Four of those five jets were in training, when McCain ejected prematurely. How was he still a pilot? There is some conjecture he may have done the same over Hanoi, as stupid as that seems. Perhaps his training took over.

I don't think the jets that were destroyed on the Forrestal were counted. And there was plenty of motivation for McCain to be absolved there, as his dad was a top admiral, and if you recall the unpopularity of the Vietnam war in that time period and the Johnson administration's efforts to cover up everything bad about the war, it is not surprising. But this is hardly a fringe conspiracy theory and was put forth during the 2008 election by your side, not mine.

You may be right that it was not the worst fire. In taking another look at the article, it says it was the worst since WWII. Still, 27 dead and over 100 injured. McCain was the only person transferred off the Forrestal after the incident, probably for his own protection. Perhaps he was safer in NV hands.