GRUMMAN NAVAL WEAPONS PLANT ,TOP SECRET PROTOTYPE CRASHES NEAR LONG ISLAND EXPRESSWAY 1970

THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE DIDN'T JUST PUT THE PRIMARY ADC FOR THE NORTHEAST ON L.I. AND THE NUCLEAR ANTI-AIRCRAFT MISSILE DEFENSE HERE FOR NOTHING. A VERY IMPORTANT PART OF THE COLD WAR MILITARY MACHINE WAS ON LONG ISLAND NY THAT'S WERE ALL THE AVIATION & WEAPON PLANTS WHERE AIRCRAFT STARTING WITH WORLD WAR ONE RIGHT INTO THE COLD WAR WERE BUILT. REPUBLIC/FAIRCHILD/GRUMMAN/ WERE THE PLANE MFG's THAT WON WARS AND BUILT TO FLY FROM AIRCRAFT CARRIERS INTO  WORLD WAR 2  THE KOREAN WAR ,VIETNAM, AND THE COLD WAR LOTS OF ELECTRONICS FOR JAMMING & GUIDANCE SYSTEMS AND WEAPON AIMING AND BUILDING THE CRAFT THAT TOOK THE MEN DOWN ON TO THE MOONS SURFACE CALLED "LEM", THE SAME COMPANY ALSO BUILT ONE OF THE GREAT JETS THE LAST TO COME OUT OF THE CALVERTON NAVAL WEAPONS PLANT.  IT WAS THE" F-14 TOMCAT" ONE OF THE GREATEST FIGHTERS EVER BUILT. LIVING ON LONG ISLAND DURING THE COLD WAR AND SEEING THESE JETS SCREAMING AROUND BEING TESTED WAS GREAT! BUT THE END OF THOSE DAYS WAS APPROACHING FAST AND BY 1995 ALL THE GREAT AIRCRAFT MFG'S HAD CLOSED FROM LACK OF CONTRACTS. GRUMMAN BEING THE LAST TO CLOSE IN, 1994-5 CALVERTON CLOSED- THE FOOTAGE SHOWS THIS PROTOTYPE F-14 FLYING OVER THE  NEW LONG ISLAND EXPRESSWAY ,THEN THE PILOT AND BACKSEATER PUNCHES OUT AND THE PLANE GOES DOWN INTO THE WOODS WITHOUT ANYONE BEING HURT. IT SEEMS THAT ONE OF THE PARACHUTES GOES DOWN ON TO THE BURNING WRECKAGE BUT ITS JUST A CAMERA ANGLE, THIS OCCURRED DURING THE 1970 TEST FLIGHTS THIS FOOTAGE IS SILENT AND FILMED BY A CHASE PLANE ( A-6 PROWLER/INTRUDER) AND WAS HIDDEN AWAY FOR MANY YEARS.
CALVERTON NAVAL WEAPONS PLANT REFERENCE
Calverton Naval Weapons Plant (CTO), Calverton, NY, was built in 1952 at the Grumman factory airfield. It was the birthplace of the F-14, A-6, E-2, etc. The plant's two runways (14/32 and 5/23) were completed in 1953. The Assembly Plant Building (Plant 6) was accepted for Grumman operations in 1954, and production commenced that same year. Also in 1954, Hangar #4 was occupied by the Flight Test Department, and Hangar #1 was occupied. In 1956 construction was completed on the Firing-In area (gun butts) and the Engine Test House. The Rotodome Test Area, used for E-2 Hawkey radar development, was completed in 1961. After Grumman was acquired by Northrop, the airfield was closed in 1996 due to cancellation of F-14 and A-6 production. The sole remaining Grumman aircraft production line for the E-2 Hawkeye was consolidated to St. Augustine, FL. The airfield property was turned over by the Navy to the Town of Riverhead in 1998. Two concrete runways still exist: 10,000' runway 14/32 and 7,000' runway 5/23. One of the Calverton hangars was used by the NTSB to reassemble wreckage of TWA B747 flight 800 that went down off the coast of long island less than 20 miles from the naval weapons plant