He went out to investigate and encountered an F-111 crew, one walking, the other hobbling through the woods.
They had left Plattsburgh AFB, New York a short time earlier.
Flying across Vermont, they realized there was a problem. They could only draw fuel from one side of the aircraft and were unable to transfer fuel.
I forget which side was getting lighter, but it doesn't matter.
They were soon to have an aircraft unable to fly. They began to try to find a place to "land" it without damage to anything, and near a road. That area of Vermont has a LOT of real boonies where you might not be found for a long while, if at all.
That part of Kirby is near VT route 2, as good a place as any.
As the plane was on the verge of not being able to remain in the air, they departed in the pod (see other story above).
As luck would have it, they came down over a large evergreen tree, probably a pine or hemlock.
If I recall right, it was the pilot who was scooting as far back in his seat as he could as the pod was impaled on the tree, with it "coming up" between his legs as the limbs were sheared off by the descending pod.
They came to a stop, with the pod hung up in the trees a fair amount above the ground.
As they climbed down the tree(s), one of them fell and injured his ankle.
A Chuck Yeager quote, "If you can walk away from a landing, it's a good landing. If you use the airplane the next day, it's an outstanding landing.
I was stationed at Plattsburgh 1975-’76. FB111A electrical maintenance. She was a real challenge to work on.Ah! The days spent laying on my back changing a speed brake overheat loop in the snow.