being a pilot requires an incredible amount of training and precision which makes sense
considering you're flying around a machine that costs tens of millions of dollars the training
they receive is second to none but there is way more that goes into being a fighter pilot
than eliminating bad guys and showing off at air shows the first and most important thing
that a pilot learns how to do is to stay alive making split-second decisions that could save
not only their own lives but the lives of those around them so when things go south for a pilot
they have to instinctively know when to eject from the aircraft all while figuring out how
to avoid as much collateral damage as possible it is an incredibly hard thing to train for and even
harder to do when the situation calls for it here are five pilots who ejected at the last second
it was a normal day back in 2003 on board the uss george washington the ship was conducting
qualification tests somewhere off the coast of virginia sailors on board later noted that nothing
felt off about the day and that this was a drill that they had performed many times in the past
as the single seat fa-18 hornet came in for a landing the arrester cable used to stop the
aircraft malfunctioned and snapped if you don't already know the arrester cable is vital for
landing on an aircraft carrier the arrestor cable is what allows the plane to stop so
quickly and not fall off the other side unfortunately things didn't go as planned
on this day when the f a-18 came in for the landing the arrester cable snapped with only
seconds to act the pilot ejected from the aircraft take a close look at the video which i must say
it's pretty insane pay attention to how quickly the plane plummets into the ocean had the pilot
reacted only seconds later there's a chance they might not have made it but they weren't
in the clear just yet because of the force of the aircraft pulling on the arrester cable when
it snapped it went flying back in the other direction if you take another look at the
video you'll see that one sailor saw what was happening and managed to jump the cable twice
the apollo 11 mission is one that goes down in world history
neil armstrong became a hero to millions on the day that he set foot on the moon
so many people wanted to be an astronaut after that but becoming an astronaut is one of the
hardest things a person can do it takes years of practice repetitively doing the same activities
over and over and over again until operating a space vehicle is as easy as breathing in
preparation for the historic apollo 11 mission neil armstrong was going through
one of those exact exercises may 6 1968 was the day of his 22nd flight of a test vehicle
which was a simulated lunar lander everything was going as planned until an unexpected mechanical
malfunction caused armstrong to lose control he attempted to regain control for a while but it
soon became evident that he would have to eject as the lunar test vehicle rolled heavily to one side
armstrong ejected nearly parallel to the ground he was fortunate that the thrusters on his ejection
seat took him in a vertical direction the vehicle crashed into a fireball while armstrong escaped
with no injuries armstrong strong-willed and determined shook it off and went on to
complete a number of other test flights before launching into space he would later go on to
say that flying the actual lunar module was very similar to his experiences flying the test vehicle
captain brian udell and his weapons officer captain dennis white were stationed at an
air force base in north carolina ready to run some routine training exercises they had done
these same exercises hundreds of times in the past once their f-15 was over the atlantic ocean they
started running drills at near supersonic speeds tight turns sudden ascents and descents
everything to push their skills to the limit on doing one of these turns
captain eudell heard wind rushing over the canopy he then realized he had lost control of the jet
at the speeds they were traveling they descended 7 000 feet in five seconds they knew they had to
eject but they were going over 800 miles per hour faster than the speed of sound
once ejected his helmet oxygen mask and earplugs were violently ripped from his head every blood
vessel in his face burst and both legs were broken and one arm was severely dislocated all of these
injuries happened due to the force of the wind luckily his ejection seat automatically deployed
a life raft which captain udell was able to use he was found and able to recover from his injuries
his weapons specialist captain white sadly wasn't as lucky his body was recovered and it was
determined that he died instantly upon ejection although violent the ejection itself was a miracle
captain udel made the decision to bail out at ten thousand feet in the time that it took him
to reach down and pull the handle they were at six thousand feet after pulling the handle
and as the ejection seat left they were at three thousand feet the parachute opened
under one thousand feet by the math captain udel had less than half a second to spare
the a6 intruder was a medium-range fighter jet that was used by the united states air force
from the 1960s into the 1990s although they saw a lot of action in the various wars they were prone
to mechanical failures such was the case for a pilot and his navigator who were assigned to
serve aboard the uss carl vinson in this incident the pilot took off from the deck as normal however
immediately after the wheels lifted off the fighter jet was not producing power the crew
were screaming to the pilot to pull up and give it power unknown to them though the engine had
failed after a period of time spent failing to get the fighter in the air the pilot knew they
had to bail as the plane started to roll to the right side the pilot jettisoned the fuel tank
looking around he saw the horizon was at 90 degrees they were out of the envelope
or to the point where ejecting would cause the occupants to be shot downward instead of up but
they had to chance it upon pulling the lever the pilot and navigator were shot out at 90 degrees
the pilot's parachute opened just feet above the water but the navigator didn't have a full
deployment both suffered minor injuries but thankfully survived to this terrifying ordeal
once again we have an accident concerning the a6 intruder it's already stressful enough knowing
that you have to fly a jet that's prone to problems but when you have to do it while
trying to land on an aircraft carrier the stress can be multiplied many times over
the pilot in this story found himself in this exact situation luckily he also remembered his
training as the pilot in this incident approached the aircraft carrier for a landing he experienced
a flame out which is a violent engine failure although only one of the engines failed they were
past the point of no return and there would not be enough power to get airborne again the pilot knew
that they would need to ditch however his training kicked in and he performed his duties flawlessly
the pilot raised the gear and turned the jet pointing it towards the ocean he had the presence
of mind to not jettison the fuel tank as his procedure doing so would have caused the tank
to land on the ship endangering the crew once he was sure that the fighter cleared the side
of the ship the ejection levers were pulled both navigator and pilot survived with seconds to spare
pilots in the service are some of the most highly trained skilled and respected individuals on the
planet they have the precision and skill to pull off incredible maneuvers and tasks
but also are able to act fast when faced with an emergency the pilots in this video
have demonstrated that they cannot react solely on impulse but must logically assess their situation
and make the best decisions to save lives to see another video like this one be sure to
click the link on screen now as always thanks for watching and we'll see you in the next
one