Date: 9 December 1958 at 1215 hours
Squadron: VAH-15Crew: Pilot was Lieutenant Commander George Wilson USNR, bombardier/navigator was Ensign Fred Melton Clancy, III USNR. There were two others aboard, a third crewman and a Chief Petty Officer who was a flight time passenger.
Additional casualties: Two children in house on ground killed and their mother injured.
Known details: Kenneth S. Reightler, Sr. wrote in an email dated 14 August 2003: “In December1958 an AJ with load of JP went down on Granby Street, Norfolk Virginia. Six were lost, four on the plane and two children in the house. I saw the whole thing except for actual crash as it was behind trees, but I saw it go 90 degrees when they stalled. I heard the recip’s breaking up as they went over.
Pilot George Wilson, Maintenance Officer, VAH-15 was well-experienced. He was in VC-8 1952 on as Electronic Officer. He was a great guy. In my humble opinion the inexperienced striker 3rd crewmn did not cap off the valve that feeds to the recips from the tank.” VAH-15 flew AJ-2s.
Additional details: In a telephone conversation on 19 December 2003, Frederick W. Burton, 2nd, a representative of the Inflight Refueling Co., told me that the third crewman was a protege of his whose name was Pat Toomey. The fourth man was named Delaney, was also a third crewman, and was being checked out on the refueling gear by Toomey.
CLANCY, FRED MELTON III
- ENSIGN USNR
- VETERAN SERVICE DATES: Unknown
- DATE OF BIRTH: 11/11/1938
- DATE OF DEATH: 12/09/1958
- DATE OF INTERMENT: 12/12/1958
- BURIED AT: SECTION 1 SITE 425-E ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY
Michael Robert Patterson was born in Arlington and is the son of a former officer of the US Army. So it was no wonder that sooner or later his interests drew him to American history and especially to American military history. Many of his articles can be found on renowned portals like the New York Times, Washingtonpost or Wikipedia.
Reviewed by: Michael Howard