(Video) Pilot's epic emergency landing on stool
No landing gear for front nose of Harrier jet?
It's okay, we'll just use a stool for the emergency landing on a ship
The US Marine Corps released a video on Thursday (June 27) of a pilot doing just that on June 7, along with an explanation of what happened, reported The Washington Post.
It worked in part because the Harrier can land vertically, unlike most fighter jets.
The pilot, Capt William Mahoney, says in the video that when his front landing gear didn’t work, a colleague in the USS Bataan's tower suggested improvising and putting the plane’s nose down on the stool, which had been designed for that very purpose.
But the plan’s success would depend on him putting the aircraft down in exactly the spot they usually do, even though he couldn’t see the stool as he descended.
The Harrier jet piloted by Capt. William Mahoney coming in for the incredible landing. Screengrab from YouTube
“I looked for it, I remember looking for it. I remember thinking, ‘Oh, boy. This is going to get interesting,’ ” Capt William Mahoney says of the incident which happened in an undisclosed location.
“So I go to idle. I remember my main gear hitting and all of a sudden my nose dropping. And it dropped more than I expected to, but at that point I was along for the ride.”
Almost there as he hovers and starts landing . Screengrab from YouTube.
Final touchdown. The nose bounces but settles snugly onto the stool. Screengrab from YouTube
Source: Washington Post
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