High above North Vietnam, a routine airstrike mission
was violently shattered for Captain John R. “Bob” Pardo and his wingman,
Captain Earl Aman, as they suddenly found themselves in a life-or-death situation.
Engulfed in a storm of enemy fire, their F-4 Phantom IIs sustained severe damage from a
sudden barrage of anti-aircraft defenses. Aman’s aircraft, its fuel tank punctured,
was in critical condition, doomed to fall from the sky at any moment.
With fuel supplies rapidly dwindling and the ominous prospect of parachuting into
enemy territory, the pilots turned to a radical idea.
Pardo would attempt the unthinkable, pushing Aman’s ailing jet mid-air to slow its descent.
If they managed to pull this off, they could potentially reach the safety of friendly lines.
But this daring operation was anything but straightforward. Aman’s damaged plane
was a rebellious bird in the wind, constantly torn away from Pardo’s.
With the ground rushing closer with each passing second,
the pair resolved to continue their struggle even as time slipped from their fingers.
They would somehow push that plane to safety no matter the consequences.
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Take-Off
At the peak of the Vietnam War,
four American airmen were seated in their F-4 Phantoms on the morning of March 10,
1967. The atmosphere was tense as they anxiously awaited their launch orders.
They were ready to strike at the heart of the enemy’s resources - a steel mill in Thai Nguyen,
30 miles north of Hanoi. They were experienced pilots but
had not faced a mission as important as this one.
The target was heavily fortified and vital to the enemy’s war efforts. Not only were they
tasked with safeguarding the main F-4 and F-105 strike force against North Vietnamese
MiGs with their missiles, but if the coast was clear, they were to bomb the mill themselves.
The group of airmen belonged to the 433rd Tactical Fighter Squadron stationed at Ubon
Royal Thai Air Force Base in Thailand. They were flying Phantoms, heavily equipped with
six 750-pound bombs, four missiles, and an electronic countermeasures (ECM) pod.
Their mission had been on standby for nine days, stalled by unrelenting monsoons and a
veil of low clouds over the mountainous terrain that protected the target.
The harsh conditions forced the team to strike transportation and supply facilities in Laos
and North Vietnam instead of engaging their primary target. But today was different; the
skies were clear, and there was a palpable sense of danger in the air - no turning back this time.
First Lieutenant Robert Houghton and Captain Earl Aman in one Phantom and 1st Lt. Steve
Wayne and Captain Robert Pardo in the other had meticulously prepped their aircraft.
While waiting for the go-ahead, Aman contemplated the intelligence briefing, predicting a defense
of MiGs and additional anti-aircraft guns. The mission ahead was daunting,
the toughest they’d faced yet, and both Aman and Houghton confessed to an unusual sense
of apprehension. But the significance of their target cast a longer shadow than their fears.
With the takeoff order, the squadron took to the air. They were almost immediately welcome by a
fierce dance of anti-aircraft fire erupting in the sky before they reached Thai Nguyen.
When Aman and Houghton were still 75 miles out, their aircraft was rocked by a close detonation.
Shrapnel punched into their Phantom, rattling the airframe and sending shockwaves through
the cockpit. Checking in over the intercom, they were relieved that neither were injured.
Hurriedly, they surveyed their instrument readings,
weighing their options. They were now at a crossroads, deciding whether to retreat
to Thailand or to press forward into the storm and complete their mission.
Grim Outlook
Their initial evaluation showed that, despite its battle scars, their Phantom could still fly.
Rather than abort the mission, Aman and Houghton pressed on toward the Thai Nguyen steel mill,
pushing their damaged warplanes to the limit amidst a flurry of enemy fire.
No MiGs rose to meet them, but the relentless anti-aircraft assault showed no signs of abating.
The FLAK rose like inverted rain of light and fire all around them,
occasionally striking the hulls of their crafts.
Braving the vortex of the anti-aircraft Bulletstorm, they successfully released
their payload onto the target, along with the other F-4s and F-105s. Yet victory came
at a cost, with several American planes downed by the heavy fire.
