WRECKommendations
The Lost Intruder
The Search for a Missing Navy Jet
Written by Peter M. Hunt
On November 6, 1989, a US Navy Grumman A-6E Intruder, a twinjet, mid-wing, all-weather, attack aircraft, based at NAS Whidbey Island, Washington, experienced a total hydraulic failure that affected the main landing gear and caused the crew to lose control of the aircraft. The airplane crashed off the Washington coast in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, seven miles from NAS Whidbey Island. Luckily, both crewmembers, Commander H. D. Starling (pilot) and Lt. Col. S. Eagle (bombardier/navigator), safely ejected before the crash and were rescued uninjured.
The Navy mounted a robust search for the missing
