I just watched the video interview of the pilot. He says that they keep that the stool was made for just such an incident. I wonder how often it gets used.
Great skill, indeed.
Watch the video — it’s very interesting and informative. The jet took a good bounce when it touched down on the stool. The pilot doesn’t remember the bounce!
As a Aviation Boatswain’s Mate I can tell you we use to train every 2 days for emergencies when deployed. I went down to Cherry Point on TAD Orders for 2 weeks to prep a Marine Airwing for deployment. Approaching the stool is a requirement, but not landing in training.