The C-130 carrier landing pays tribute to the actual test flights conducted in 1963. The postscript is as follows: "On October 30, 1963, Navy pilot Lt. James H. Flatley and co-pilot LCDR. W.W. "Smokey" Stovall landed a C-130 aboard the aircraft carrier USS Forrestal. We salute these two brave pilots along with crew members Al Sieve and Ed Brenna for their incredible demonstration of carrier aviation skill."
All of the dialog between Harm and the Seahawk CO was totally bogus as the ability of a C-130 to land and take off from a carrier had been proven over 30 years earlier. The dialog was only for dramatic effect.
In 1963, a Hercules achieved and still holds the record for the largest and heaviest aircraft to land on an aircraft carrier.[26] During October and November that year, a USMC KC-130F (BuNo 149798), loaned to the U.S. Naval Air Test Center, made 29 touch-and-go landings, 21 unarrested full-stop landings and 21 unassisted take-offs on Forrestal at a number of different weights.[27] The pilot, LT (later RADM) James H. Flatley III, USN, was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his role in this test series. The tests were highly successful, but the idea was considered too risky for routine "Carrier Onboard Delivery" (COD) operations. Instead, the Grumman C-2 Greyhound was developed as a dedicated COD aircraft. The Hercules used in the test, most recently in service with Marine Aerial Refueler Squadron 352 (VMGR-352) until 2005, is now part of the collection of the National Museum of Naval Aviation at NAS Pensacola, Florida.
Painted on the side of the Hercules used in the 1963 tests aboard USS Forrestal was "Look Ma No Hook."
Mary Page Keller plays three different characters within the same universe. On JAG (1995), she plays Cmdr. Beth O'Neil in three episodes, on NCIS (2003), she plays Lt. Cmdr Michaela 'Micki' Shields, and on NCIS: Los Angeles (2009) she plays Angela Tully.