Another piece of metal plane paneling has been found in Arlington, one day after at least three panels fell from a Navy Prowler jet based at Whidbey Island Naval Air Station. The EA-6B Prowler was on a routine training mission from Wednesday when it lost a few aft-engine and mid-engine panel doors. The panels plunged to earth south of Arlington. Two pieces fell near the new Arlington High School on Crown Ridge Boulevard and at least one more fell less than a mile west in a yard at the Gleneagle golf course’s residential development.
Nobody was injured by the falling metal, and the four-person crew landed safely at the Whidbey Island base.
The newest find was not noticed until Thanksgiving Day in Margie Phillips’ yard on 186th Street NE. Navy personnel have not yet confirmed if it is from the same plane, but it landed in a roughly straight line less than a mile east of the other pieces. Phillips said she wasn’t surprised she didn’t see or hear it land, because she was busy getting ready to have many relatives over for the holiday.
"I may have been out shopping when it fell," Phillips said.
The accident is at least the second time this year that a Prowler has lost parts during a flight in this state. This summer, a pod fell from a Prowler flying over the Columbia River Basin, according to a Navy spokeswoman.
This fall, the Navy grounded at least 40 percent of its Prowlers to replace aging, brittle metal in its wings’ center sections. The pieces in Arlington were engine panels, though.
The Navy and the Federal Aviation Administration are investigating, but the spokeswoman said initially that the two incidents do not appear to be related
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