A short video appeared on Reddit from the Chinook MOA near Seattle, as a flight of six EA-18 Growlers, an electronic warfare version of the F/A-18F Super Hornet fighter, returned to Whidbey Island Naval Air Station. The pilot who posted the video taken from his piston single states, “Was given an altitude restriction on flight following passing through [the] MOA, and then 6 Growlers passed under.”
In the comments section, the pilot added more details, including the date the video was taken (February 12), the fact that he was slightly above the 5000 MSL ceiling of the MOA, and his thoughts on flight following.
“I had [flight following] from long before and we were just over the top of [the MOA] anyway. Definitely serves as a demonstration why it’d be unwise to casually fly through a MOA without asking approach about it first.”
Other viewers supplied plenty of Top Gun movie quotes for entertainment value, and “Tailhook91” was able to explain that, based on the date and time of the sighting, the flight of Growlers was most likely Electronic Attack Squadron 136 (also known as “The Gauntlets”) returning from deployment aboard the USS Carl Vinson in the South China Sea.
