Got it after a 20 minutes search on the web! 😎😎 "On Monday July 25, 2016, Jessica Earp was monitoring 20 to 30 aircraft in two sectors of sky over the Bering Sea between Alaska and Asia when one voice suddenly declared an emergency. This was a Marine Corps F/A-18 Hornet fighter jet (VMFA 242 based in Iwakuni, Japan), on a ferry flight from Eielson Air Force Base near Fairbanks to a training exercise in Asia. The pilot, Capt. Jesse Simmermon, turned his aircraft back toward Alaska, with another F/A-18 accompanying him. Both were running low on fuel. A tanker aircraft traveling with the jets was refueling another Hornet in the flight group and couldn't break away. Earp said the tanker tried circling back to reach the two F/A-18s. But by that time, the jets were too far away. "When (Simmermon) started asking, 'Where is the tanker, how much farther is it?' I started to hear the catch in his voice," Earp said, recalling the incident. Soon the engine failure forced the Hornet pilots to a lower altitude. Earp said the Hornets were planning to land at King Salmon - still 550 miles away. But she had a different idea. "There's an airport about 80 miles to the southeast, St. Paul," Earp radioed Simmermon:"I can get runway distance, if you need, and conditions." "Affirm," Simmermon promptly replied. "We need all that." Within seconds of Simmermon's request, Earp quickly and calmly relayed the information he'd requested, along with a vector from their current location to the island's airport. Despite dismal weather at other airports across the region, the skies over St. Paul were so clear that the Marines had no problem spotting it over 40 miles away. "It's a needle in a haystack," Earp said. "It was the only viable airport in the Bering Sea he could have landed at." "I will never forget the cool, calm and collected voice which politely suggested that we consider making a landing at St. Paul," Simmermon later wrote in an email thanking Earp. Soon after their landing, Earp said, confirmation of their safe arrival came from an FAA weather camera on the island. Less than an hour after the 2 Hornets were on the ground, Simmermon wrote that the weather had taken a turn for the worse. Jessica Earp's handling of the situation earned her the Archie League Medal of Safety Award, named after the first air traffic controller and reserved for members of the profession whose work saves lives. She received the Alaskan Region award at NATCA's convention in Las Vegas. (source: Anchorage Daily News Archives)
Her voice out of nowhere telling them that an airport was 80 miles away must have sounded like the angel they needed. Jessica Earp was the right person at the right place at the right time. Listening to this unfold and the resolution brought tears to my eyes.
Out over the Bering Sea, with an issue bad enough for these guys to say, "An uncontrolled airport, with no support, on a tiny island in the middle of nowhere? Yep, works for us, point us to it". Must've been having a bad day, and quickly turning worse. Good job on the part of the controller and the pilots to smoothly work it out and get them down safely.
@@David-ql1hd Why? What is planned about losing an engine? Or did the significance of only one aircraft having an emergency, and not being able to maintain altitude, escape you?
Incredibly lucky that the weather allowed them to have a visual of the runway. Its more common than not to turn around in commercial flights because the weather is too bad to land there. I've been turned around more times than landed in St. Paul.
These pilots can find a steel football field in the middle of the ocean and land on it in pitching seat, in the dark. This island must have seemed huge, and perfectly still. Jessica made this happen and she deserves a ride in an F 18. (Fully fueled this time)
Wow. Having to eject over the Bering sea is a really, really unpleasant thought. Aircraft gone, lucky to get out without injury, rough, extremely cold water in a flight/G-suit and vest and a long way from any SAR. Both pilots should be asking Jessica when her birthday is!
When you are showing off your new Beech King Air to the crab fleet mates, and then these guys show up. Awesome job by ATC. You can hear the relief in his tone when she said airport at 80 miles.
@Flight_Follower I also follow Ward Caroll's page. His recent one on fuel tankers was top notch. Never knew that Navy and Aitr Force had two different methods. I've seen them both but never knew the difference. War caused them to adapt and conquer. Also Business Insider. I travel the world through their videos. My quest for knowledge is endless.
What a fantastic woman!! So calm and so totally focussed and professional, she absolutely made every bit of difference that day. I hope she feels ten feet tall! So glad those guys made it to a safe recovery back to feet dry!
Jessica Earp gave those Marine aviators exactly what they needed, every step of the way. Notice also how polite and respectful they were to her. Very well done.
