The Lost Intruder: The Search for a Missing Navy Jet

by Peter M Hunt

Overview

"Although I owned a boat, I had no sonar, metal detector or any practical method of surveying the ocean bottom. With an incurable illness, no prospect of financial reward, little chance of success, brain surgery looming, and one child in college with another about to start, I was not in a position to spend thousands of dollars on a search. Still, desperate for a distraction, anything to pry my focus away from the disease, I decided-the hell with Parkinson's. I'm doing it." - From THE LOST INTRUDER.On a windy, Autumn day in 1989, a U.S. Navy A-6 Intruder crashed off the shores of Whidbey Island, Washington. The Navy mounted a comprehensive, four-ship search for the attack jet with advanced sonar systems and remotely operated mini-submarines. They came up empty handed.Former Navy pilot Peter Hunt knew the lost Intruder well. The jet came from his squadron; he had flown it from the deck of the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Ranger. Standing in the squadron ready room, Hunt listened to the radio transmissions as the accident unfolded: the hydraulic malfunction, the aborted mission, the futile attempt to lower the landing gear, and finally the violent ejection into Puget sound. Puzzled by the failed Navy search, Hunt long imagined the thrill of finding the A-6 and accomplishing what the U.S. Navy could not.But time was running out. At age 43, Hunt was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. After ten years of worsening symptoms, no longer permitted to fly, and barely able to scuba dive, Hunt knew that he was losing the battle. Desperate for a rallying point to prove to himself that life still mattered, Hunt struck out in 2014 to find the missing A-6. Naval Aviation, deep technical wreck diving, high seas exploration, and one man's optimistic refusal to quit converge in a salute to life's possibility. The Lost Intruder soars in a triumph of the human spirit-see what it means to be alive.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781546334972
Publisher:	CreateSpace Publishing
Publication date:	07/09/2017
Pages:	238
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Peter Hunt was born in New York and spent six years of his childhood in Athens, Greece where he started diving in 1978. He graduated with a history degree from Brown University in 1985 before joining the Navy and training as an A-6 Intruder attack pilot. Hunt completed three aircraft carrier deployments to the Persian Gulf, Indian Ocean, and Western Pacific during ten years of active duty. His military awards include the Distinguished Flying Cross and three Air Medals for combat action during Operation Desert Storm. After leaving the Navy, Hunt worked as a United Airlines pilot until being diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease in 2005 at age 43. The father of two adult children, Hunt holds a Masters in Strategic Planning for Critical Infrastructure from the University of Washington and lives with his wife on Whidbey Island, Washington. He is the author of "Angles of Attack, an A-6 Intruder Pilot's War," and "Setting the Hook, a Diver's Return to the Andrea Doria." For more information, please go to www.peterhuntbooks.com.

Editorial Reviews

2017-08-02
A former U.S. Navy pilot battling Parkinson's disease attempts to find a lost aircraft in this debut memoir. In 1989, an A-6 Intruder, a Navy fighter jet, went down off the coast of Whidbey Island, Washington. For a variety of reasons—turbulent weather, rough tidal currents, and limited underwater visibility—the Navy search was unable to recover the $30 million aircraft. Eventually, they simply gave up, deciding that any further attempt would be "futile and cost prohibitive." At the time that the Intruder went missing, Hunt was in the "ready room," the Navy squadron's command center; the aircraft's disappearance was personal to him, as he'd flown it over 500 times. Over the next quarter-century, he fantasized about tracking down the lost plane on his own and accomplishing what the Navy couldn't. This dream was unfortunately complicated in 2005 when the author, then a 43-year-old commercial airline pilot, was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. As a result, his flying days were over and his diving days were numbered. Still, even when he was scheduled to undergo major brain surgery, Hunt was more inspired than demoralized by his condition, and he committed himself to the thrilling, if improbable task, of finding the Intruder: "My battle with Parkinson's did more than instill in me a hope of finding the jet," he writes, "it fostered a profound belief that anything was possible if I honestly gave it my best effort." The author's account of his search is as meticulous as the preparations for it, showing how he doggedly pursued clues to the Intruder's whereabouts like an investigative journalist. He also offers a candid discussion of his deteriorating health condition, his medical treatments, and the torpor that both eventually visited upon him, which made him turn to alcohol. Additionally, Hunt provides a brief history of the Intruder—a key player during the Vietnam War that was retired during Operation Desert Storm. The author's prose is always crystal-clear and sometimes moving, particularly when he discusses the ways in which his quest revitalized his life in the face of physical decline. An inspiriting story related with journalistic rigor and disarming frankness.

Kirkus Reviews