This information is added by users of ASN. Neither ASN nor the Flight Safety Foundation are responsible for the completeness or correctness of this information.
If you feel this information is incomplete or incorrect, you can
submit corrected information.
Date: | Friday 26 June 1981 |
Time: | |
Type: | Hawker Siddeley AV-8A Harrier |
Owner/operator: | VMA-513 USMC |
Registration: | 158703 |
MSN: | 712100/22 |
Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
Location: | Pacific off USS Tarawa, off San Diego, CA -
United States of America
|
Phase: | Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.) |
Nature: | Military |
Departure airport: | USS Tarawa |
Destination airport: | |
Confidence Rating: | Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
Narrative:Flew into the sea off the USS Tarawa, off San Diego, CA. Pilot killed
Obituary of pilot
MAJ. THOMAS W. TYLER
Died: June 26, 1981
Family members had been invited on board the amphibious assault ship Tarawa for a cruise, and Tyler's fiancee was watching as he did a demonstration flyby in his AV-8A. He was supposed to make several passes by the ship from stern to bow. But after the first pass, he changed direction, heading bow to stern. After narrowly missing the ship, the plane hit the water.
Investigators concluded the "primary cause of the accident was pilot error," noting that the presence of his fiancee "may have altered Maj. Tyler's previous conscientious flying attitude." Their report also faulted shipboard personnel for not warning Tyler sooner that he had strayed from his flight plan.
Tyler graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy and flew helicopters in Vietnam. But his real love was the Harrier. "He just loved to fly that plane," said John L. Tyler, his father.
Thomas Tyler, 33, was divorced and had a daughter, who was 7 at the time of the crash
Sources:
http://www.joebaugher.com/navy_serials/thirdseries20.html http://www.pulitzer.org/archives/6725
https://vsafuto.wordpress.com/2008/08/19/uss-tarawa-memories/
http://www.harrier.org.uk/history/AV8APROD.PDF
Revision history:
Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
07-Sep-2010 14:30 |
ASN Archive |
|
03-Aug-2011 14:00 |
Dr.John Smith |
Updated [Date, Cn, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Country, Phase, Departure airport, Source, Narrative] |
11-Feb-2020 16:23 |
Iwosh |
Updated [Operator, Narrative, Operator] |