EA-18G crew suffered from frostbite after ECS failed in flight

A U.S. Navy EA-18G assigned to VX-9 were injured when their jet’s environmental control system (ECS) failed during a flight from NAS Whidbey Island to NWS China Lake on Jan. 29.

By Senior Airman John Linzmeier (DVIDS.net) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

The temperature inside the cockpit dropped to -30 degrees and a layer of ice engulfed the canopy and instrument panels.

Flying blind, the crew relied on a Garmin watch for navigation back to Whidbey Island. Breathing on oxygen from emergency equipment, they almost ran out of air by the time they landed.

Both “severe blistering and burns on hands,” an internal report stated. Naval Air Forces spokesman said one is now back in flight status after treatment and the other is expected to make a complete recovery.