USNM Interview of Jeff Figel Part Eleven Memories of the Flight Deck Crash on the USS Nimitz 

I was there on board also (OI Division) it was just days before my 20th birthday. It was crazy horrible and it's been with me in my dreams ever since. The next morning there was nowhere to put the bodies so they laid them in the galley area. You could hear a pin drop at chow the next morning because they were laying right there.

it says online and on your facebook page that you didnt join the navy until 1983 so you werent even in the navy when the crash happened?

My best friend growing up was killed in this crash/fire.He was crash crew and was awarded the MOH.I saw it myself on his folks living room wall. His house was 100 feet from mine.2 days after his funeral the navy wanted it back as the toxicology reports came back.The Navy's exact words to his folks''return the medal and it will be erased from history,,if you don't give it back it will be in every newspaper in the country.He was fighting the fire bravely and Thc had nothing to do with the second explosion or the pilot error.

A friend just now sent this to me, hadn't seen it before. Seems inconsistent to me. If Mr. Figel was born in 1957 it seems very unlikely that he would be a Senior Chief Petty Officer in 1981, or if that was his rank at discharge then still unlikely just a year or so after the accident. Also inconsistent recollection of the event: The initial 1MC communication was fire bells followed by the first few words of the usual fire announcement and location: "fire, fire, fire on the flight.... oh shit", then about two seconds of silence, then the GQ bosun whistle, announcement, and gongs. There wasn't one explosion, there were four. They weren't fuel tanks or ejection seats, they were missiles (three sparrows and one sidewinder) that cooked off in the JP5-fed fire. Of course fuel tanks, ejection seats, and many 20mm rounds (aka 'popcorn') also cooked off in the fire. The four crewmembers of the EA6B did not survive the impact, ten more sailors died in the impact and following explosions. It took more than an hour before the fire was contained, but we kept hosing the remaining armament for many hours. Yes, bodies in body bags were laid out on the galley deck for a couple of hours until space was cleared out in one of the big walk-in refrigerators. The only details that seemed close were the actual damages to the flight deck: a sparrow was laying directly on the deck when it detonated, the deck was dimpled inward just a few inches, but had about a 12 inch long split alongside a weld seam. A little burning JP5 flowed into the space below but it was quickly contained, based upon his narrative that may have been where Mr. Figel's fire team was deployed. The other sparrows and sidewinders were still mounted on aircraft above the deck when they detonated, while they destroyed the aircraft they did not damage the deck. We did not go in to the yards, the Nimitz returned immediately to Norfolk, repairs were performed at Pier 12, the Nimitz returned to sea just a few days later.

I was There VA 82 plane capt RD smith,

Inconsistencies in your tale sailor.

I REMEMBER SEEING DEAD/CHARD BODIES IN A PICTURE,BUT I THOUGHT THAT THIS HAPPENED IN 1980.WE HAD TO STAY DEPLOYED LONGER(3 MONTHS) BECAUSE OF THE CRASH OR AM I JUST GETTING OLD? 3MMR/M-DIV. CV67.

What is a gallery deck?

You can’t recall if you went into the yards or not?

How could your dates be so wrong? And I’ve never heard of someone being a weapons handler for 30 years in the same place, what was your rate? Your story doesn’t jive with your Facebook... Sounds like stolen valor.