Return of the Jedi: How Did An A-Wing Crash Destroy Vader’s Star Destroyer?

Darth Vader’s flagship, the Executor, was destroyed in Return of the Jedi when an A-Wing crashed into its bridge, sending the gargantuan Super Star Destroyer into the Second Death Star. The Executor was the pride of the Imperial Starfleet, with veritable cityscape of offensive weaponry, powerful shielding, and a massive complement of starfighters. Despite this, the vessel was, like the Death Stars, destroyed by a single-seated starfighter, striking the right place at the right time, though other factors contributed to the downfall of Vader’s dreaded flagship.

The Executor, like any other Executor-class Super Star Destroyer, was a massive vessel whose size is comparable to the island of Manhattan. While lacking the superweapon of the Death Star battlestations, the ship was more than capable of engaging the Rebel Alliance fleet and bombarding planetary structures when necessary. Naturally, given Vader’s presence aboard the Second Death Star and the Empire’s trap in orbit of Endor, the Executor was present during the climactic Battle of Endor, leading the Imperial Naval forces defending the battle station. Although the Empire had the advantage at first, the Rebellion gradually gained the upper hand during the Battle of Endor, and once the Death Star II’s shield was disabled, the Rebel fleet covered their fighters by engaging the Empire’s warships at close range. Towards the end of the battle, an A-Wing piloted by Green Leader (Arvel Crynyd) crashes into the bridge, causing the gargantuan vessel to turn towards the Second Death Star and propel towards it, exploding on impact.

The bridge was unshielded when Crynyd struck it and other factors, such as the barrage of blasterfire from the Rebel fleet and a gravity well, resulted in the seemingly-invulnerable ship’s destruction. Moments before Crynyd’s A-Wing crashed into the Executor’s bridge, Rebel starfighter ordnance destroyed one of the Executor’s shield generators, removing the protective screen from the bridge tower. Admiral Piett quickly ordered the Executor’s batteries to defend the bridge against attacking starfighters to compensate for the loss of shields, but this tactic worked perhaps too well. Arvel Crynyd was already flying towards the bridge, likely on a strafing run, so when his craft was struck by turbolaser fire, he directed it towards his target as best he could, resulting in the fatal crash that took out the Executor’s bridge in the process. This explains how a single fighter could do so much damage.

According to the Return of the Jedi novelization, the Rebel fleet’s concentrated attack on the Executor wreaked havoc on the Super Star Destroyer’s guidance systems well before the bridge was destroyed. When Crynyd’s A-Wing destroyed the Executor’s bridge, it began a collision course with the Second Death Star as secondary bridge crews struggled to regain control of the vessel, but the ship collided with the battlestation within moments. The Executor’s proximity to the Second Death Star also contributed to its downfall.

The sheer size of the Second Death Star gave it a mild gravitational pull, according to another Return of the Jedi novelization. As secondary bridge crews attempted to take over the Executor, the Death Star II itself pulled the vessel towards it. Darth Vader’s flagship was, ultimately, destroyed by a combination of factors, with Crynyd’s A-Wing crashing into the bridge, damage from the Rebel fleet, and the gravitational pull of the Death Star II all contributing to the dreadnaught’s vaporization in Return of the Jedi.