Yes.
But there was a day when a Naval aviator would stay with the plane and try EVERYTHING in his power to keep it out of a populated area, even if it meant his own death.
Ever been out to Miramar? The whole area around the base is a populated area.
BS. You’ll find that even in your mythical days of glory in an emergency that has the plane dropping out of the sky most pilots were doing everything they could to try to save their airplane and their own skins. In most cases reports of a pilot intentionally avoiding populated areas are unsubstantiated and probably mythical. The last words out of most of their mouths was probably “Oh Snap”, not “I must look for a way to save the innocent below.”
If the Hornet lost both engines the hydraulic boosted flight controls are done working. Therefore there is nothing to do and nothing the pilot could have done. He was out of airspeed, altitude and ideas.
Should he have ridden it in just because in the old days they did, or should he let his self-preservation instinct override the way things were done back in the day?
What an unfortunate accident, and let the investigation board determine cause and fault. As far as I and everyone else knows there was probalby nothing the aviator could have done. Sacrificing himself in the name of tradition just seems silly if there was nothing he could have done.
Those days ended when heavy jets became so technologically advanced and powerful. The wings continue to get smaller and smaller while the engines get more powerful and the airplane gets heavier.
The planes fly themselves much more today.
I think the pilot most likely did all he could, and would be shocked if he didn’t, but I can’t imagine he didn’t do anything purposefully wrong.
Aside from the man’s family this pilot feels worse about this than anyone else.
He couldn't do anything to change the course or outcome with two dead engines. No controls nothing. However his debriefing as a LIVE pilot might shed some light as to cause and prevent another such failure. The crash was witnessed by a Navy CDR Retired a former aviator. The plane was not controllable. The fact that the pilot waited till about 2500 feet to jettison says he knew it had reached the point of no return. Even if by some faint miracle both engines actually started there would not be enough thrust to change or overcome the crash.
The good news is these type of crashes are becoming less frequent. In the 70's it wasn't uncommon for carriers to loose several planes per deployment. There is also a Navy rumor that Captain's go down with the ship. It's just that a rumor.
I've seen pilots ride it out even to the point of keeping from killing shipmates. One was an F-14 pilot who came in too low and hit the round down aft flight deck. The landing gear immediately broke and he hit hard starboard thrust to send the bird off the angle. He and second seater made it out alive. They popped out as it went over the side. CNO and SECNAV were on the bridge watching flight opps that night.
Each plane is different having different responses to catastrophic engine failures. If it had been a prop? Yea he might have made a difference riding it out or had the hydraulics and other control systems etc been different. A lot of Freepers in here with good knowledge say with both engines gone there was no hope for control recovery of plane or altering it's course at the point where the pilot jettisoned.
Don't blame the pilot for building homes in an area where there is a substantial risk of this occurring. The base was there first IOW. For that the greed of the developer who knew better preyed on the uneducated consumer who thought he was getting a bargain. If ever Zoning Laws actually had a useful purpose they would be well served in preventing residential and a lot of commercial development in such high risk areas.