Aman and Houghton’s plane took two additional hits,
and they witnessed Pardo and Wayne’s F-4 drawing heavy fire over the steel mill. Their aircraft,
already compromised, was now rapidly losing fuel. They relayed their grim
situation to their element leader, who charted a course toward the in-flight refueling point.
But the damage was devastating. Their wounded F-4 was bleeding fuel at an alarming rate. They
wouldn’t reach the tanker nor the relative safety of the Laotian border. Flying over the north
of Hanoi, they realized they had few options left and solemnly readied themselves to eject.
Pardo and Wayne had also been hit during their run on the steel mill. A 37mm round had
punctured their Phantom’s fuselage, setting off a cascade of alarms on Pardo’s instrument panel.
Electrical power was lost, and fuel was leaking, but the F-4 was miraculously still manageable.
Knowing the extent of their damages, both crews fought their F-4s up to
30,000 feet to conserve fuel and maximize their glide distance once they ran out.
The rest of the strike force continued their retreat to Ubon with no other
options. Pardo could see Aman’s plane bleeding fuel and radioed a warning.
When Aman confirmed they were preparing to bail out, Pardo was unyielding:
their chances of survival were slim to none if they ejected there.
They all knew how American POWs were treated; torture,
starvation, and pain. A grim fate awaited them if they were captured.
Pardo’s response echoed through the radio (QUOTE):
“Don’t jump! We’re going to do our damnedest to help you fly out of here!”
Despite his dire situation, Pardo did not let the other airman know that his warplane was
almost as damaged as theirs. They were in a danger zone, and soon the skies swarmed with enemy MiGs.
Yet, Pardo came up with an audacious idea, offering a ray of hope through the radio:
(QUOTE) “Aman, I think we can help you. Jettison your drag chute, and we’ll get you out of here.”
Doing the Unthinkable
Amid the sky-high turmoil, Pardo maneuvered his Phantom,
aligning its nose with the empty slot where Aman’s F-4 drag chute had been.
The blasting jet wash from Aman’s aircraft complicated matters,
but Pardo gritted his teeth and pushed on. He then attempted to press his F-4’s belly
against the underside of Aman’s plane, but the jet wash again disrupted his efforts.
Still haunted by the chilling prospect of ejecting over enemy territory,
Aman and Houghton were taken aback when Pardo’s audacious plan crackled through the radio:
(QUOTE) “Drop your tailhook, I’ll push you out of here!”
The Phantom was originally created as a military airplane for the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine
Corps. Its robust tailhook allowed it to land on aircraft carriers and make emergency landings on
land. Needless to say, it was not designed to push aircraft mid-air. Nevertheless, Aman and
Houghton dropped the tailhook, which caused their F-4’s tail to swing in the slipstream,
making Pardo’s task of aligning his windscreen with the tailhook even more challenging.
With their fuel nearing exhaustion and their aircraft dropping 3,000 feet every minute,
Pardo gingerly pushed his inch-thick windscreen against the tailhook,
each contact risking cracks in the glass and potential injury.
Despite these terrifying risks, Aman’s rate of descent began to slow.
As cracks began spider-webbing across his windscreen, Pardo shifted his tactic, pressing
the metal rim where his windscreen met the radome against the tailhook, even in the face of the jet
blast from Aman’s aircraft. It worked - Aman’s descent rate was slashed to 1,500 feet per minute.
As Aman’s engines began to fail and the jet wash reduced, the precarious
connection became somewhat more manageable. Pardo continued to push the ailing plane,
with both F-4s running on a single pair of engines.
Above hostile territory, Pardo’s daring maneuver tripled Aman’s glide range and
reduced his descent rate to 1,000 feet per minute. Amidst the chaos,
Aman and Houghton strived to guide their aircraft southwest toward the relative safety of Laos.
Suddenly, a fire warning light flickered on Pardo’s console.
An internal fire raged in his left engine, its temperature
spiking from a normal 600 degrees to a threatening 1,000 degrees Celsius.
