A-7D Corsair II Crash Site

April 27th 2020





Summery :

 The LTV A-7 Corsair II is a carrier-capable subsonic light attack aircraft originally developed for the US Navy.
A-7D is the version built for the USAF, with updated engine & radar and cannon had replaced to a single M61 20mm Valcan.

This A-7D (#72-0249) was assigned to 188th Tactical Fighter Squardron from Kirtland AFB, New Mexico Air National Guard.

On May 23rd, 1984, this A-7D Corsair II piloted by 1Lt. Eddie J. Torrez, call sign TACO 81 was part of the detachment deployed to Nellis AFB, Nevada to provide dissimilar aircraft to support air-to-air training curriculum of the Fight Weapons School.
The other aircraft in this flight was a F-4E, call sign OLDS 1.
During the second engagement with OLDS 1 in the defensive position, the pilots failed to terminate the engagement upon reaching minimum engagement altitude and entered into a series of slow speed maneuvers.
TACO 81 entered a position from which he could not recover with the pilot ejecting outside the envelope for safe ejection and sustained fatal injuries.

On that very strange Wednesday, members of Naval Reserve SEAL Team 1/3/5 and SEAL Team Five Training Cell were conducting orienteering and other training on the ground in that Mountain Range.
The sailors witnessed the crash.


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There are a lot of wrecks around impact site.
Aircraft crashed on the edge of the canyon cliff, spreading half of the wrecks over the steep hill side while other half fell down into the canyon below.
Some wrecks are in large (for few feet) size.


    
Description



Manufacturer:
LTV (Ling-Temco-Vought)
Base model:
A-7
Version:
D
Nickname:
Corsair II
Designation System:
U.S. Air Force
Designation Period:
1967-1991 (USAF)
Basic role:
Attack aircraft
Serial Number:
72-0249
Year built:
1972
Crash Date:
1984/5/23
Fatalities:
1




Specifications



Length:
46' 2" 14.06 m
Height:
16' 1" 4.9 m
Wingspan:
38' 9" 11.8 m
Wingarea:
374.9 sq ft 34.83 sq m
Empty Weight:
19,127 lb 8,676 kg
Max Takeoff Weight:
41,998 lb 19,050 kg





Propulsion



No. of Engines:
1
Powerplant:
Allison TF41-A-2 non-afterburning turbofan
Thrust (each):
15,000 lb





Performance



Max Speed:
690 mph 1,100 km/h 600 kt
Range:
1,070 nmi 1,231 mi 1,981 km
Ceiling:
42,000 ft 13,000 m


    
Other A-7 Link :
 Wikipedia Link : LTV A-7 Corsair II
    



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