F-14 Tomcat Fam Flight Goes Very Wrong
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- Опубліковано 6 лис 2021
- In the episode, Ward talks about the time a Navy ship captain went for a fam ride in an F-14D and wound up accidentally ejecting.
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At my last base in the B-52, we had a gunner eject during a nighttime low level (I wasn't on that flight!). It was determined a series of crew errors & miscommunications caused him to panic. Instead of punishing him, they sent teams to collect whatever ejection mechanism parts they could find, and he went to a major medical facility to examine every inch of his body (had he become shorter due to spine compression? did he black out temporarily?, etc). They were quite close to the ground, and hadn't slowed even a little bit. It would have been impossible to get a volunteer to do this dangerous stunt. But since they now had one, why not see if everything worked as advertised?
did it?
@@abntemplar82 I wasn't privy to the medical data, but I don't believe he had any serious injuries. As far as I know, the ejection system worked like it was designed too. BTW: the gunner in that model sat in the crew compartment up front, not in the tail, and he had ballistic (not rocket) ejection seat, which is standard on the B-52.
@@rbeard7580 When I had a tour of a B-52 while stationed at Griffiss AFB in the early 80's, we were allowed to ask questions and get answers that the public was not privy to ask. The Electronics Warfare Officer (EWO), the guy that sits to the left of the gunner on the top deck facing backwards told me: If he and the gunner ever ejected, there was a very good chance they would break both legs because there is only a short guide for their seats. I looked up and saw the hatch, it wasn't much bigger than the seat and crew member. Then he showed me how to run the jammer. I turned knobs and moved a jam pulse (on a scope) right over a FM radio station pulse. I said, "I am jamming that station now?" He said, "No, the transmitter is off, don't touch that switch or you will." Before that, we toured a hanger. Inside was Cruise Missile on a cart, I walked up to it and my escort said to sit on it and give them my best Major Kong (Slim Pickens) riding a bomb bit from the "Dr. Stangelove" film - waving my hat (they did that for some people). I wish I had a photo but it was not allowed. I said, "At least I got to sit on a 10 mega ton nuclear weapon!" They broke my bubble and said, "If that was a real weapon, you would get nowhere near it, especially you Romsky... we hear all the stories." Yes, one time I accidentally took the whole base to DEFCON 1 at 3AM for a few minutes. But that is another story.
@@paulromsky9527 Those were the days! I tried to keep away from the nukes except for required duties. I didn’t want to have to any stories to explain. Also didn’t entirely believe they didn’t emit a bit of radiation ☢️.
@@rbeard7580 I hear ya, I could see the weapons storage area across the base in the distance glimmering in the summer sun from the command post area atop of SAC Hill. At first it kept me up nights knowing how much destructive power was crammed into a small area and within a few miles away.
I have a friend who used to perform maintenance on Tornadoes in the RAF. Two pairs of Tornadoes were doing low altitude training in the Lake District region in England. The cloud level was dropping severely and they were in the middle of a conversation with their CO about whether to alter their training docket to low vis training (something on their schedule for later in the year) or to just come home. They are telling jokes about scaring sheep when one bird goes silent. Their wingman screams out that his partner ha been struck and that the glass of the canopy is gone and the frame is buckled but still attached and smoke is pouring from behind the canopy.
Contolled panic ensues, the flight is recalled and the damage aircraft crew (with no radio) indicates via hand signals that they are okay. The wingman, examining the damage from about thirty feet way can see burns, deformed metal and smoke coming from a fist sized hole. To their horror they can see a thin trail of white smoke coming from the belly of the aircraft. A huge rip about two feet long was visible with debris sticking out.
Though tense, all four planes landed safely and my friend's team was called in for first assessment to ensure the aircraft was safe just to sit there while the investigation team arrived. The impact had struck about nine inches behind the canopy twisting the metal and deforming the canopy hinge enough to break and lose the canopy glass. The projectile had obliterated the UHF antenna and punched through the starboard equipment storage before leaving the aircraft dragging a bunch of scrap with it.
To say they were extremely lucky to not have any vital flight systems hit is an understatement. There were a cluster of four punctures actually in the skin of the aircraft.
The navigator's helmet had glass embedded in the back and he suffered concussion from the strike.
It was a meteorite strike. There was a few centimetre long fragments of rock inside the fuselage with the investigators concluding a larger piece did most of the damage but that left the aircraft. Essentially a cosmic shotgun blast, barely missing the crew by a fraction of a fraction of a second.
Interestingly it can't be logged as an official meteorite strike because there was no tracking of the projectile so there is no way to officially determine if it fell from space, a higher aircraft, a volcano or, given their flight altitude, a kid on a mountain top throwing rocks at passing aircraft. Infact the criteria to identify a meteorite strike on an aircraft is sooo high, it can't be met unless you knew it was going to happen before hand, a quirk of aviation accident investigation.
I know it's only tangentially linked to the video but I just love that story so much I tell it at every opportunity.
Incredible. I never even considered meteorite strikes on aircraft being possible.
@@ghost_ship_supreme Me neither
Out of curiosity which tornado sq. was your friend assigned to, if you don't mind my asking ?
That’s one of the greatest stories I’ve ever heard.
Yeah, ok.
Ward is like the cool uncle everyone wishes they had. I could listen to stories like this all day.
I hope if he has grand children. They must love his stories.
Uncle Ward!! yeah. He's my uncle now.
My uncle flew fighters in ww2. He had some cool stories but was reluctant to talk about them. He flew mostly ground support missions so it wasn’t until years later when I really understood what GS entails and realized why he didn’t talk about that so much.
@@johngroberts952 Their losses were about 4x those of fighter air-to-air engagements -- very dangerous, down low; but, a LOT of our troops-in-contact came home alive because of that rapidly evolving, decisive birth of true 'close air support' (WWII).
