The same story happened to my father in the 1960s. When approaching at night, the engine of the MiG-17 aircraft failed. He managed to land the plane in the Caspian Sea. The plane sank at a depth of 6 meters. He shot a pistol through the cockpi canopy. After the water filled the cockpit, the pressure equalized and he was able to eject the cockpit canopy. An inflated life jacket pushed him to the surface. He injured his spine on landing.
The rescue guy must be haunted for his life now. He was just 2 feet away from him and he couldnt get him out of the cockpit. He must have seen the look on the pilot's face as he was drowning to his death.
@SlavKing1945 I don’t think that’s the right sort of thing to be saying about describing the horrors of watching a man drown in his own cockpit, knowing that he’ll sink hundreds of meters down to his grave. It is underrated, but have some respect for the dead
@@-Flea How is he/she disrespecting the dead? It's quite a valid and non-offensive observation. The horror of the situation is already displayed quite graphically in the video. The comment is only about what the rescue guy might have felt at that moment and afterwards. I might be way wrong, but I believe the sentiment is called 'empathy'? You know, imagining yourself in the place of others and understanding their feelings and -in this case- suffering?
@@TropicalAsian-1000 Real men don’t see each other die, people see people die - nothing about death makes you a real man, seeing people die can leave men a shell of their former self, traumatised after witnessing some of their closest friends die.
@@raulmckool He’s referring to the guy saying “underrated comment” and he has a point - why would you write that about a comment describing horror and death?
My God I can't even imagine dying like that, what a horrible, and I mean horrible way to go, to have rescue 2 feet from you and not being able to get out because of a stupid canopy. This is unbelievably sad. RIP Sir.
Yes. That's quite horrible. But equally (or more?) horrible is the deaths hundreds of thousands of Innocents in the middle East. PS: no disrespect meant for that officer. He is only obeying the orders.
If you ever wonder what a white line you can see in the canopy of a modern fighter is, its called the miniature detonation cord, and it can break the canopy in cases such as this and let the pilot eject
@@Fiddleshtick and general safety as a whole, alot of the core diving rules are written in blood, especially the uni directional bezels on diver watches for timing dives..
Lots of brilliant brains were involved to design such a sophisticated machine but it was hard to believe they could have missed such a simple scenario to prevent the pilot from drowning. Despite it has been so many years passed, I still feel very sad to see someone die this way.
There’s more videos of this happening. More recent ones. The one showed a pilot looking right at the camera as his jet sunk. His mates watched him go under. It’s so awful.
he died for nothing to the criminal negligence and corrupt regime's dishonest practices of lobbyist war 'contracts', and 'no one to blame' for the cronies already divided the money reserved for the 'acceptable losses' and 'collateral damage'
I was only 5 years old when I was on the Victorious's re-commissioning ceremony in Pompey dockyard with my dad. It seemed enormous to me. Poor sailor who died, my heart goes out to his family all these years later.
@@curbeverything1712 Hi , yes I believe it was 1958. I was at the re-commisioning ceremony. I was with my father and only 5 years old . I remember the huge banquet table with a whole hog in the centre with an apple in its mouth. The talk was of the 20 million pounds spent on the refit which was an amazing amount. I visited many times in Pompey Dockyard whilst growing up and welcomed her home after her round the world trip. By the time I was old enough to join up she'd gone to the breaker's yard. The 3 commissioned carriers at the time were : Victorious, Ark Royal ans Hermes.
It does happen, sadly. Seems to me there should be some kind of preventatives for that. Couldn't he eject when he knew he hadn't caught the hook? Seems there was about 2 seconds from the hook fail before he hit the water that he could have immediately popped the canopy and ejected. In his case, it seems he had trouble with his harness straps. Guess we'll never know. I'm sure it does happen though and I think the deckhands are ready to react quickly in most cases. (RIP.) This was in 1958, I've seen a more recent video of the same kind of incident, where the aircraft didn't sink immediately. Guess it also depends on their cargo.
@@VidarrKerr It seems unwarranted that the pilot didn't have time to root around in his toolbox and use his trusty Spear and Jackson claw hammer...or had he forgotten to pack it? 👉🇬🇧👉🦐👉🗿👈
@@alexmarshall4331 His toolbox was probably in the trunk. But, he should have carried his service pistol. He could have shot out the glass. It really sucks.
This is so tragic . . . A picture perfect approach and landing, only to die trapped in his cockpit when the arresting gear fails . . . Rest In peace Commander Russell.
@@Thefishyveteran sir..you are absolutely right... please follow the right path before its too late... reverting to islam for peace and for success hereafter... Hazrath isa as ( jesus Christ according to Christianity ) is a messenger of Allah swt the Almighty..
