also rushing towards the aircraft. Once the crash rescue crew had ensured the security of the ejection seat and shut the engine down the pilot sheepishly reappeared, offering us a hand. The aircraft, looking like it was tired after a hard day’s work as if it were leaning over on one elbow, was soon righted and parked. All in a night’s work!...
http://www.navy.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/Touchdown_July_2010.pdf (0.8Mb)