Please consider Ian Toll's "War in the Pacific" trilogy. Mostly from a US Navy perspective, but so full of credible anecdotes and personal accounts that you will certainly be deeply affected by the close air support passages alone. I've been reading histories for most of 64 years, but this one is a whopping cornerstone.
Right? I would never leave this man's house lmao
When I was in the French Air Force in 89/90, a cadet that was within the squadron for one month, was in the rear seat of one of our Mirage F1b, ejected while the plane was on the ground after the flight when the plane was parked, inside a plane bunker. The mechanics was attaching the ladder to the plane to come detach the cadet when he ejected. Sadly he did hit the concrete ceiling and died immediately. The Air Force never knew what happened. 😢
Suicide?
Holy crap that’s gruesome. Sounds like the poor guy might have intentionally ended himself?
Probably bumped an eject handle while getting ready to climb out. Or something loose caught on it.
@@stupidburp Impossible to just bump it and have it go off. The ejection handle is a rope noose sitting between your legs (I checked and it is the same in Mirage F1B) and you have to really "dig in" to pull it and it takes considerable strenght to trigger it. That is to say, triggering it by accident is pretty difficult. Also, turning on safeties is pretty much the first thing you do when jet is parked after landing and taxiing to a parking spot as you don't want accidental ejections. Of course, there might have been a mechanical failure that set off the seat, these things, while unlikely, are still possible.
@@stupidburpIt was during the war in the Gulf (The firs one), and we were on NBC (Nuclear Biologic Chemical) alert. Hence,, the plane was parked in a bunker; pilots had to wear face protection attached to the helmet, and there was a metal attachment around the face on the helmet. The upper eject handle was the one "used," and the investigators thought he could grab the handle with those metal things on the helmet. It was far-fetched, but they ordered removing this system from all the Air Force Helmets anyway. He was still attached fully to the seat, as they needed the mechanics to detach them. It happens during the climb of the mechanics on the ladder to help him detach himself. We will never know what really happened. It was sad; we were the same age.
Fair play to the Captain, took balls to go back to the OC, he knew he'd screwed the pooch and would have to take the ribbing also he admited fault, didn’t try to blame equipment.
Or blame the pilot.....and yes, good on him.
@@johnmcpudding857 True....but anyone who's served in any branch -- especially if they were enlisted -- has heard or experienced officers who act the opposite.
At least when I was in, you knew how things worked. There would be an investigation. I'd you don't face the truth straight-on & call a spade a spade, you screw yourself in the long run. If not one way, then another.
@@samsignorelli right. Nobody's apologizing for them. It's not directly related, but you reminded me of a department head I had. He used to come into the office and chew me out for something one of my colleagues had or had not done. (I knew he was high strung & stressed out, so I just rolled with it.) Point is, just because you're an officer, doesn't mean you're a particularly good one, esp at the lower ranks.
@@77thTrombone Yep...one thing O-1s tend to forget it that their commissioning process is THEIR basic training. Learning on the job is their tech school.
Btw...I like how you have t-bone in your screen name....but your avatar is either a baritone or a euphonium!
One of our F-117’s in the mid 90’s came back one night as a convertible. As I recall, the pilot claimed that his sleeve caught the canopy lock lever and inadvertently opened it in flight. Quite a feat, as it had about a foot throw and took some effort. This occurred near Farmington, NM. A team went out and recovered the canopy and brought it back. The F-117 canopy structure was so stout that it probably could have been put right back on the jet. Of course it wasn’t but it was in pretty good shape.
I've never flown that type (😜) but I can see snagging my sleeve in a tense moment and throwing my whole arm to unsnag it pretty damn quickly. This is also why I don't wear blouse-y (poet sleeves) flight suits when I exceed 0.16M.
Did the ah shoot pilot get it as a momento?
Was him name on the canopy to add to the embarrassment.
You say the pilot "claimed" his sleeve caught. Does this imply you believe there's another explanation?
There was a lot of talk. Probably only a very few know the truth.
What’s funny, is that I was roommates with the PR who packed the ejection seat parachute for the Captain, who told me the Captain came and gave him a case of beer. About a month later, I found myself in SERE school with the Jeff’s brother, who is an F-18 pilot and told me this story in person. Small World.
Great story. I was an AI in VA-25 and was on weapons deployment with the air wing preparing to go to Vietnam. My squadron flew the A-1H which didn't have a second seat, so I persuaded the Ops officer of one of the F-4 squadrons to give me a FAM flight. I was so excited and nervous at the same time. I paid particular attention to how to use the ejection seat in the back. During take off, he hit burner and smoke started spewing between my legs. I screamed and started thinking about ejecting during the takeoff roll. Fortunately, my pilot said, "relax, that is just the condensation from the air conditioner". Glad I waited.
I'm glad it was nothing serious.
I guess we may know the RIO. His name must be Jester and he made it into DCS as F14 RIO (where he ejects if there is a minimal risk being shot down). ;-)
As Growling Sidewinder has found to his distress.
He literally never punches out on me
I could be doing the weirdest shit ever or get my wings blown off by an aim 120 and he just wont punch out
Definitely Growling Sidewinder's RIO...
Was expecting to see this comment and sure enough, here it is. :)
Pilot: Bogey! It's an, umm.. It's a MiG!
Jester: Mommy! (ejects)
Having lunch in the mess hall on the America, off Yankee Station, and here comes a LT in full flight suit bee-lined to me. He leans over and whispers, “My 91 control panel is down, and I need you to fix it.” Well, that’s a never-heard of scenario in 99.98% of the time, except this LT is in my squadron and we’ve lifted a few brews on shore, and I know him. About then, Jake shows up, my AIMD mate, and he practically yells, “The damn ASM-403 won’t boot and I can’t test this LT’s control panel.”
It was supposed to be my day off.
Long story short, I fixed the test bench, got it running, and then found a bad board in the control unit and got it RFI and QA’ed, all in 1 hour 17 minutes.
