Another Wild Ride

At least my Thunderbird Flight in my last entry didn't go like this....




You probably remember this September, 2003 crash of the Number 6 jet of the USAF Thunderbirds.

Reader's Digest just had a story about it with the pilot's account of the accident. There is also more information at this website, including links to the official report detailing how pilot error caused the crash.

It happened because the pilot mis-calculated the altitude he needed to make the loop on the way back down(he needed to fly higher because of their height above sea level).


I just though it would be cool to share these two video clips. This next one is the in cockpit video of this 22 second flight.



The video brings back more memories of my flight. They gave me detailed instructions on how to bail out like that....and the ramifications. The pilot told the Reader's Digest that he lost 2 inches of height because of compression in his spine from the 15g's of force in the ejection. The military will only allow pilot's to eject from a jet twice before grounding them permenantly.

More TV News Next Time. I promise. Really.