He almost choked up a few times when talking about his wife and baby, and that hits hard. This man still had fight in him even after he'd been ejected at super-sonic speeds. Bless this pilot's soul.
@@evelynfarfellwooosh1219 spatial disorientation, thought he was making a left turn and was really diving at the water, at 1000 feet he broke through the cloud deck and attempted to pull up doing 8.2 G's but hit the water and died.
He starts tearing as soon as he mentions his family. Didn’t care about his own life but the impact it would have on others. That’s how you know he really loves his family. What a lucky woman and child to have such a caring man in their life.
Damn, you can tell he feels guilty for making the call to eject and killing his navigator, but if he hadn't they both would've perished. At least it was instantaneous.
+foster Gwyn True that's what they would have said even if he didn't die quickly but from what happened when they ejected it sounds like you have more chance of dieing straight away than not.
yeah we almost never think about it, but air is a physical fluid that we all live in, it's not nothing. We're used to the everyday force but even something as light as air is still a physical presence. You try to go too fast in it, you'll become very acquainted with the concept of aerodynamic drag
They say the SR 71 was so fast that if you could open the cockpit without the plane disintegrating and stuck your hand out the window as you did it, your hand would just disappear as you stuck it out. Due to the friction and heat from the wind at high speeds.
He didn't kill his nav. His quick thinking in that instant was the only possible way of potentially saving both of their lives. But man. To survive something like that is mind blowing when you understand the science behind it.
Yeah at the end he almost sounds like he feels bad for calling the ejection. Like dude you were totally gonna die if you didn’t, he shouldn’t feel guilty for his nav dying
damn so within like 10 seconds he went from, perfectly fine, flying around, to completely broken body, floating in the freezing ocean struggling the stay alive... thats crazy
@Dick Fageroni I own a motorcycle and going 120 mph the wind is INSANE I couldn't even fathom sitting up on a motorcycle at 800 mph not disagreeing just adding to conversation fyi
The fact this pilot is reliving his ptsd, and describing the death of his fallen comrade.. Is quite remarkable beyond any military standard. I would go to the ends of the earth to shake this guys hand.
+tcsdef Are you the ultimate standard for what can and cant be done? you fucking self-centered piece of trash.. There is nothing more insignificant in this universe than your shitty opinion, dog.
+Tom Sawyer he's no ordinary person like the others who have PTSD and have no idea what to do he's a pilot for the airforce which means he's very intelligent and fit
Amazing stuff. The fact that this guy flew again says so much about his fortitude and commitment. God bless all of our military personnel and their families. May his navigator RIP.
+Viktor B. Absolutely. Some people say that only p#$$*es cry, but I think they have that backwards. Some people pretend not to cry because they are too much of a P#$$y to do so.
+Viktor B. Real men don't have to hide their tears. The manliness is not something that can be lost because of a few tears. Real men own that shit and know no one can take it from him.
I just came from watching a video of a man freaking out because his pizza wasn't completely vegan. I have now witnessed the spectrum of complete masculinity.
How could he still walk after "the only thing holding my leg on was my artery the nerve, a vein and the skin." and his other leg snapped as well. How did he recover so well from that?
I mean, if you think about it, they're the important parts. It's only the bone which has separated at that point and whilst that obviously sucks, it's not like losing the nerves and arteries which literally allow you to control the muscles in your leg.
He did an interview after it happened, and he said that the surgeons told him it was luck. Luck was the only thing that kept him from losing his legs or dying. If he would’ve turned at all when ejecting he would’ve been at the wrong angle and his neck would’ve snapped.
Damn I've watched this a dozen times over the years and each time it always chokes me up when he starts choking up! God bless him and his fallen friend
You realize how much they edited the crap out of this video right? They could have said he crashed while doing maneuvers ON THE MOON! The words were not coming from him while (he did a entire interview sitting in that chair). *cutting away from the interview WAS NOT FOR OUR BENEFIT* Hopefully your eyes get opened a little bit. Find the report (foia request probably required) should tell you probably nothing
Yes, he appears to still be cleared to fly, which is really remarkable. I hope they addressed the psychological trauma of the event as well, it clearly still messes with him and that can affect future performance too.