I went with the plane captain and the plane was on the flight deck. I hooked up the control panel, secured it and booted the ASN-91 and commanded a SIN’s fast-erect. The platform spun up and started the ship’s inertial navigation alignment. Woo-Hoo!! As I climbed out of the cockpit, the wind whipped the yellow ejection seat safety flag around my arm and I pulled the ejection seat safety lanyard out of the seat. I stepped over to the plane captain and yelled into his ear that the plane was in alignment, all good!! When he saw that flag around my arm he nearly tackled the LT who was climbing into the cockpit. He put the lanyard back in after unceremoniously removing it from my arm.
Much later in the evening I got congratulated and my ass dressed down at the same time by the CO of my squadron and the LT Commander of AIMD. What would I have done if the aviator had accidentally ejected that seat without his harness attached? And it got worse. I asked why there were no RFI control panels in stock?
And THEN it got worse. Next day I spent fixing 8 control panels under the gentile, kind and considerate observation of our shop chief. 🙄
Yeah. Right… a week later, I got a commendation. 😳 Never a dull moment.
What type of bird was that on?
"Day off"? On a carrier? Duuude.
@@LRRPFco52 Vaught A7-E. VA-86. And yes, AIMD was trained to be on flight deck during ops. Not very often, but yep, we rotated duty.
@@cheloso1 No work day, was for haircuts, shopping, reading and didn't happen very often. AIMD ran a bit different, but on occasion, the shop chief would say "go get a haircut", code for nothing much going on, everything caught up, check in at 1300, be ready to work, otherwise, see ya tomorrow.
What? No Captain's Mast? What a soft crew.
Reminds me of a story my dad (A4 & F8 driver) told me about when he was serving in VA-86 onboard the Independence. His squadron mate had just launched in his Skyhawk. The canopy wasn't latched properly, and popped off as he left the deck. The Air Boss radioed something to the effect of "A4, you lost your canopy". After a few seconds, the Lt. responded, "No shit". He landed safely. That Lt. went on to become the CO of the Blue Angels, CO of various frigates, CO of the Ranger, CO of the Naval Air Force Atlantic Fleet and Asst. Deputy Chief of Naval Ops. He retired as an Admiral. His name is Tony Less. Very nice guy who ate dinner at my house after a Blues' show in Texas. Thanks for all your videos, Ward. I thoroughly enjoy them.
Thanks for the laugh.
My Dad as a Korean War era Air Force pilot had a story of losing his canopy and also one where his oxygen system malfunctioned, he started slurring his words, losing consciousness. His Rio screamed at him (justifiably) , radioed in and then announced that he was ejecting in 5. He started the countdown. Something about that really annoyed Dad, enough to rouse him and drop down below 10k feet and recover.
Korean-era? Sounds like an F-94 or F-89, both of which are some of my favorite early all-weather interceptors
@@gopniksaurolophus6354 He definitely flew multiple versions of the F-94. Not sure if he flew the F-89. He flew the F-94's mostly out of Goose Bay Labrador and Thule. He also had a fun story of encountering the infamous Curtis LeMay while stationed at Goose Bay.
@@seaninness334 curtis lemay?! Do tell.....
@@christopherleveck6835 My Dad's commanding officer learned that LeMay was coming to Goose Bay. So he wanted to look extra sharp. He thought it was a good idea for 2 F-94's to go up and escort LeMay's plane in. I guess, at the time, the crews didn't have to have their sidearms on them but he ordered that too. Well I guess LeMay was pretty paranoid and freaked out about the whole thing. Upon landing, he was hopping mad and demanded the crews for both F-94's brought before him to ask them whose idea it was to escort (I'm not sure he understood it was an escort type of thing) his plane in, then he saw they had their side arms and lost his mind, screaming at them. I don't recall if my Dad said there was any actual punishment other than the tongue lashing. It seemed pretty innocuous. My Dad also said that occasionally, commercial air liners would stray into restricted airspace and they would scramble an intercept. At night, they would sneak up on them and identify them. Then for fun, they would hit their afterburners in sight of the airliners cock pit and scare the f out of them, cackling as the civilian flight crews screamed bloody murder on their radios. I could see being yelled at for that. Heh.
@@seaninness334 my uncle Oliver Generous flew F-94s out of Otis AFB, Cape Cod MA in the mid-50s
One time my Crew Chief and I were pre-flighting our bomber (B-52D) and while he was upstairs de-pinning the E-dub's seat I hear a sharp POP ! I was afraid to look. Turns out that although he did fire the hatch separation initiator it takes wind pressure from the slipstream to carry the hatch away. So as long as the hatch was in the hole the ejection sequence stopped right there. Close one. Would have been different had it been a downward firing seat. YIKES ! But there is a story about downward firing seats as well. One time someone fired the downward firing seat while on the ground......but wasn't strapped in. Just like in the cartoons the seat fired down and the occupant was sitting in mid air, until he fell through the hole 3 feet to the ground. Just wounded pride.
Kara suffered that fate right into the ocean she went in this plane im not sure what type of plane she had but it sucks that she had to die while trying to land her aircraft
I'm a retired Army Chief Warrant Officer I was a leg Warrant which you probably know non aviation side of the house. I lived in Virginia Beach for 11 years was originally an 11 Bravo Drill Instructor at Ft.Story but was also a Track and Wheel Vehicle Mechanic. Eventually was selected for Warrant Officer and became Battalion Maintenance Officer for the 5Th159 Aviation Heavy Lift Chinook helicopter Battalion Headquarted at Ft.Eustis VA.
Those years were some fun and interesting times especially the contact an interaction with the pilots who also flew some of the Army's fixed wing aircraft. I thoroughly enjoy listening to your stories it takes me back to when I served with those individuals. I really appreciate your taking the time to educate the public on military aircraft operations. Thank you Sir and keep up the great work your doing.
Respectfully CWO SHOOK
@chuck williams Hello Chuck and thanks for the heads up on the status of the Dragon Master if that's what they're still calling themselves.
