FIGHTER JET USED ON 'JAG' SEIZED FEDS SAY FOUR DECOMMISSIONED F-14S HAD SENSITIVE EQUIPMENT.

Byline: JUDY O'ROURKE

Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA -- Federal agents seized four decommissioned F-14 fighter jets this week, including one used as a prop in the popular TV series "JAG," which filmed in Santa Clarita for a decade.

The Navy retired the planes in the mid-1990s, and private owners were found. But investigators said the military failed to fully remove sensitive equipment, and on Tuesday immigration and customs enforcement agents seized the jets.

"Now, their ultimate fate is in the hands of the courts," said Virginia Kice, spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. "Short-term, they're being taken to Tucson (Ariz.), where any sensitive parts will be removed from the aircraft."

Investigators looking into the possible sale of aircraft parts to Iran discovered the decommissioned planes. Iran still flies F-14s, but it's illegal for U.S. citizens to export or sell military parts to foreign nationals without the U.S. government's permission.

Government officials confiscated the jets after a multiagency investigation found that the Navy improperly transferred the aircraft because military rules require retired planes to be dismantled to protect any proprietary technology.

In addition to security issues, safety issues became a concern because the jets' ejector seats and canopies are operated by pyrotechnic devices.

The unfolding saga could have been fodder for an episode of "JAG," a drama about top-flight naval officers who investigate and represent military members accused of on-the-job crimes.

The show's F-14 was a shell, used mostly as a backdrop for the action, the show's producer said.

"We dragged it around a lot ... as far as I knew, the plane was (demilitarized)," said Don Bellisario, whose Bellisarius Productions now films the show's spin-off, "NCIS," at Valencia Studios.

"I don't know what was on it that was any value ... there were no engines in it."

The jet added a realistic touch to footage shot at Van Nuys Airport, where it was housed. Its static mug was matched with computer-generated images of a plane in flight.

The $5,000 paid for the castoff jet went to a Navy relief fund at Point Mugu, where the show often filmed before tighter restrictions after the Sept.11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the producer said.

"JAG" was filmed at the Blue Cloud Movie Ranch in Bouquet Canyon, as well as at College of the Canyons, neighborhoods in Newhall and other spots around Santa Clarita. The plane was sold before the show ended its 10-year run in 2005.

Agents seized the jet from a hangar at a Victorville airport. The three other planes were at museums in Chino.

Agents from ICE, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service are continuing to investigate how the jets were improperly transferred to private owners.

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