There was a pilot that survived ejection at Mach 3.2, but he ejected at over 20,000 meters altitude, so the air was significantly less dense, and he was wearing a pressurised suit, so these factors probably contributed to his survival. Despite that, he sustained some pretty gruesome injuries, including several broken bones. The copilot did not survive. Apparently, the force of the air at those speeds was strong enough that it broke his neck.
Wow! Just wow! I’ve been skydiving for over twenty years, and when you fly head to earth you’re doing over 200kph (aprox 140mph+), and just the sheer speed of that alone is quite taxing on your body as you can only make subtle hand movements to maintain position, but to tikes that by four I am absolutely blown away he survived that! Extremely lucky man!
Something interesting to think about: Since 800mph is about 5.7 times faster than 140mph and air drag is proportional to velocity squared, he experienced *32 times* the drag you feel when skydiving...
actually, a great demonstration of training. he knew they were fucked before it was too late and made the right call. from his perspective, it's the most devastating outcome besides himself dying. objectively, it's a "gain", since at least one pilot survived. poor soul, he will always blame himself. training...keep on truckin, improve yourself...
This should be the origin story for Guile from Street Fighter... He survived ejection from a plane at supersonic speed and now he can make sonic booms...
Do you remember that he prayed and asked God to help him? Yeah, he's tough as nails, but it's God that answered his prayer and gave him strength to pull himself into a life raft with only one arm.
I'm not a pilot but I am a mechanic on f-16s, the ejection is very rough on the body even at cruising speed, pilots are not allowed to fly anymore after 3 ejections due to the wear and tear it has on the body, after just 2 you're already gonna have problems
There are very few airmen who eject without some physical bruising, and usually much more! It' like a rocket going off under your butt! Some of those pilots have compressed vertebrae, leaving them with back pain for life, plus many other painful results of ejecting at speed! NO one wants to do it, they don't even like the practice it requires -- it hurts! But brave men do it, and they have our respect!
Zachary Taylor yeah but those are the COD players. Most people that play battlefield are over the age of 14, which is mature enough. The COD fanbase consists of 10 yos
One of the Realest fighter pilot encounter I’ve heard. You can hear him get choked up when he recounts the event and loss of life. Glad he is still with us.
yeah, literally sounds like something out of a movie. Dude has to bail out, his body nearly falls apart, has to cling onto his life raft barely alive, but ultimately survives. This dude’s a beast
My wingman ejected from his on fire RAAF Mirage 111O. We had pulled up from on the deck at 480 kts when he got a fire warning light and came back to idle. The energy zoom took him to 8500 feet and speed 365kts. I was sitting on his wingtip yelling for him to eject after his back end erupted in 100 foot long flame. The ejection looked rather violent and the aircraft rolled immediately towards me and the empty cockpit passed about 20 feet under me with the aircraft going into a vertical dive and burying itself deep into a South East Asian swamp. I circled around him in his parachute descent, vectoring in the rescue chopper. Back in the Squadron bar he was none the worse for his ordeal. Great job Martin Baker.
This man is scary brave. I broke my tibia and shattered by tibia to the point my ankle flopped around like a fish. Everytime my foot got out of alignment it was a new trip in PAIN. He had a leg attached by the artery and the nerves? And he is still standing? God bless him and his RIO
Jake Lakota I got hit by a car as it overtook my Ducati Panagale. My foot came off the footrest and was pushed round the back wheel. Cutting a long story short my leg was flat and shattered and round my shoulders. Guess what ? I am here I am walking and apart from scars 18 inch long I am good. Man is brilliant but the surgeons are amazing. Lol
Go to North Wales machloop. Most interesting UK training area. They fly 200 feet above the ground in a valley. You are above them. We have some good ass pilots in there.
@@DustFR Hmm.., That's an interesting reply. Not quite sure what you mean though. Do you mean that Trump is being tempted to back off a bit, because Continental Europe is not stumping up the agreed 2% of GDP ?