Truly fascinating how quickly that all unfolded with the distances covered. Admittedly I’m ignorant to the ins and outs of these systems but impressive work under pressure on both ends.
Imagine all the terrible scenario's going through his mind thinking he's going to have to punch-out over the Freezing-deadly Bering Sea....Then Jessica's voice pipes in!...I wouldn't have cared if he choked up a bit....
This isn't the first fighter flight ive seen recently where they went bingo gas. But this was so much worse being over the Bering Sea! It would take the JayHawks from Kodiak a long time to reach them if they had to punch!
Not to mention without the proper survival suits they wouldn't survive the temps long enough to be picked up, unless they really caught a break and there was a fishing boat right where they ditched ... good thing everything worked out well for them!
@@cageordie I don't know the fuel system on this fighter, but if a tank on one side goes dry, then the engine on that side could flame out, particularly if there isn't enough in the other tank to cross feed... I'm only a retired Navy ship driver, not a pilot! Also, that's why I think the 35 is a really bad design. It's bad enough to flame out one on a twin engine bird. Flaming out one on a single engine bird will ruin your day!
@@jmWhyMe Dosent work that way. External fuel stores feed up into the main tank. Then feed tanks feed to the main tank which provides fuel to both engines. If one runs out of fuel, they both run out of fuel.
I would think they should have known their options for such cases pre-flight. Especially, if bingo fuel is not so rare and then in such rough environment. Not sure if they are to blame, but I would review the procedures of the preparation and briefing.
Good job! But what caused the problem to begin with? Stronger than forecast winds? Late arrival of the tanker aircraft? Mission Planning errors? Newbie pilots that took too long to get their fuel?
I immagine her with long shiny blonde hair dressed in white Navy uniforme, a mix of a servicewoman and an angel. She is an example of calm, clear, succint comunication! Angel, why angel? Who else all over the Barents Sea in bad weather condition could find and keep in clear weather just the needed two hours an uninhabited island with a runway? But this is a dream, our Jessica is a real everyday hero. Much better!
aparently they had because they were to fly to asia. the rtanker was unabele to divert with them becaues he was refuling other aircraft. the moement he was abele to turn the jets were to far away to reach
Diverts to St. Paul ISLAND. Big difference between St. Paul which is in the middle of the continent & St. Paul Island which in the the Bering sea. Nice clickbait title though.
Military Assumes Responsibility for Separation of Aircraft -- basically when military aircraft are flying in formation it is their responsibility not to run into each other.
I wonder, can any military aircraft whether they're for training, cargo, fighter, heli, etc. make a 'pretend' emergency Mayday call without informing ATC to test the readiness of ATC, ground crews, and any other necessary services/agency's throughout USA territory? Like a surprise 'audit' I suppose. I mean, I'm sure there are hoops you have to jump through and people you gotta tell to perform an exercise like this, but what if the pilot just doesn't tell anyone except his direct superior that they plan on testing readiness of action? Who would need to know of it, and if everyone knows wouldn't that defeat the whole purpose of the readiness audit? Please Note: I am no pilot nor am I in the military, just a regular civy curious about a 'What If...?'
GPS doesn't do so well in the Far North - Satellite Coverage is worse than spotty above the Arctic Circle. Orbital inclination of the Sats is about 60 degrees. The Arctic Circle is 65. So - you either don't have a line of sight to a sufficient number of sats, or they're so close to the horizon that lensing can occur. Your only reliable NAV system is INS (Intertial Navigation Systems), and that depends on a proper alignment and location at takeoff, and accuracy drifts over time, as errors add up. (And there are always errors.)
@@peterstickney7608Also, Earth is round and the coordinate systems we use for navigation are inherently built on assumptions that stop being true closer to the poles.
Would the airport have fire appliances if there was jo vontrol tower thank god landing went well if there was no engines they must have bern really desperate dituation to tske a jon vontrolled airport refulering pksne mystvhave bern desperate ehrn it couldnt hrlp as it was refuerling one but how had three planes tun iut of furl they needed engineers down to their landing g places to check plane over begore they risked flying back to their base
If the map position is accurate, the nearest airport on land was Bethel, not Salmon. Not sure what they were thinking, if this was an emergency, why did they need to be pointed to SNP? Hit the "nearest" button on your GPS and point your airplane in that direction.
