On Fri, 10 Oct 2014 23:18:11 -0400 Meade Dillon via Mercedes
<mercedes@okiebenz.com> wrote:
> I don't understand why the pilot didn't wait to eject at a lower
> altitude.
Just prior to their decent into Beaufort, Rankin heard a series
of very loud grinding noises coming from his single engine jet.
This caused a severe loss in power, the fire indication light to
illuminate and the entire instrument panel to darken. Fearing a
power failure, he pulled the auxiliary deployment power handle,
only to have it break off in his hand. After repeated failures to
restart the engine, the F-8 Crusader entered a rapid descent at
near super-sonic speeds. Having lost complete control of his
aircraft, Lt Colonel Rankin determined his aircraft was
unrecoverable and had but one option left; eject.
- Grinding noises from engine
- Loss of power and instruments
- Not able to use auxiliary power (RATG, most likely)
- Entering rapid descent without control
If the plane had broken up, he would not have been able to eject.
Craig
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