I left the unit when I made the mistake of moving back to Pennsylvania in the fall of 2002.
Good hearing from you take care and Press On my friend and fellow member of the 5/159th
Arni Shook
Wow, that's quite a story!
I was a PR3 in the EA-6B VAQ-141 of CAQ 8 I saw that landing and thought OMG and ran to your PR1 Lamb and told her that an F14 from her squadron,was coming in without a RIO, and helped her pull the records for the flight gear, she was not happy. But it’s a story I tell people about, as it was the first convertible Tomcat I ever saw. I was the rigger who instructed that captain on his radio op the day before, very remembered day of my life…. Love it. I still laugh about it today.
Great story!!! The guy that did my air conditioner maintenance was a fighter pilot. He was telling me the story of losing his canopy once. Only thing I do remember was he mentioned some frostbite. I wish I could remember the rest of the details. He was a great guy now passed. He never charged me a dime for his work either.
We had a story in our squadron where the backseater was concerned about rough wx. He was pulling forward to see instruments in the front cockpit. ( Limited instruments in the back) He also was holding lower ejection handle. Well, they hit a bump hard enough that he pulled the handle! Seat worked as advertised! Front seat thinks that backseater must know something he doesn't so he ejects. The plane flys in circles and almost lands itself. No names , I don't know if these guys are still around.
That can't look good on your yearly review.
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah!
Tomcat? Or something else mate?
OV-10A
@@josephastier7421 Won't. But America learned from the Japanese in WW2.
You can replace the aircraft. It is significantly harder to replace the aircrew.
I remember when Geoff told me this story when he was transitioning to the hornet at VFA-106. He had some interesting words for his experience when this happened.
He told me it got really cold, really fast. 😬
Ward, thank you for the very informative videos. Back in the 1980's and as soon as I received my college degree, while I already had a few pilot certificates and ratings and a couple of thousand hours of flight time, I wanted to become a Naval Aviator. Unfortunately, I was not a US citizen at the time and I joined the US Army Infantry instead. By the time I obtained my US citizenship I was too old for Navy Aviation and I went the civilian way becoming an airline pilot. Today, almost 40 years and 20,000+ flight hours later, I still have a great interest in Naval Aviation and I thank you for allowing me the opportunity to "join."
Very similar to a Rafale incident. That was also a "passenger" flight, actually to celebrate the passenger's retirement.
Same issue, negative g, grab the nice "hold Yourself on these!" handles, boom, ejection!
That was during take-off, the pilot got into a sharp vertical S (not inverting), passenger flew out.
The ejection sequence was set to fire both seats, thankfully it didn't work (for that specific scenario, but it's definitely not what one generally wants), and the pilot brought the aircraft safely down.
The passenger got in hospital but recovered.
A memorable retirement.
I guess you could say he went out with a bang.
The fact that the pilot didn't go with him was a cause of a major investigation and some modifications to the systems, in a way the French military owes this guy thanks, its saved them finding the issue with a closed casket funeral
C.W. "Mover" Lemoine has a video on that incident on his channel where he goes over the accident report.
Saw a video on this incident and all I can think is that the ground crew had disabled the ejection switch. Don't want some "passenger" ejecting both himself and the pilot.
@@johnknapp952 my understanding (admittedly from news reports) was that nothing had been disabled and the pilot should have been ejected
That's a fantastic story. I'm glad no one was injured and the aircraft wasn't seriously damaged, besides needing a new canopy.
Now that's a "T" shirt I don't ever want to wear. Dude has balls. I guess that's why he was a captain. You guys rock. Respect from Canada.
I recently found your channel randomly as I was browsing warships on UA-cam and since thing I’ve watched every one of your videos almost back to back. There’s something different and unique to your videos that keeps me, and I’m sure others, entertained from start to finish. You’re very well spoken and have incredible stories to tell. I look forward to many more exciting and interesting videos that I can learn from!
Imagine thinking you're just going for a sunday stroll in the backseat of a Tomcat and next thing you know, you've yeeted yourself into an inverted ejection onto the desert floor 🤣🤣.
Glad he made it. Bet he never lived that down.
Sounds to me like the Alpha Whiskey ALSO needs a UA-cam Channel! What a series of perspectives and stories that guy has to have. Another great sharing session here, Ward! Thank you!
I'm loving these stories. Thanks for making them.
Mooch, as always, brilliant, concise, description of events.
I flew with Patty Wagstaff's team pilot on her Extra 300 in front seat and we did inverted flight check over the swamps near St Augustine. Best time ever. No ejection but I thought about seat belt resistence...
I got to fly with Sean D. Tucker's team pilot in his Extra 300 and when we did that check, I ended up with my head pressed up against the canopy. I guess the lapbelt was a little loose :D
@@Jackhammer909 I was afraid of that or worse...😁
A very engaging interview. No CGI or simulator footage needed. This man's delivery was spot-on, with just the right speed and vocal clarity. Plus, his personality came across -- he is definitely a Tomcat fanboi.
I'm new to your channel and I gotta' say I never leave without shaking my head in amazement! Great stuff!
Wow! Incredible story Ward. So glad that all landed safe and sound.
My dad was a plane captain for the squadron commander of SB2C's on the Coral Sea when it was new, My dad says he didn't really want to fly he had never flown at all, but he didn't think it was a good idea to say no when the skipper ask don't you want to take a short ride, so he got the plane ready and then thought he wished he had not eaten that big tomato sandwich for lunch, of course when he started rolling and diving that lunch Reappeared, he said when they got back to the ship he was never so glad to see that deck, that was his one and only ride, and he spent most of the afternoon cleaning that plane.😅😕😱
Well Sir Mooch, I couldn’t help but notice your grin when explaining how the Captain inadvertently grabbed the ejection handle and somehow applied enough pressure to fire it!!!! I bet that was a wake up/oh crap moment for him!!!! I bet the Skipper not only hugged the Pilot, but kissed him on the cheek as well, for saving the $30 Million jet from an unnecessary crash!!!!