The fire was an immediate risk of a devastating explosion that could seal the fate of both
aircraft. Recognizing the imminent danger, Pardo swiftly shut down the left engine.
Hunted
As their descent rate doubled,
Pardo saw the ground drawing closer and closer. In a desperate gamble,
he reactivated the problematic left engine. It sparked another warning in less than a minute.
Wayne, unable to believe what Pardo was doing,
yelled over the intercom: (QUOTE) “Our left engine’s on fire; we’ve got to shut
it down permanently or risk an explosion!” Pardo begrudgingly shut it down again.
Clear of enemy artillery but still within the reach of patrolling MiGs,
they managed to maintain their southwestern course.
Pardo’s plane continued for ten grueling minutes,
using its only operating engine to push Aman’s aircraft. Wayne radioed for aerial tankers
hoping they could be towed to safety, but they were in a race against time.
Pardo and Wayne had moved Aman and Houghton’s crippled plane approximately
58 miles closer to safety. Still, they, too, were now critically low on fuel.
As they rapidly lost altitude, they finally decided there was no other way,
and they ejected and radioed their location to rescue crews near the
Laos border. They landed in a flat area dotted with bushes near some hills.
Rescue aircraft A-1E Skyraiders and HH-43 Jolly Green Giants were already
en route from Thailand, heading towards the estimated landing zone in Laos.
Houghton, who had suffered a painful back injury during the high-G ejection,
landed amid an armed group of local militiamen.
Despite the excruciating pain, he ran through elephant grass and reached a
small stream as his pursuers fired at him from a distance.
After 40 agonizing minutes, Houghton hid himself near a hilltop with only his radio
and revolver. He hoped the U.S. helicopters would find him before his hunters did.
Still fighting the pain, Houghton clambered up the hill as the enemy’s hunting dogs got closer.
Out of breath, he found cover in a thicket, preparing for a confrontation. He radioed his
and Aman’s position to the rescue aircraft and updated them on the enemy’s proximity.
Home Stretch
Aman found himself trapped at the base of a slick cliff. Despite his best efforts,
the slippery terrain rendered him incapable of climbing the rock wall. Although stuck,
he remained undetected by the armed patrols.
Pardo and Wayne flew south for an additional minute before altering their course northwest
towards a U.S. Special Forces camp in Laos, evading a North Vietnamese Army base.
Their fuel depleted after another two minutes, forcing them to eject. Wayne
parachuted to a spot northwest of Aman and Houghton. He took cover,
ready for an encounter with enemy forces or a rescue attempt from the helicopter.
Meanwhile, Houghton relayed the chase by the armed group to the Skyraiders. The arrival of
A-1Es caused the enemy soldiers to rout in fear, unwilling to engage with the warbird.
Houghton was subsequently airlifted by a Jolly Green helicopter, with Aman soon to
follow. Wayne positioned a bit further northwest, was also rescued soon after.
Pardo, having ejected last, landed even further northwest and was knocked unconscious. Upon
regaining consciousness, he found himself amid a harrowing soundscape of gunshots
and shouting. He quickly radioed the Skyraiders, requesting a strafing run on the nearby hillside.
With the A-1Es engaging the enemy troops,
Pardo made a painful but necessary escape uphill. Roughly 45 minutes later,
despite his significant injuries, he was located and evacuated by a rescue helicopter.
Afterward, all four airmen were transferred to a single helicopter following a refueling
stop at a remote outpost in Laos. From there, they were flown to Udon for medical treatment.
In an ironic twist, Pardo faced a stern reprimand from the U.S. Air Force leadership due to losing
his F-4, as the higher-ups were sensitive about combat losses. However, in 1989,
the Air Force reevaluated the situation, and the four airmen received belated recognition.
Aman and Houghton were awarded Silver Stars for their endurance
under extreme duress. Pardo and Wayne also received Silver Stars for their audacious
actions. This extraordinary feat became known as Pardo’s Push and, to this day,
stands as one of the most exceptional instances of airmanship in the history of combat aircraft.
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