RICHARDS-JAMES

UNFORTUNATE  ACCIDENTAL  DEATH – LOST  AT  SEA

On January 25, 1987, a Douglas EA-3B Skywarrior (BuNo 144850),  belonging to Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron Two (VQ-2) based at Naval Station, Rota, Spain, participated in 6th Fleet exercises in the Mediterranean.  The EA-3B was an electronic intelligence aircraft which carried a crew of seven, with the flight crew of three in the cockpit, and an electronic warfare officer and three electronic systems operators/evaluators who operated in the cabin.  Simply put, the EA-3B was a spy plane converted from a 1950s bomber equipped for sensitive missions and was the largest aircraft ever designed to operate from an aircraft carrier.  It acquired the nickname of “Whale” because of the plane’s swollen belly and skin the color of molten gray.  The mission of the EA-3B this day which lasted almost four hours has never been revealed.  Published articles concerning the flight indicate it may have been collecting intelligence near Libya to help keep tabs on Moammar Gaddafi’s forces and other articles speculate the possible target may have been Islamic militants in Lebanon who had carried out terrorist bombings and taken dozens of Americans and other foreigners hostage during the mid 1980s.

Shortly before midnight the EA-3B attempted to land on the carrier USS Nimitz.  Whether in war or in peace, landing a jet on a carrier at night is arguably a very dangerous job and on this occasion it  became especially difficult for the pilot.  Five times he tried to land on the deck of the waiting carrier but each time he brought the plane in too high, requiring him to circle again.  After the fifth wave-off the EA-3B was ordered to land at a naval base on the island of Crete but needing fuel he had to first make an in-air refueling.  When it was discovered the flying tanker did not have appropriate fuel for the EA-3B it returned to try again to land on Nimitz where a high nylon barricade, much like a giant tennis net, was rigged across the deck. 

Unfortunately, the EA-3B was again too high and the plane’s front wheel caught the top of the barricade, snatching it nose-first and in a shower of sparks it slammed onto the deck and skidded until it dropped over the side of the ship.  Hitting the water, the plane broke apart and immediately thereafter the ship washed over the wreckage.  Within a very short time all the wreckage disappeared.  The crew of the Nimitz stayed on the scene for three days, but no bodies and no significant wreckage was recovered.  All seven crewmembers perished.

Lieutenant James D. Richards was one of the cryptologists aboard the EA-3B and his assignment was Junior Evaluator.  Review of readily available public historical records disclosed little information concerning him in addition to the details of his death but revealed he joined the Navy in December 1982 following studies at Hope College in Holland, Michigan.  In mid April 1986, LT Richards reportedly participated in Operation Eldorado Canyon during which the Navy made bombing raids against targets in Libya.

               

                                               EA-3B WHALE

Submitted by CDR Roy A. Mosteller, USNR (Ret)