F-14 Tomcat Fam Flight Goes Very Wrong 

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?

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.

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.

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. 😢

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.

Ward is like the cool uncle everyone wishes they had. I could listen to stories like this all day.

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.

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.

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). ;-)

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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 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 recently found your channel randomly as I was browsing warships on RU-vid 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!

Great story Ward, love listening to your explanations.

Sounds to me like the Alpha Whiskey ALSO needs a RU-vid Channel! What a series of perspectives and stories that guy has to have. Another great sharing session here, Ward! Thank you!

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 loving these stories. Thanks for making them.

This was amazing. Great story and story telling! Thank you sir!

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 🤣🤣.

That's a fantastic story. I'm glad no one was injured and the aircraft wasn't seriously damaged, besides needing a new canopy.

I'm new to your channel and I gotta' say I never leave without shaking my head in amazement! Great stuff!

Ward that was a great story ...thanks for sharing

Mooch, as always, brilliant, concise, description of events.

NATOPS change: challenge and response - challenge: hands sitting on . Response: Copy sitting on hands.

That was great to watch, thank you for posting

Love you're videos Ward! Keep em' Comin

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!!!!

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.

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.

Holy moly, awesome story, sir! Thank you for sharing it with us.

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 ;-)

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.

Great subjects. Thanks so much, so enjoyable and informative. Keep it going.

Great story! Always a good time here Ward

AW: "I want the FULL tour". Pilot "Ooook, then..."

Another interesting and informative episode! For the life of me, I cannot understand how anyone can give any of your episodes a "thumbs down."

Wow! Incredible story Ward. So glad that all landed safe and sound.

One of my favorite stories - ending with a happy end. Good storytelling - and nice guitars in the background...

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.😅😕😱

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

Another fascinating story. I worked on the AG-71 and APG-65 units. Thanks!

Great narrating Wade. Your channel rocks!

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.

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, as usual, well described. Keep up the fantastic work.

Great to read some reflections from Navy vets. Makes military life come alive for someone who never served. Thank you gentlemen all.

Another blast of a story! I talked to some of the f-14 guys on Quora about you and they dig your stuff!

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.

You are a gifted teacher-with some great stories.

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.

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)?

Love your stories

Excellent story, great presentation as always! 👍

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 😄👍🏼

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 !

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. 🤭

Love your stories, and Beatles pix, and great gear!

Rio: I’ll never fly with you again Pilot: Roger that

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.

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!

Thanks for the story, glad they both made it

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.

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.

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"

Great story that should be told! Well done!!

That's bad ass gets punched out of a Tomcat, and is in the O-Club that night

Things you don't want to hear in flight school: "Well, at least we know the ejector seats are working..."

thank you for your service!

First video I've watched from you. You're a great storyteller!

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.

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.

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.

Wow, just found your channel. Punk's War is one of my favorite military aviation novels.

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

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 🙏🏻

Great story! Thank you for sharing!

As soon as you mentioned the difference between A and D ejection sequence initiation I could see where this was going!

That is absolutely hilarious. When everyone is safe after something like this and nothing crazy happened, you can't help but laugh at it.

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!

Great video Ward!

Great video thank you!

You can always get a new "call sign" no matter where you are at in your Naval career.

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.

hey ward love your stories, keep it up

Awesome story. Thanks!

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.

I would chew my right arm off for a ride in a fighter, and other people get the opportunity and punch-out mid-flight. Life is cruel, man. Life is cruel. 😁

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

There’s a great write up on this event in the 2004 Mar/Apr Approach magazine. Another great episode Ward. Thank you sir!