Kara Hultgreen Kara Spears Hultgreen ( October 5 , 1965 – October 25 , 1994 ) , was a lieutenant in the United States Navy and the first female naval carrier - based fighter pilot . She died just months after she was certified for combat , when she crashed her F - 14 Tomcat into the sea on final approach to . A formal investigation found that the cause of the crash was primarily pilot error following an engine failure . Youth . Hultgreen was born on October 5 , 1965 , in Greenwich , Connecticut , and raised in both Chicago and Toronto . Hultgreen moved to San Antonio , Texas , in 1981 . She attended Alamo Heights High School and received a congressional nomination to the Naval Academy but failed to win an appointment . She attended the University of Texas at Austin , where she majored in Aerospace Engineering . Military career . Hultgreen was commissioned through the Aviation Officer Candidate School at Naval Air Station Pensacola . Upon graduation ( ranked third of seven in her class ) she was assigned to Aviation Training Wing Four based at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi , Texas . Following designation as a naval aviator , she received orders to fly EA - 6A Prowlers with VAQ - 33 at NAS Key West , Florida . Upon the Navy ' s integration of women in combat in 1993 , LT Hultgreen was selected to be among the first female pilots to undergo F - 14 Tomcat training at Miramar Naval Air Station , San Diego . While with Fleet Replacement Squadron VF - 124 , Hultgreen failed her first attempt at carrier qualification . Hultgreen successfully carrier - qualified during a second period aboard in the summer of 1994 , becoming the first " combat qualified " female Naval Aviator . She was assigned to the Black Lions of VF - 213 and began preparations for deployment to the Persian Gulf . Her call sign s were initially " Hulk " or " She - Hulk " , for her ability to bench - press 200 lbs , her frame , and a play on her surname of Hultgreen . But after a television appearance in which she wore detectable makeup , her colleagues bestowed a new and more feminine call sign , " Revlon . " Death . On October 25 , 1994 , Hultgreen was killed when her F - 14A , BuNo 160390 , crashed on approach to USS " Abraham Lincoln " off the coast of San Diego after a routine mission . Finding herself overshooting the centerline , Hultgreen attempted to correct her approach by yawing the aircraft . This led to the left - hand engine suffering a compressor stall and lost power — a well - known deficiency characteristic of the TF30 - P - 414A engine when inlet air was no longer flowing straight into it . The F - 14 NATOPS flight manual warned against excess yaw for this reason . Loss of an F - 14 engine results in asymmetric thrust , which can exceed rudder authority , especially at low speeds . After aborting the approach , Hultgreen selected full afterburner on the remaining engine , causing an even greater asymmetry . This , combined with a high angle of attack , caused an unrecoverable approach turn stall and rapid wing drop to the left . The radar intercept officer ( RIO ) in the rear seat initiated ejection for himself and Hultgreen as soon as it was apparent that the aircraft was becoming uncontrollable . First in the automated ejection sequence , the RIO survived . However , by the time Hultgreen ' s seat fired 0 . 4s later , the plane had rolled past the horizontal , and she was ejected downward into the water . She was killed instantly . The entire event unfolded in less than 20 seconds . On November 12 , 19 days after the crash , the Navy salvaged the plane and recovered her body , still strapped into the ejection seat . The wreckage was in of water . On November 21 , she was buried in Arlington National Cemetery , with full military honors . Investigation . As is standard practice in fatal mishaps , separate Judge Advocate General ( JAG ) and Naval Safety Center Mishap investigations were conducted . The JAG report cited mechanical malfunction as the primary cause , and this became the official Navy position to the public . The Mishap Investigation Report ( MIR ) came to a different conclusion , however , citing pilot error as the primary factor . Navy MIRs ( now called Safety Investigation Reports ) are rarely made public . Rumors abounded that the investigation had found pilot error to be a contributing factor , despite a Navy press release to the contrary . The privileged report was later leaked by someone with access to it . As with most approaches to a carrier landing , Hultgreen ' s incident was videotaped by two cameras . The tape shows an overshooting turn onto final , then apparent engine failure , followed by an audible wave - off and gear - up command from the landing signal officer . Segments shown on broadcast television concluded with the rapid sequence of aircraft stall , roll , crew ejections , and impact with the water .