$42 million actually.
This was amazing. Great story and story telling! Thank you sir!
Never been in a military jet in my life.
As soon as you said it happened during an inverted maneuver, I was like "Someone grabbed the wrong "hand-hold" during the inversion and negative"G" maneuver."
Glad everyone was okay. And that the RIO showed true mettle and bravery by going to the Club that night! You know he got ribbed pretty good!
Hey Mooch, another great vid. Coincidentally, I just read this story somewhere in the last few weeks (can't remember where) so it was a refresher course for me ;-)
It is always amazing how when you take off, there is nobody at the field, but when you come back, after calling Mayday, there are dozens and dozens of people watching you come in and land.
Ward that was a great story ...thanks for sharing
That was great to watch, thank you for posting
Great story and thanks for sharing it with us.
I really enjoyed “Punks War” and I especially like how you blended a few of the actions of historically significant naval aviators with the characters in your book. “Soup” relieving the junior pilot so he could fly the lead is reminiscent of Admiral Stockdale and the beginning sortie of the Vietnam war. Surely that’s where the similarities between the Admiral and “Soup” end. However I’ve yet to read your other works.
AW: "I want the FULL tour".
Pilot "Ooook, then..."
Great story Ward, love listening to your explanations.
Holy moly, awesome story, sir! Thank you for sharing it with us.
Another interesting and informative episode! For the life of me, I cannot understand how anyone can give any of your episodes a "thumbs down."
Uh, Biden supporters? They are anti-American.
Generally when someone gives a “thumbs down”, the viewer clicks on the “thumbs down” icon. Pretty simple process, actually. 🤷🏻♂️😂😂😂
They must be flying the F-14. Theyre confused as theyre upsidedown
Very cool recounting of this story. I was an IS in VF-213 when this happened and I remember the Skipper (CDR Gaiani) being relieved that Jeff was able to get the plane back safely. IIRC, the plane was never returned to service due to the damage caused by the ejection seat torching all the electronics in the back.
Thank you for the detail about the airplane. So, it was a costly mistake in terms of money and equipment. Luckily not at the cost of lives.
Still an exciting story!
@@Concord003 it would have been cannibalized or sent to a museum. it wasnt wasted. plus they got a good solid real test of the ejection seats. the captain got a sky diving lesson. the crew on board the carrier was ready. there was no loss. even the plane was saved and its duty changed.
Yes, they squeezed out maximum value out of a rare dangerous situation, and everyone returned home safely. Thank you for explaining.
The great thing about your show(s) is that you're answering many of the questions I'd ask myself
whenever I was building an F-14 model. Bravo Zulu.
Love you're videos Ward! Keep em' Comin
I remember this incident very well. I also know the Captain in question personally. I love your videos Ward because a lot of your flying career aligned with my Surface Warfare tours. I was an Air Intercept Controller in my enlisted days and Air Defense Officer as an LDO.
Maybe not the same Capt or the same incident, but I was a ship supe for a Norfolk Cruiser prior to my own commissioning as an LDO. This CO self ejected. When he came back, the ship JO's had little green army men with parachutes hanging all over the ship. "Stand and Fight!"
So ... No punishment from navy for pulling th ejection seat?
And how's his career? Stuck?
Or went normal as if he did nothing wrong?
That’s pretty accurate, but there were a few things I can correct. I was the tower supervisor that day. The desert controller was an outstanding controller by the name of Thomas Hornbeak. As the TS, I was monitoring desert control and heard the event as it occurred. The wind played a minor role, but the pilot was understandably, full of adrenaline. His first two transmissions, nobody could understand him. Thomas calmly said “sir, take two deep breaths and calmly tell me what happened.” He had his mask on and he pickled the mic and we could hear him inhale and exhale two deep breaths and he says “MY RIO EJECTED” and at that point we rang the crash phone to activate SAR. They were just north of Bravo-19 in Dixie Valley. I think I still have the GPS coordinates of where the station SAR helo, an HH-1 at the time, in my sea trunk. There’s seldom a boring day in Naval aviation.
Fascinating video.. just as an aside, my grandad worked for Martin Baker in Denham, UK for 40 years.. he built the ejection seats/parts for seats etc.. As a kid I remember he would bring home seat stickers, ‘Danger..Do Not Pull Handle’ and others.. I would stick them on my pushbike and school bag 😄👍🏼
Great to read some reflections from Navy vets. Makes military life come alive for someone who never served. Thank you gentlemen all.
NATOPS change: challenge and response - challenge: hands sitting on . Response: Copy sitting on hands.
This made me genuinely laugh.
When teaching ejection seat procedures class for non-aircrew / VIP Pax, etc, if the "rider" was not initiating the ejection, we taught them to cross right hand to the left upper torso webbing / cross left hand to the right upper torso webbing BELOW, NOT ON the UPPER KOCH FITTINGS. You grasp the webbing making a fist (fingers / thumbs tucked around the webbing. Your arms were then in a crossed position, tight against your chest with elbows tucked to the side. It was also a good body position when not in straight and level flight to keep your hands away from the those various "Black & Yellow" striped triggering devices in the cockpit. But appears the SWO lower / mini KOCH fittings straps were not tight / snug enough ,so his butt floated off the seat. Now in an uncomfortable environment, human nature takes over to grab a handle.........and BANG...he becomes an instant member of the Caterpillar and Martin Baker Clubs! I wonder if the PR who packed his parachute got a bottle of "Spirits" for a proper operating chute (AME also)?
I drove the other pilots from his Squadron to the end of the runway to help guide him in using the emergency radio. I remember sitting there in the truck watching the F-14 land in front of me with no canopy and nobody in the backseat. It was something I will never ever forget. I was stationed at NAS Fallon in the fleet liaison division
Ward, as usual, well described. Keep up the fantastic work.
Enjoy the clips. CH-46E crew chif myself. Always amazed at the level of skill and determination of the jet jockeys had.
