Sea King - Aermacchi close encounter 21/5/1982 - San Carlos
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Sea King - Aermacchi close encounter 21/5/1982 - San Carlos
Evening
I was wondering if anyone on this site has knowledge of a close encounter between a Sea King in San Carlos on the 21st May 1982. Said Aermacchi, flown by Owen Crippa, having flown in from the north, nearly shot down a Lynx, then spotted HMS Argonaut, left the Lynx to fly another day flew and attacked Argonaut with cannon and Zuni rockets, then flew through the landing flee, was missed by a blowpipe and goodness what else, suddenly found itself in close proximity to what Crippa has described as being a SK HC4. He described both himself and the pilot of the HC4 making extreme maneuvers in order to avoid each other.
Having previously aided Owen to identify and meet the Lynx pilot, and having not previously heard about the near miss with the Sea King, I was wondering if there was anyone on board, either from 846 NAS or otherwise, who might be able to shed any light on it? Although the Aermacchi flying through the landing fleet was mentioned in Harry Benson's excellent book Scram, no mention of the close encounter with the Sea King. Somebody somewhere has surely heard this dit?
Cheers
Andy
I was wondering if anyone on this site has knowledge of a close encounter between a Sea King in San Carlos on the 21st May 1982. Said Aermacchi, flown by Owen Crippa, having flown in from the north, nearly shot down a Lynx, then spotted HMS Argonaut, left the Lynx to fly another day flew and attacked Argonaut with cannon and Zuni rockets, then flew through the landing flee, was missed by a blowpipe and goodness what else, suddenly found itself in close proximity to what Crippa has described as being a SK HC4. He described both himself and the pilot of the HC4 making extreme maneuvers in order to avoid each other.
Having previously aided Owen to identify and meet the Lynx pilot, and having not previously heard about the near miss with the Sea King, I was wondering if there was anyone on board, either from 846 NAS or otherwise, who might be able to shed any light on it? Although the Aermacchi flying through the landing fleet was mentioned in Harry Benson's excellent book Scram, no mention of the close encounter with the Sea King. Somebody somewhere has surely heard this dit?
Cheers
Andy
On a side note neither Blowpipe or Sea Cat ever seemed very effective, and I was always of the impression that the weapon system that Sea Cat was designed to replace (the 40mm Bofors) was more effective, especially the upgraded L40/70.
It does make me wonder how effective the RN’s close range air defence systems would be against a similar threat today.
It does make me wonder how effective the RN’s close range air defence systems would be against a similar threat today.
Last edited by Fonsini; 11th Aug 2019 at 15:38.
It does make me wonder how effective the RN’s close range air defence systems would be against a similar threat today.
https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-an...new-sea-ceptor
Last edited by Lima Juliet; 12th Aug 2019 at 05:51.
