He thought he was dead. The tale of an Air Force Student Pilot who made a split second decision and immediately regretted. T-38 ejection. Ground accident
The program was still going strong when I was at Vance in 1978 (Class 79-02). I too had a DO ride with a solo student in another flight that could not find the base coming back from the areas. Once we got in the pattern, he could not reach the runway and was sent around by the RSU twice and now we are getting low on fuel (about 600 lbs remaining if I remember correctly). I took a shot to get the plane close from the back seat and in fact made the runway, a miracle in itself from the back seat. Still, I enjoyed the program as a student pilot, but as they say - Ignorance is bliss.
I was an Air Traffic Controller/ Watch Supervisor in the RAPCON from 1977 to 1981. There were several incidents involving T-38 and T37's mishaps that occurred while stationed at Vance. I enjoyed my career at Vance, and several other ATC Command Bases in my 24 years of service. An interesting and dynamic story told here.
Hi Ron, I graduated UPT at Columbus in 82. No dynamic duo program at that time. I truly enjoyed my solo T-38 flights. My lack of experience was sufficient, did not need to multiply that times two! Great story as usual.
Ron, I was going through the helo/fixed wing conversion course at Sheppard and was in the T-38 phase of training in the summer of 78. We had that program also but if I remember correctly we just called it a "Buddy Ride". I enjoyed them both from the front and the back seats. We only had one mishap while I was there....the one where the 38 lost a wing.
I was on an Air Midwest flight from Wichita to Phoenix with a dozen Boeing mechanics and a QA inspector about 1988. Someone up front attempted to take the 737 off from 19L with the right engine at idle. That did not go well and the rest of the flight got worse. Thanks Ron.
Another great story - thanks. I was a T-37 IP at Laughlin in the late 70s and know why the program was was taken out of the syllabus.They were called "Dynamic Duo" rides at the time (some people replaced "Duo" with the name of a female personal pleasure device). A weak student who had problems maintaining orientation when it was hazy was sent out solo on just such a day, and he had an allied (foreign) military student in the back seat. The accident board estimated the aircraft hit the ground at about 800 knots after the pilot attempted a barrel roll. The front seater didn't attempt ejection but the back seater did (If you have a weak stomach don't read the next part.) The back seater's lap belt broke at the buckle because of the extremely high speed, and the V-shaped shoulder straps decapitated him. The accident board concluded this was a case of supervisory error. The Dynamic Duo ride program ended shortly thereafter.
There are very few open seats ever designed to handle a 600+, let alone 800kt ejections so while it is a sad story the loss of the second student is not a surprise. The injuries from flail are hard for people to comprehend so I tend to explain by saying that an ejection at 600kts- effectively the speed of sound- is the equivalent of about a force 10-15 hurricane. When people think about how debris rips through cinderblock walls it makes a bit more sense to them. Modern seats like the Martin-Baker Mk 16 and 18 and the ACES 5 include features to minimize flail injuries.
@@theejectionsite1038 Mover had someone on his channel who ejected from an F-16 around 600 kn going nearly straight down ... ... with 0.5s to spare. He spent quite some time at the hospital for a deep overhaul
I was in high school durring years of 78-82 and i recall several crashes involving t38 an t 37 aircraft.always a sad thing to read the piolet was injured or worse.fyi went in navy few yrs later
I know that feeling of wanting to reel back the last few seconds 🤪😈 - a few times things could even have turned out lethal for me 😱 - but I have a very motivated guardian angel 😅😇
If the front student pilot jumped over the side with the engines still screaming at full thrust, it could have got a whole lot messier at that point. Imagine being near the engine inlet with air being sucked in at whatever rate it was. The fire fighters, too, would have had to be very mindful of that situation as well when they approached the aircraft.
I was at Vance when this happened. As I remember it, the pilot flying had to be essentially finished with the program and the guy in the back was not supposed to do any flying.
I would have punched out as soon as I saw the landing gear light come on before going to mil power. The gear switch on the strut probably tripped as soon as the power spooled up.
There was at least one fatal landing mishap where the T-38 started “dancing” from one main gear to the other. The student failed to fly it off and try again. The aircraft wound up inverted, grinding down to about shoulder height.
I don't recall that we had this "dynamic observer" program in 69-05. Could have been fun, though. I did so many stupid stunts/mistakes in pilot training that I could have been kicked out. But, there was a war on, and the AF needed live bodies, I suppose. Anyway, I did learn what it was all about.
Interesting story per usual. During the program could the backseater request, "My aircraft" if they saw something they thought could be corrected or was that forbidden?
I think I hold the record for the longest student solo in a T38 ever recorded. 1.8 hours and landed with normal fuel. Of course, a lost airplane search had been initiated.
@@ronrogers Interesting. Thank you for the info. My data came from a fighter pilot upload. If memory serves ...after 3 ejections the doctors told him his spine had compressed too much and would be dangerous for him to do it again...
@@ronrogers no! I'm sure you are. It's the F106 that got into a flat spin and the pilot couldn't recover so he punched out and as he was coming down in the chute, he watched as the plane recovered itself and gently landed in a farmers field without him. They apparently went out lifted it up put the gear down, towed it back to base, and after a little body work it was back flying.
Couldn’t the back seat student say ‘I’ve got control’ or ‘I’ve got the stick ?’ or the events were too far degraded ? I mean the front seater did land.
