And, On 29 July 1967, a fire broke out on board the
aircraft carrier USS Forrestal after an electrical anomaly caused a
Zuni rocket on an
F-4B Phantom to fire, striking an external fuel tank of an
A-4 Skyhawk. The flammable jet fuel spilled across the
flight deck ignited and triggered a chain-reaction of explosions that killed 134 sailors and injured 161. At the time,
Forrestal was engaged in combat operations in the
Gulf of Tonkin, during the
Vietnam War. The ship survived, but with damage exceeding
US$72 million, not including the damage to aircraft.