“A human interest angle is that [Lieutenant Commander, and future] Sen. John McCain was manning one of the A-4’s near the one that was hit by the Zuni. I have seen some stories that it was McCain’s A-4 that was hit. I think that is incorrect. I believe it was the A-4 of LCDR Fred D. White (VA-46) which was struck by the Zuni. That’s what was said in the aftermath of the fire. White did not survive.” - TOM WIMBERLY, CAPTAIN, USN (Ret)(XO of VF-74 “Be-Devilers” on 29 July 1967) Link
“The rocket flew across the flight deck, striking a wing-mounted external fuel tank on an A-4E Skyhawk awaiting launch,[1] aircraft No. 405 from VA-46, piloted by Lieutenant Commander Fred D. White.[2][13] The Zuni rocket’s warhead safety mechanism prevented it from detonating, but the impact tore the tank off the wing and ignited the resulting spray of escaping JP-5 fuel, causing an instantaneous conflagration. Within seconds, other external fuel tanks on White’s aircraft overheated and ruptured, releasing more jet fuel to feed the flames, which began spreading along the flight deck.”
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First, the contention is with the “manning part” of the story as the cover up to the actual story. The coverup stems from being McCain going against Naval procedure and performing a “wet start” of his jet. “Wet strats” are against Naval procedures for very good reason. They create a large flame out the rear of the plane and a lot of noise. This in turn caused an electrical surge which caused the inadvertent firing of an armed, erroneously armed by the pilot, weapon from the plane which was not McCain’s. Due to the so-called “maverick” trying to show off his actions led to the firing of the rocket which caused an electrical surge to inadvertently fire an armed rocket which resulted in 134 deaths. https://www.theburningplatform.com/2015/07/23/mccain-the-hero-nearly-sunk-an-aircraft-carrier-killed-134-sailors/
The incident was covered up by the Navy due to McCain’s affiliations with his father and granfather being four-star Naval admirals.
However, McCain’s files are sealed forever as he worked feverishly to have these done so. McCain is and always the Singer.
There is no evidence of this. Two days after the fire (when they were probably still recovering the dead, and certainly before any investigation had concluded), the captain of the Forrestal told the NYT that he thought an extreme wet start may have set off the Zuni rocket, but he also said this was tentative and there were conflicting reports. He never said McCain was responsible for the presumed wet start. McCain's tail was hanging over the flight deck, towards the sea; so how could a wet start on his part set off a Zuni rocket on the other side of the carrier?
The electrical spike occurred when the F-4 Phantom switched from external to internal power. The Zuni rocket had been prematurely wired to the F-4, before it was on the catapult and a safety pin had also been removed. Without these two occurrences there is no Forrestal fire. I can't stand McCain, but I won't blame him for something that he isn't responsible for.