Unprepared: The Kitty Hawk Incident with Russian Jets
The Unexpected Encounter
On the 7th of October 2000, the US aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk was caught unprepared as two Russian fighter jets flew over its deck repeatedly.
Captain Allen G. Myers and his crew were caught off guard as they were underway in the Sea of Japan. The carrier was actually replenishing at sea (VERTREP/vertical replenishment/replenishment by air).
Capt. Kevin Wensing, a spokesman for the Commander-in-Chief Pacific Fleet, mentioned that the Russian aircraft only came within several miles of the Kitty Hawk as it cruised in the northern Sea of Japan, between the island of Hokkaido and the Russian mainland.
However, The Washington Times, quoting unnamed Navy sources, stated that the two Russian aircraft — an Su-24 Fencer and an Su-27 Flanker — buzzed the Kitty Hawk’s tower at an altitude of about 200 feet. It took the crew of the US carrier 40 minutes to scramble a Prowler as the Russian planes circled overhead and buzzed the deck.
The Aftermath
The true impact of this incident was felt when the Russians took pictures of the deck as they flew overhead and then emailed those pictures to the US captain. One such picture showed a deck unprepared for action and a crew taken by surprise.
This incident was widely reported at the time, finding mentions in the Proceedings of the United States Naval Institute, the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Times, ABC, and the BBC.
-RBM.
