El Toro : Cylinder Falls From Fighter After Takeoff
A 50-pound cylinder that provides additional thrust during takeoffs fell from an A-4 Skyhawk shortly after it left the runway Thursday at El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, Marine officials said.
The Jet Assist Take Off, or JATO, bottle--54 inches long, 9 inches wide and gray in color--was lost somewhere between the airfield and an area about four miles east of the runway. No one has reported any injuries or damage from the falling bottle, which was discovered missing by another pilot flying in formation with the A-4.
The aircraft departed from El Toro shortly after 8:30 a.m. It is attached to Marine Attack Squadron 133, Marine Aircraft Group 42, 4th Marine Aircraft Wing, stationed at Alameda Naval Air Station. The squadron is taking its annual two-week summer training.
The Marines ask that anyone who finds the cylinder call the duty officer at (714) 726-3830.
![San Clemente Island, viewed from a shuttle aircraft that regularly flies military and civilian personnel to the U.S. Navy-owned land mass 68 miles from San Diego. The military airstrip is seen at the northern end. The southern end has the only remaining ship-to-shore bombardment range in the U.S. The Navy has supported an extensive ecological restoration of endangered plants and animals on the island. [For the record, July 24, 2013: An earlier version of this caption incorrectly said the military airstrip was at the southern end of the island, and the bombardment range to the north.]](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/4328c11/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2017x1349+15+0/resize/1024x685!/format/webp/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F27%2F1c%2F485caad18db60fdd718a1f97ed77%2Flat-1479178donbart-la0010504175-20130717)
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