Man I could never live that one down, but on the other hand he probably said glad to be here! Great video as usual Ward !
How many people get to say they took off in a Tomcat but never landed!
Yes. Huge balls to show up at the O club that very night.
Great subjects.
Thanks so much, so enjoyable and informative.
Keep it going.
Ward. Great recap of the events. I was in the Blacklions when it happened and was on the accident investigation team. We really needed that jet for the next deployment but unfortunately it didn't make it.
Rio: I’ll never fly with you again
Pilot: Roger that
Thank you for another great aviation story 😀 I very much like the way you talk an present the different storys and topics. It is very good to underst and to follow. English isn't my nativ language. So sometimes I have difficulties🙈 On this channel its different. It's a joy to watch and listen 👍🏼🎗🇺🇲🇩🇪 greetings from Germany
Thank you, Chris. Hello to Germany! 🇩🇪
thank you for your service!
Great story! Always a good time here Ward
Another blast of a story! I talked to some of the f-14 guys on Quora about you and they dig your stuff!
Great to hear. Thanks, Jaron!
Love your stories
One of my favorite stories - ending with a happy end. Good storytelling - and nice guitars in the background...
As soon as you mentioned the difference between A and D ejection sequence initiation I could see where this was going!
I was on the Fallon Range escorting DVs when this occurred. Hey Mooch; another great telling of a TINS story.
At the same time, a third distinguished visitor in my group was in a NSAWC FA-18D getting a fam flight. While airborne in our helicopter on a range tour with my DVs, the pilot said he heard on the radio that a back-seater of a fighter on the range ejected. We looked at one another with dread. YGBSM.
We immediately turned and recovered at Fallon, just in time to see Black Lion 101 roll out on his landing with an empty back seat. Whew - not our guy!
Our DV was in that NSAWC Hornet you mentioned that took over as On Scene Commander.
That night at the club I saw the humbled captain - a previous shipmate - who had a few facial cuts and scrapes, wounded pride, and great fortitude for being there.
Thanks for the color, Hozer!
My cousin as a weapons officer in the Marines.
The canopy popped off unexpectedly one time.
Another time they got to 10,000 feet only to discover there was a wasp nest in the cabin and the pilot was petrified of wasps.
Another time they were doing low level maneuvers in a valley, perhaps in an F-111.
As they left the valley, they were headed directly at a broadcasting tower that did not appear on the charts.
Another fascinating story. I worked on the AG-71 and APG-65 units. Thanks!
You are a gifted teacher-with some great stories.
Things you don't want to hear in flight school: "Well, at least we know the ejector seats are working..."
I remember in the early to mid 80's there was a west coast F-14 flying out to the ship to begin their deployment. They trapped aboard, shut down, raised the canopy, got out of their seats, and were standing on the top boarding step in the fuselage. The pilot was leaning over his seat gathering his stuff and the Rio was trying to retrieve his small bag from behind his seat in the turtle back area. The bag was hung up on something and when he gave it a yank to free it, the ejection sequence was initiated. Both seats fired with both crew members leaning over them, and they were both launched into the air and were killed when they hit the deck. What a horrible way to start a cruise for that squadron.
So sad, as a mechanic you never force anything. All that training sad for the two men.
That is terrible.
Had no idea. When I was 12 back in 1974. I use to go down and hangout at hangers at PT Magu. They would let me sit in jets. F 4s, F8s. I never had any training. I doubt they let kids hangout there anymore. My dad was Navy.
@@kevincoleman9761 Another ejection seat story. In ~1982 there was an airshow at Willow Grove NAS near Philadelphia. An S-3 Viking was on static display with the crew outside the jet talking to onlookers. The crew was letting people go inside the jet unsupervised to look around. Some young boys sat in the seats in the cockpit, and one of them pulled all the pins that safed his seat and then pulled the ejection handle, ejecting himself. Since he was not attached to the seat, he obviously separated from it and fell to his death in front of everyone. The boys left behind in the cockpit were all burned by the rocket motor in the seat. I flew an A-4 to an airshow several months after this and my Ops Officer read me the riot act referencing this incident about not leaving the jet alone where someone could mess with it.
@@kevincoleman9761
In the hangars I'd give it 99% that those jets were safed for maintenance. Still, I'm sure that's a no-go today.
Thanks for sharing this, Mooch. I was highly entertained and actually laughed out loud a few times during your recount of the situation. I can't imagine the amount of hazing that O6 got for the remainder of his time in the Navy. 🤭
I love the ending.
You're a good story teller and your knowledge just add to the experience.
This story reminds me this one in France :
"Report Released on French Rafale Passenger’s Accidental Ejection Reveals Both Human And Technical Failures"
22 years in Egress, saw several "uncommanded" ejections.
One interesting one was F-4 taxiing in after flight, and aft seat ejects when crew member opens his canopy ( F-4s normally taxi with open canopy in warm climates). Ejection was witnessed by many since it was right by active flight line. Good chute, soft landing, no problem.
Turns out crew member was using his personal camera during flight and film container became lodged at the top of seat by the linkage that fires the catapult. Normally, the linkage can't actuate until canopy jettison due to safety mechanism that is pulled clear via lanyard to the canopy. Unfortunately, the FOD wedged in a way that the opening of the canopy pressed the film container knocking out the safety interdictor and pushing the sear pin on the catapult. The upward firing of the seat pushed the opening canopy up and off the jet and the catapult and under seat rocket got the altitude needed for full chute.
Took months to rebuilt cockpit and install new seat and canopy.
An AF aftermath article I recall: T-33, guy in back managed to pull the (one-man) life raft lanyard in the seat pan/raft bundle -- the 2"-3" lanyard pops open the zipper closure, while actuating the CO2/nitrogen bottle... designed to be yanked and allow the inflating raft to fall below you while you're under canopy. The inflating raft pressed him up into his harness, while pushing the rear stick forward. The unaware-of-this pilot then has a notable, unannounced pitch down & no word from the smashed rear guy, and cannot overcome this forward stick shove. The guy in back manages to reach a knife and pop the raft -- sending the anti-stick interior raft talcum flying around the cockpit. I can't recall the rest, but I believe once the raft deflated and control was regained, the guy in back could reach the mike and brief what just happened.