This man is a hero and voluntarily risked his life everyday sitting in the cockpit of his fighter aircraft. You could see the pain in his eyes, that he survived and his navigator did not. I hope, he lived his life well for the both of them and that he does not blame himself.
Ejections are a lot rougher than most people realize. They're not a magical "Save-Your-Life" button, and the decision to eject carries many risks. Even under perfect conditions, the G-force generated by the seat accelerating often results in compression fractures of the spine.
I knew they were violent but didn't realise they could just outright kill people instantly like the navigator in this story. Though that almost sounds preferable to the trauma sustained by the pilot, augh.
I posted and shared this video to honor this man and what he went through.We think being a fighter pilot is cool, all fun and games.They train hard to learn and refresh themselves on maneuvers,use of weaponry for the defense of our country.These men risk their lives every time they go up.This is the last thing a pilot wants to talk about,is the fact he had to eject and lose not only his aircraft but his navigator`s life.I honor this man for his bravery, the sacrifice he made and his navigator, for making the ultimate sacrifice,in service to his country.I pray for his healing,for the suffering he has to endure,that has left such pain in his heart.Only a man of Valor, has the guts to stand up and recount a story like this.Honor and Respect, thank you for your service.Freedom is not free.Someone always pays the price.
Don’t know how I got this on my recommended but wow! My brother in law had a very similar story with a very sad ending 😔 He was 31 newly wed to my 29 year old sister with a 4 month’s old baby, when he was on a similar training combat duty with another Cobra helicopter. “Six minutes to landing” were his last words. The back rotor detached and ejection seat wasn’t really an option... He crashed together with his co pilot. A few hours later, the pilot of the second Cobra came to visit us and you could see he was “emotionless”/apathetic. He simply told us - “it’s a Russian roulette. It should have me.” And left. Never seen him again. Not even in the funeral. Heard he left the Air Force and moved abroad. Not easy.
Im sitting here trying to make a comment about this but I can't find my words. I race cars and understand a little about the decisions you have to make in a split second ,but man this is in a different world. I've been raised in an airforce family and my dad used to take me to work with him and I got to get in different aircraft f16, f15, t38, c5, c130, sr71(after retirement). During this time of being in complete awe i never thought of stuff like this. My hats off to you, much respect. I can't even imagine what you felt. When I salute my dad i will have this in the back of my mind forever changing the meaning of being on base and watching the pilots take off from the flight line. From the 433rd air national guard Kelly Air force base. My salute to you. Sorry for your loss.
@Harry Dakin ya, its a beautiful plane with alot of secrets. Hopefully one day you'll get the chance to see one. If your ever in San Antonio Tx the base has one on display.
I want to say the following: I am russian and usually I don't even care about american AF, I only like Russian jets, but in this case... Man, you really see that millitary people, from every country are going throught a whole different life.
It is a medical fact that more than 90% of people burned on more than 45 % of their body do not survive, and if they do, they loose the ability to do simple tasks, simply because scar tissue doesn't stretch . It would be a nice feather in the cap of our military to keep our service members who are disabled on the payroll instead of giving them a discharge and shooing them out the back door. I'm referring to the (enlisted) guys and gals, not the tenured officers like Capt. Udell .
Rick OBrien sure I agree but there's a sr-71 Blackbird Pilot who was an Ace in Vietnam, crashed and got 70% of his body burned. Somehow he survived and was able to walk again etc. So yea you should Google his story, very impressive
I love you man!!!!!!! I can't even comprehend that kind of energy. I had no idea those kinds of injuries were possible during ejections. It's sad your RIO didn't make it. God I love all branches of service, but by far fighter pilots are the rock stars of the military.
Getting flung into the earths troposphere at 800 mph is definitely life threatening, just thank your self for not giving up and thank God your still alive
Does anyone know what caused the incident? Pilot error and spatial disorientation or was it mechanical somehow? -Managed to find it. HUD was displaying incorrect information, He watched his HUD and other instruments as he made corrections with the controls and saw the HUD stayed the same, and it was too far gone to recover, so he gave the order to bail
