The Fantail - Navy Blog - Navy Times

Cats and traps …

Tweet

Of all the active aircraft carriers in the fleet, Kitty Hawk boasts the most arrested landings — the metric by which flight decks are measured.

With 404,622 arrested landings to her credit, Kitty Hawk is well ahead of Enterprise, the closest active carrier, which, at last count, had around 382,000.

Unfortunately, there’s no chance “The Hawk” will move up on the all-time list with only a few more weeks, at best, in her operational life. On that list, Kitty is holding at third.

Topping the trap list is the venerable CV and later AVT 16 Lexington, which finished her career with 493,248 arrested landings. Her long service, which dates back to the World War II Pacific campaign, included 28 years as the Pensacola-based training carrier.

Next in line is Independence, which spent a number of years forward-deployed before being relieved by Kitty Hawk in 1998 and heading home to decommission, as Kitty is doing now. Her 482,570 arrested landings make her a solid No. 2 on the all-time list.

With an uncertain short-term future, Kitty Hawk could rack up a few hundred more traps before her decks go silent after turning over to George Washington.

But that seems a long way off. Her deck crews are again building their proficiency, and their close working relationship with Carrier Air Wing 5 is obvious as the aircraft are launched and recovered. It almost seems a shame to break up such a good team …

Flight Deck Ballet