A contributor to the Irish Spotters' list gave the following info yesterday:
"The F-14A tailplane which washed up on the beach made its way by
road to Gormanston today,Friday.Its to be hangared there to be inspected by an
insurance assesser & then returned to its owner or else destroyed.Hopefully this
wont happen as it would be a great exhibit for an Irish Aviation Museum.So if
anyone has a contact with such a museum maybe they should make enquiries before
its too late.Its about 10 feet by 8 feet with the rudder attatched still.
The U.S. Navy have confirmed that the tail is from an F-14A 162594/AD-136
,C/N.516 of VF-101 Grim Reapers Squadron,based at Oceana Naval Air Station in
Virginia Beach.It was on a training mission with several F-14's when it crashed
in The Gulf of Mexico on 3/10/2002.A compressor stalled in one of it's
engines,both crewmembers ejected safely & were picked up by a H-3
helicopter.They received minor injuries.Maybe it lay on the seabed until it
seperated from the main wreckage in one of the hurricanes which hit that area
last year & then drifted in the currents 4,900 miles accross the Atlantic to our
shores?A nice visitor at a time when the Tomcat is being retired!"
