AWAN David Lee Stringer
VP-1 P-3B
BUNO: 152720
10/8/60-06/16/83
Hometown: Minnesota
Aircraft YB-06 crashed into the mountains of Kauai, Hawaii on a tactical mission launched from Barbers Point.
Shipmates Comments:
AWC Jim Day:
Just a newbie at the time and full of anticipation and desire.
Media Articles:
Plane Crashes in Military Exercise In Hawaii, Killing All 14 Aboard
N.Y. Times, June 17, 1983
HONOLULU, June 16 (AP)--A plane participating in a military exercise crashed on a remote, treacherous section of Kauai Island early today, killing all 14 people aboard, the Navy said.
The deaths were not confirmed for hours, until a rescue crew was lowered to the crash site by helicopter, said Lieut. Cmdr. Roger Copeland. A ground crew was to enter the area Friday to recover the bodies, he said.
"The area is extremely remote, with cliffs and canyons: a difficult area to get in at best," Commander Copeland said.
The four-engine, turbo-prop P3 Orion, an antisubmarine plane, disappeared shortly after 4 A.M., said Commander Copeland, who is the public affairs officer for the Third Fleet in Pearl Harbor.
Ships Unaware of Problem
Early reports indicated 12 surface ships participating in the military exercise were not aware that anything was wrong until after they had lost radio contact with the plane, Commander Copeland said.
Rescue aircraft sighted the wreckage in the morning on a ridge about 3,000 feet above the ocean on Kauai's northwest coast, he said. There are no roads near the crash site.
Hawaii Air National Guards and Navy helicopters from the Pacific Missile Range facility in Mana were sent to the site, said Pat Neal, a spokesman for the Navy.
Rescue teams from the Kauai Fire Department also tried to get through to the site on foot.
The plane, assigned to Patrol Squadron 1 at the Barbers Point Naval Air Station on Oahu, was participating in a routine readiness training exercise in support of ships operating in waters off the northwest coast of Kauia, Commander Copeland said.

Bodies of 14 Navy Men Recovered From Plane
N.Y. Times, June 18, 1983
HONOLULU, June 17 (AP)--The bodies of 14 men killed when a four-engine Navy patrol plane crashed on a remote mountain ridge were recovered today, a Navy spokesman said.
The rescue was difficult and time-consuming because the ridge where the crash occurred Thursday was too craggy for a helicopter to land, said Lieut. George Brown, assistant to Comdr. Roger Copeland, public affairs officer for the Third Fleet. But a helicopter managed to lower the rescue team and all the bodies were recovered by late this afternoon, Lieutenant Brown said.
The P-3 Orion antisubmarine patrol plane went down in the mountainous area buffeted by strong winds on the northwest coast of Kauai Island, Commander Copeland said.
The wreckage was scattered on both sides of the ridge, according to Jack Harter, a helicopter pilot who flew over the scene.
"There's nothing but shreds," he said. "It's the worst crash I've ever seen in my life, and I've seen a lot of them."
The crew gave no indication of any problem before the crash, Commander Copeland said.

14 Dead in Hawaii Crash Identified
Navy Times, July 4, 1983
WASHINGTON--The Navy has released the names of the 14 men who were killed June 16 when their P-3 anti-submarine patrol plane crashed into a ridge on the Hawaiian Island of Kauai.
The aircraft from Patrol Squadron 1 at Naval Air Station Barbers Point, crashed while the pilots were in contact with Navy ships on maneuvers off the coast.
Killed were: Lt (jg) Robert W. Bruno; AW2 Armando S. Castillo Jr; AX3 Christopher R. Chambers; Lt (jg) Robert L. Coulter Jr; Lt. Michael E. Gallagher; AW3 Ronald Lipschutz Jr; Lt (jg) Michael R. Lunde; Lt. Cmdr. James R. Moseley; AE1 Steve A. Phipps, AO3 Leslie A. Roth; AT2 Brian M. Sparrow; AWAA David L. Stringer; AW2 Brian D. Sunde and AE1 Ronald C. Wilson.