Navy Jet Clips Power Line

ROCK ISLAND, Douglas County - Two Navy fliers and a motorist narrowly escaped injury yesterday when a Navy jet clipped a power line over a north-central Washington highway.

The A-6E Intruder attack bomber returned safely to the Whidbey Island Naval Air Station about 50 miles north of Seattle with some damage to the right wing, a base spokesman said.

The Grant County Public Utility District's 230,000-kilowatt line, which connects Wanapum Dam with a Bonneville Power Administration substation, knocked the canopy off a pickup on Highway 28, officials said.

Wenatchee residents and the surrounding area experienced a brief power surge and the two-lane road was closed for a time.

The Navy is investigating the incident. It occurred about five miles from where two Navy fliers died when an A-6E Intruder slammed into a cliff and fell into the Columbia River on Oct. 10, 1991.