Not many things are as sobering as watching your aircraft slide across the flight deck
of an aircraft carrier, with absolutely no way to bring it to a stop. At that point,
hopefully training and instinct kicks in for the upcoming water crash.
Don’t worry though, the pilot was safely rescued.
Accidents on the flight deck could result from pilots miscalculating
their landing approach which can end quite poorly, but not necessarily fatal.
Sometimes the approach is good, but the arresting wire snaps, which can put the pilot,
as well as the flight deck crew in extreme danger. Again some people are just really lucky!
If landing an aircraft with only one wheel sounds like a challenge, well,
just imagine the same scenario, but with no wheels at all!
Even if the aircraft comes to a stop, the ammunition could dislodge and keep
sliding on the flight deck. Although, nothing seems to surprise an experienced
All these accidents happen despite the rigorous safety standards that
the Navy has put in place for everyone, which further proves why the flight deck
of an aircraft carrier is one of the most dangerous places to work.
The first aircraft carriers looked nothing like what we see today. They were cruisers
and battleships that carried seaplanes, which would be lowered onto the water using a crane.
But soon, these ships were equipped with a small catapult. The seaplanes were launched
in order to observe and correct the firing range of battleships’ big guns.
It was the 1910s, so safety was a bit of a luxury at the time, as demonstrated by the
person hanging on to the tail of the airplane! But the big problem was that after the flight
was over, the ships still had to come to a stop to fetch the seaplanes off the water.
Now that actually looks like an aircraft carrier, America’s first carrier, USS Langley.
As you can imagine, those first years were quite eventful when it came to flight deck operations.
You can probably spot the issue. If the arresting mechanism didn’t function properly,
the aircraft would continue moving forward, which meant it could fall off the ship,
or if other aircraft were parked on the bow, the incoming aircraft could crash into them and
sometimes, both, a crash, followed by a swim. The solution to this problem was the barrier.
The barrier was sort of a net, supported by two strong cables, which sat about 3 feet above
the flight deck. If the incoming aircraft was able to catch an arresting wire upon touchdown
and come to a stop, the barrier was manually lowered to allow the aircraft to taxi over it.
Later on, mechanical systems were used to raise and lower the barrier. But in case the aircraft
failed to catch an arresting wire, the barrier would bring the airplane to a quick stop. The
flight deck crew had to be quite careful though, it’s easy to see how things could go very wrong.
Of course at times, this quick stoppage resulted in acrobatics that the pilot wasn’t quite used to,
requiring a crane to be rolled in to help upright the airplane and move it aside for repairs,
and sometimes they just dumped them into the water. All considered, this was still much
better than the alternative, because the pilot of a sinking aircraft would find themselves in
a very dangerous situation. The solution to this problem … was an additional, and much bigger net!
The final safety net was the barricade, a large 15-foot-high net that could stop any aircraft
as long as they hit it. In modern naval aviation, barricades are only set up if an emergency landing
is expected. The reason that barriers became obsolete, but barricades are still in use today,
is the barricades’ ability to stop jet aircraft, even when coming in at full speed. This is all
thanks to the barricade engine below the deck, which absorbs most of the energy of the airplane.
But even though barricades could stop the aircraft, they needed some clearance,
especially for the faster jet airplanes. Otherwise it could crash into aircraft parked ahead.
The space limitation was resolved in 1952, when the
British brought a new angle to the flight deck! The angled flight deck allowed aircraft to take
off and land from separate areas, allowing simultaneous launch and recovery operations.
But even a clean arresting of the aircraft, can still result in catastrophe.
On December 1st, 1950, during a mission over Korea, a Douglas AD-4 Skyraider was hit by
enemy air defenses and had to land back on the USS Philippine Sea, an Essex-class carrier.
But after a successful landing, the aircraft lost its engine, literally.
The quick deceleration due to the arrested landing had caused the already-damaged engine
to break apart from the aircraft. Note the pilot crawling out of the cockpit. That is Denzel Crist,
who survived the accident, but suffered first and second degree burns to his face.
After the Korean war, he became a commercial pilot for 35 years until his retirement in 1988.
He passed away in 2008. But Denzel wasn’t the only naval aviator to experience such accidents.
During a routine landing on USS Bunker Hill, a successful arrested landing ended in flames.
Notice the belly tank, which would have been carrying fuel. The belly tank had
been dislodged upon the aircraft coming to a full stop, and then burst into flames
while the pilot was trapped inside the cockpit. Miraculously, he left the cockpit on his own feet,
having suffered from some degree of burns. But man, you should have seen the belly tank!
But bombs don’t just get dislodged during rapid deceleration. It can happen during
rapid acceleration as well, as the flight deck crew of USS Boxer is about to find out
As the F4U Corsair is catapulted, a little thing is left behind.
What’s even more interesting is the crew’s reaction.
They run over, and quickly start to move the tank aside. Now, you might think this was done
to clear the way for that next airplane that is waiting to be catapulted, but that’s not exactly
it. The crew is moving the tank aside in order to toss it overside, into the water. And then
everyone is back to work, like it’s business as usual. But why did they toss the tank?
See, that was not a belly tank carrying fuel. It was a bomb, a napalm bomb to be exact.
An empty tank would be attached under the wing of the aircraft and then loaded with napalm,
a sticky and highly flammable liquid. Napalm bombs could create massive explosions,
which is why the crew was quick to react. They didn’t want to take any chances.
Ask any naval aviator, and they’d tell you what the most stressful part of
their job is – landing back on the carrier, because all accidents that we covered aside,
it can be quite difficult to gauge your angle of approach.
Come too low and you won't make it. Come too high, and … let see.
Yeah, you still won't make it.
In the early days, a landing signal officer would stand at the edge of the flight deck and use flags
to communicate if the pilot had to get lower, higher or stay put. But this only gave the pilot
3 to 4 seconds to perfect his approach. Later on, a mirror landing aid was added to the flight deck
which gave the pilot 20 seconds to correct his approach. The Fresnel lens, which used a series of
lights, improved on the mirror aid, by providing accurate guidance that was visible from far away.
But whether it's electromagnetic catapults, advanced ejection seats, or unmanned aerial refueling,
technological advancements in naval aviation have gone from this,
about 100 years ago … to this in the present day.
But the flight deck of aircraft carriers still remains one of the most dangerous places to work
Well, unless you work at a ship scrapping facility …
Although, that’s dangerous too!