I was expecting something like this...
Harrier jet lands after landing gear malfunctions
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4JG9Ri_wHc&t=152s
I was expecting something like this...
As for the maneuver, it is clear the catch rig is designed for exactly that and the pilots no doubt practice it. But still not easy and well executed.
I just watched the video interview of the pilot and he did confirm that the “stool” is kept on hand for just this emergency. It’s great somebody planned ahead like that. That was quite a bounce the jet took off the stool — I wonder if there might be any structural damage to the jet from that impact and bounce. It’s interesting that the pilot does not remember that bounce.
It’s not really a ‘stool’.
It looks almost exactly like the ‘jack stands’ we used to support the front of F-4 Phantoms when they were working on the front gear.
Believe me, any kind of regular stool is not going to support the weight of the front of a Harrier.
Landing a jet on a stool bump!
(Another sentence that would only exist on FR) ;)
Good thing the rear landing gear was down or he would have had to land on three stools.
Harriers have to be about the loudest jets I’ve ever heard.
Why are they landing a Harrier on the streets of San Francisco?
“Improvise. Adapt. Overcome.”
Semper Fi, Marine!
This is the kind of Marine this country needs, not the ones that the Birdbrain administration wants to replace them with.
Try THAT with one of your zoomer aircraft other than the STOVL F35.
He didn’t shoot down an alien spacecraft? Well, never mind...
Thanks for posting this great story.
“..Mahoney took a second to breathe and remember how to turn his jet off..”
By then he probably had his own stool..in his flight suit!
The Barstoolers are a semi-secret group of active and retired (air force) fighter pilots, all men, who gather annually in Nevada for a weekend of drinking, golf and carousing. Formed in the 1950s as a way for Korean War veterans to keep in touch, the association has about 1,000 members and chapters at Air Force bases around the world.
https://apnews.com/article/e3d4f05ae8d7425c1d4713b99c814b77
This Marine needs to be offered membership!
Nice job, but I believe that any military-trained helo/VTOL pilot could do it.
I worked Big Deck Aviation in the NAVY and this is a very complex operation behinds scenes. 1)You usually have the most Senior Pilot on Comms with the pilot. 2)Air Bos’N (The Flight Deck Chief Fire Fighter) and the Crash and Salvage Crew set up the Stool with dozens of tie down chains on the Center Line as on it’s the point of reference for all pilots. 3) The pilot more than likely made a half a dozen approaches to burn off fuel. 4) The Senior Pilot had him centered up with spotters and slowly drop his power until he was on the stool. The real credit belongs to the pilot as he fell back on his training and was Cool Hand Luke thru the whole process I have seen the complete video. I was once landing a CH-53 on the GW in the Gulf she started to shake (more than usual)which was a clear sign of building up Ground Resonance give the pilot the emergency lift signal and hard to port to keep the blades away from my plane handlers who were coming in from the starboard side for chalks and tiedowns. She flow back to Bahrain for inspection. Boss commended me for quick thinking I told him I just fell back on my training!
You don’t “turn off” a jet when you’re done with it, you shut it down. They make it sound as easy as turning a light switch off. There’s a lengthy shutdown checklist I can assure you.
Option (b) is to send your crew underneath to unstick the nose landing gear while the front of the helicopter is hovering, with the main landing gear on the deck. CH-53E stuck nose gear