Although I would not come to handle egress gear for many decades after this stunt happened, had I been the Life Support senior waiting for this jet to block-in, I would have been really pissed over the mess and FOD to square away.
The Swedes had a "really funny" one happen with a Gripen. One of their pilots was doing some high G maneuvers before landing when all of a sudden, the canopy blew and uncommanded ejection.
Turns out his G-suit was tugging on the ejection handle a little every time it inflated until it finally initiated the sequence. 19 APR, 2007, Gripen C out of Vidsel.
Actually I just reviewed photos and some info on that mishap about a month ago. It was a film package from the aircraft systems about 5 inches square and more than an inch thick from the look of it. The report info said that the GIB had replaced the cartridge and stuck the used one in the lower pocket on his G suit but got distracted and failed to zip it shut (Later tests showed that it couldn't have been zipped in) During a negative G maneuver it floated past him without him seeing it and as you described fired the seat. He wrote a rebuttal to the report saying he was sure it was zipped in, but the photos in the report showed it would have been impossible to do so
@@dananichols1816 The SR-71 had a special T-shaped knife mounted on the glare screen called the 'dingy stabber' in case that happened to them! When the program retirement was announced that was one of the most common stolen items I've heard.
@@theejectionsite1038 The incident happened in mid 1981 at Eglin AFB. The F-4 was TDY from Elmendorf to Florida to play with our F-15s, which just replaced our F-4s.
It was a coincidence for me because I was just selected to be cadre to PCS to Elmendorf and do the swap out of their F-4s to F-15s. I got to meet the guys I would be working with as they had to rebuild the aft cockpit and acquire a new seat plus all the explosives in the chain. Lots of careful schematic reading for sure to make sure they didn't miss anything.
The jet got back to Alaska just in time to leave to make way for the F-15s.
He got the T-shirt... but did he get the [Martin Baker] tie?! 🤣🤣🤣
Ward Great story ! One of the better stories about a fellow Kings Pointer. Mark Baden also a fellow Kings Pointer had a BN partially eject from an A6 and was able to land with BN sticking out of the cockpit successfully.
I heard about this and communicated with the BN by email. My only bailout experience was over Sicily one dark night. I had an inverted chest pack chute. Initally I thought I had a streamer it was so dark I could not see the canopy of the chute but the shroud lines crossed above my head. Landed a little hard in a terraced olive grove. It all counts for 20.
Great story that should be told! Well done!!
I do this in vr more times than I’d like to admit, I’ll be chilling with autopilot on during a really long stretch, put my controllers in my lap and half a second later I’m watching my plane fly off without me, I hand fly now
That is absolutely hilarious. When everyone is safe after something like this and nothing crazy happened, you can't help but laugh at it.
What a great story! Also, APG-71, IRST, F110 engines, NACES seat. Those bring back some great memories of my time working the F-14 program. Thanks for that.
Flew in an authorized convertible aircraft last week - a 1942 Stearman out of Fredericksburg, VA. No ejection seat, but a great ride just the same
Details of all of the hardware working always add a fascinating grab to your stories, Ward. At Elmendorf AFB, Anchorage, AK, around 1979, my buddy (43rd TFS F-4E crew chief) described a fatal, in-hangar ejection seat mishap: the Martin-Baker rig had not been "safed" by the radio/avionics tech who was working in the cockpit. As he stood up, the long handle of a large pocket comb ("rake") protruding from his back pocket caught and pulled one of the face curtain loops and triggered the seat. Hangar #2. (I'm still trying to get the wing safety report from archives, but your episode today prompted this.) With the newer ACES rigs, so much is happening just within the first two seconds!
Got your complete trilogy -- commencing reading. Thanks for your unmatchable videos!
Thanks for the support, Dana!
Maintenance ejections like that are rare but almost always fatal. I have info on several sadly. The seats have a tremendous amount of power and flame and can kill people in the vicinity as well. This one doesn't sound familiar but I probably have some info in it in my files. This is one of the reasons I believe the upper handles were deleted from the newer seat families. I know of one where a Skyhawk Escapac upper handle was dislodged apparently by a pilot exiting the aircraft. The handles have to move a certain distance before they pull the linkages to initiate the seat and this one was not noticed until the aircraft had been respotted on the hanger deck. To disarm the seat the AME had to stand on the seat bucket facing it and remove the top cover then safe the linkages before reseating the handle. Unfortunately something went wrong and the seat fired killing him and injuring the two assisting AMEs. i think I heard one died later as well.
There's an incident with a maintainer on an F-4C at Hill AFB like that where the seat fired while the guy was working in/over the cockpit in a hangar. It was fatal. That F-4C is in the Hill AFB Museum on display.
@@WardCarroll Absolutely, sir! ...wish I could convey the huge wealth of experience and reality-checks of these stories into a continuing safety stir for the sharp, young aircrew life support techs & (bailout/back-automatic BA-22s) egress riggers I left in 2016. Sincere thanks to all of your followers for sharing these engaging, hands-on anecdotes! I tried folding a lot of mishap & shit-oh-dear-bad-karma stories into aircrew survival classes and training sessions with my shop crew -- simply to anchor down that nobody was ever immune. Especially if a minor or major Mx error was mine -- declare it and own it, and instill that into their character & confidence. Most of us willingly chose a dangerous calling (rated aircrew or maintainer), where you're close aboard brutally honest physics, pegged energy and totally unbiased about who or what's in the way.
