| Date: 30 April 1968 |
| Aircraft type: F-4B Phantom |
| Serial Number: 153003 |
| Military Unit: VF-114 |
| Service: USN |
| Home Base: USS Kitty Hawk |
| Name(s): |
| Lt Cdr Conrad Charles Hoffner (Survived) |
| Lt(jg) James William Laing (Survived) |
| A Phantom had to make a barricade landing on board the Kitty Hawk after losing a tyre during a bolter when returning from a strike mission. The aircraft (call sign Linfield 203) engaged the barrier but then fell over the port side of the ship and came to rest with its nose almost in the water while suspended by the barricade. The pilot ejected and was slightly injured but the NFO’s ejection seat failed to fire so he unstrapped and jumped into the sea. Both men were rescued by the plane guard helicopter. As the aircraft was hanging precariously off the side of the Kitty Hawk and could not be lifted back onto the deck it was cut free and sank. This was presumably the same Jim W Laing who had been shot down while an Ensign with VF-114 on 24 April and again on 21 May 1967 during the Kitty Hawk’s previous cruise. |
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