McCain fudges his Navy record (WaPo Candidate Watch)

[struggle4progress]

... The official Navy report into the Corpus Christi accident on March 12, 1960, concludes that the AD-6 Skyraider trainer crashed because McCain failed to "maintain an airspeed above the stall speed." It attributed the accident to "the preoccupation of the pilot coupled with a power setting too low to maintain level flight" .... The accident report .. recorded pilot error as "the sole contributing factor" to the accident ...

McCain had another accident with a T-2 trainer jet in November 1965, while flying between New York City and Norfolk, Va. The Naval Aviation Safety Center was unable to determine the precise cause of the accident or the degree of pilot error. McCain wrote later that his engine "flamed out" and he had to eject.

In his autobiography, McCain recalls another mishap around December 1961 when "I knocked down some power lines while flying too low over southern Spain. My daredevil clowning had cut off electricity to a great many Spanish homes and created a small international incident." He landed his Skyraider back on the USS Intrepid after the incident, which does not appear to have triggered a safety investigation ...

McCain's claim that he crashed into Corpus Christi Bay in December 1960 after his "engine quit" is a considerable stretch. U.S. Navy Safety records make clear that the plane crashed because his power setting was too low and he was failing to pay sufficient attention to his landing pattern.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/10/mccain_fudges_his_navy_record.html

[struggle4progress]

1. Mishaps mark John McCain's record as naval aviator (LAT)

By Ralph Vartabedian and Richard A. Serrano, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
October 6, 2008

... In today's military, a lapse in judgment that causes a crash can end a pilot's career. Though standards were looser and crashes more frequent in the 1960s, McCain's record stands out.

"Three mishaps are unusual," said Michael L. Barr, a former Air Force pilot with 137 combat missions in Vietnam and an internationally known aviation safety expert who teaches in USC's Aviation Safety and Security Program. "After the third accident, you would say: Is there a trend here in terms of his flying skills and his judgment?" ...


Naval aviation experts say the three accidents before McCain's deployment to Vietnam probably triggered a review to determine whether he should be allowed to continue flying. The results of the review would have been confidential.

The Times asked McCain's campaign to release any military personnel records in the candidate's possession showing how the Navy handled the three incidents. The campaign said it would have no comment ...

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-na-aviator6-2008oct06,0,1670799.story

Won't release his health records. Won't release his military records. How much is he hiding?