In the 1960's my father retired from the Air Force, and returned the next day as a civil service tech in the same avionics shop he'd worked in for many years, at the time that squadron had F105's , he would get called into work on a lot of weekends and he would bring me along, he'd turn me over to some GI to take me out in the hanger to "play" while he would get to work. First thing they would do is take me over to the safety board and show me the same pictures of an ejection seat lodged in the rafters of the hanger and what was left of the guy that was in it. then tell me NOT to touch ANYTHING, then drop me into the cockpit to play pilot! All through the 60's and 70's I got to play in F105's, B52's, A7's, A4's, F15's, A10's, C130's and a few others I don't remember. I'm sure now days that would never happen.
I can't even imagine what ejecting would be like let alone ejecting inverted by accident. I would've loved to have been at the Officers Club that night to hear the story. Unbelievable 🙏🏻
I heard a story that they put targets up in the training hangar ceilings to remind pilots/crew not to mess with the ejection, same guy told me crewman had done it before and killed themselves, he also said he landed on the I10 and got kicked out the Navy for it, so IDK if anyone of its true but ever since its something I always think about, exactly why I clicked on video.
@@DJCannon5 That is absolutely insane.
Great narrating Wade. Your channel rocks!
I remember the TV show Jag did an episode where something like this happened. I remember the show was prone to using some of the unbelievable stories from Aviation past and incorporating them into the show. Other examples are the time that a phantom pilot pushed his wingman out of North Vietnamese airspace by pushing his aircraft with the tail hook. Another one of my favorites is the time that someone landed a C-130 on the deck of an aircraft carrier.
You can always get a new "call sign" no matter where you are at in your Naval career.
That's bad ass gets punched out of a Tomcat, and is in the O-Club that night
Props to him.
Third hand story but I believe it- A Tornado from the RAF was involved in a large exercise in one of the Nellis ranges and was near the Ale-inn (not sure of the spelling but it is a popular stop out there for UFO buffs.) The owner of the place was chatting with one of my friends and told how he was out back and heard some bangs in the sky. As he looked up he saw a plane dive into the ground a mile or less away. He turned to go back in to call the air force and heard voices. He looked up and the pilots were chatting as they descended to the other side fo his establishment. He ran to them and they gathered up the gear and went in to the place and ordered a couple of pints!
@@theejectionsite1038 lol wow 👌
Love this story! Glad everyone came out ok.
I guess I'm the only one that thought that this was some sort of "Take a family member to work day" - hence "Fam Flight" - gone horribly wrong.
You pull the handle, you’re going out!
Another life saved…. Kind of. He wasn’t in any danger but they all count. Glad everyone was ok. NACES is a fantastic seat which I have worked on for my whole life at MBA.
@@alexanderzerka8477 that’s very funny. MBA is the day job, filming my cat was a side project…
My father accumulated something like 21,000 flight hours during his career as a naval aviator (he began flying in '42 and retired in '64). When I joined the Navy in '79, his only professional advice to me was "Never fly if you don't have to". This video illustrates why.
Did you get your wings?
@@KutWrite Nope. I was an enlisted (AX2). Thankfully, the Navy took one look at me and realized I was definitely not officer material. Between the Navy and me, I'm glad one of us had some common sense (I've a reckless streak in me a mile wide, which is definitely not an attribute you want in an officer operating a multi-million dollar weapons platform and making decisions that could appreciably reduce the life spans of others). But Dad knew that ASW techs often flew along on hops as IFTs (which I was). So, when there was a gripe that we couldn't duplicate on deck, up I went, which wasn't very often. When I moved over from S-3As to P-3As, there were a lot more opportunities to suit up, but since the ASW/COMM/NAV systems on the P-3 were markedly different from the S-3, I really didn't have the knowledge or experience base to justify flying in an IFT capacity, so I stayed firmly planted on the ground.
@@CaesarInVa Thanks. Sounds like you found a good spot. That's the key to a decent time in the military.
"21,000 flight hours"
Seems like you've added an extra zero. He'd have had to average nearly 1000 hours a year which is unlikely.
@@AA-xo9uw I know what I wrote. I can send you copies of Dad's flight logs if you like. As an assistant air officer with the Lexington's air group Dad flew anything he could get his hands on practically daily from January of 44 until she came home after the war in late 45, which racked up a lot of hours (SBD's, SB2Cs, F4Us and F6Fs), but where the numbers really racked up was the 6 years or so he spent flying Atlantic barrier missions in EC-121s. Those missions typically lasted 12 hours or so at a time and they flew at least two missions a week. He also spent time as a flight instructor, which added to the tally. The depressing thing is you can see the hours start to drop off appreciably around 62 or so when he was the senior aviator over at the Naval Research Lab. Seemed kind of a sad way to end a career, going from flying daily, sometimes twice in a day, to the minimum to maintain flight status.
I remember when that happened. I was assigned to the 40th Flight Test Squadron at Eglin AFB at that time and was shocked at how quickly emails of that photo started circulating (there were A LOT of inter-service rivalry jokes on the Air Force side 😉). I was relieved to hear that the RIO was unharmed. Thanks for sharing this story, I had always wondered about that mishap.
Great video Ward!
Thanks, Mooch, for another great story. I think JAG borrowed this story for one of their episodes. Harm takes up Adm. Chegwidden to demonstrate a particular instrument malfunction they were investigating and, while in the back seat, the admiral accidentally ejects over a national park.
I'm curious. What was the legal angle... a lawsuit over the instrument malfunction?
@@KutWrite I found the episode on IMDB. The title is Heart and Soul (S8 E16). Here is the partial storyline, "To increase his understanding of a claim by the Navy against a contractor, the admiral takes a ride with Harm in the back seat of an F-14 Tomcat. The admiral accidentally ejects over a national forest during a snowstorm with snow already on the ground. Harm lands safely without the canopy. While a SaR helo searches for the admiral from the air, Harm does so in a Humvee on the ground..."
@@antoniog9814 OK, cool. Thanks!
Great story 🇺🇸
Excellent story, great presentation as always! 👍
Love your stories, and Beatles pix, and great gear!