@@rainwaterno1239 Ah yes, because you pushing your religion down people’s throats is going to change anyone’s religion. So glad I left organized religion because of people like you
@@rainwaterno1239 This was in the 1950’s, a person died, and you are using his death to push your religion? I am glad to know there are people who practice the same religion as you, but are much better human beings than you.
Bit of additional info on the story - "Divers recovered the nose section of XD240 and Commander Russell's body four weeks later and underwater escape training was improved as a result of the investigation. Trials of ejections through the canopy were carried out in 1959, resulting in the fitting of canopy breakers to the head box of the seat. Underwater ejection trials did not take place until 1962. Shortly after this accident, the ejection seats of all Scimitars were issued with modified leg restraint garters that had removable D rings to cope with when the cords would not disconnect from the seat pan. According to contemporary reports, it was said that when XD240 sank, the pilot was free apart from his leg restraints. He could not undo them in time, and the aircraft dragged him under. In those days the emergency egress drills on the surface recommended that you undid everything before getting rid of the canopy on the basis that it provided protection from fire on the ground and water coming in at sea."
"An enquirery was held to find out why the arrestor gear failed" How about you find out why the cockpit on the Scimitar would not open in water! Jesus.
@@mcepicton5602 the scimtar is a naval aircraft. There are countless situations like engine failiour, pilot error, battle damage, mechanical error/malfunction, bad weather or (like in this case) problems while landing, where the aircraft will be forced to ditch into the ocean and in a war this can happen on a regular basis. If the pilot cant get out then this is a fatal flaw in the aircrafts design which would cost hundrets of pilots their lives. Think about how many pilots had to ditch their plane during world war 2. Imagine if their planes had the same design flaw.
I was a crewman on EA-3B Douglas Skywarriors (Whales) and we ALWAYS launched and recovered with both upper hatches (Cockpit and crew compartment) locked open. Idea being to prevent a problem such as this!
The snag was with the leg restraints of the bang seat. The egress drill was, not surprisingly, to keep the canopy closed until all restraints were released. Of course you guys did not have bang seats - kudos to you - but the irony is that in this case it cost the pilot his life..
@bee kay still is a wild town, used to go down there from Ft Stewart every chance I had a few years ago. You navy boys would always out drink most soldiers
I served in HMS Eagle in the Mediterranean in 1955-56. There was an exact same tragic accident with a Seahawk jet which ditched overboard. We had to watch as the pilot was unable to open the canopy......
Seriously you don't understand that this was the tone of all news reporting 50 or more years ago? Reporters were not supposed to show emotion as they are today, but just to give a factual account of events. In fact, the incident would not even be showed today, it would be considered too upsetting for viewers to see. May I suggest you watch a few more old documentaries to educate yourself a little.
@@jeremyfielding2333 Just because Im baffled how ice cold that is doesn't mean I don't understand it was normal back then.. I just pointed how different it is
@@Superior1995Rex you're in the RUclips comment section logic doesn't exist, just people with a strong urge to defend pre existing beliefs. Lol the fact that someone said it was normal to see people die back then is really so dumb cus its normal to see people die now from covid , I don't see people using less tone lol
Amazing footage. And both the helicopter pilot and rescuer risk their lives to save him, you can see how low the heli was flying in those rough conditions, amazing flying by the heli pilot!
Years and years have passed since then, but even though I still feel completely terrified watching this. Poor man, what a slow and HORRIBLE way to die. Rest in peace.
Тяжело наблюдать беспомощность спасателей - при отсутствии возможностей помочь лётчику выбраться из кабины - прямо на их глазах сгинувшего в пучине океана.
can't imagine being that rescuer, seeing your fellow soldier trapped in a sinking jet, banging the glass yelling for help, while you just hanging from the chopter and can only see the final glimpse of your friend's eyes
That is true, the canopy cord detonator, the strap guillotine, arrestor cables that allow high throttle landings, ejector seat all came out of somebodies death.
@@allgood6760 Dude doesn't get any girls or attention so he's being a desperate troll crying out for any attention to make him feel better about himself. Truly sad.
Wow. What a bad way to go. To slowly see yourself sink below the waves and see water gushing into your pilot seating area. Knowing that none is going to be able to rescue you. Jeez i can't imagine.
I described the same incident with my father. He was a fighter pilot in the USSR and suffered an accident over the Caspian Sea (read carefully my first post).
They did but he would have died doing it in the water or on the deck. Due to 1 There being no Zero Zero Ejection seats then and 2 No canopy busters on the seats so he would have broken his neck smacking the canopy
I don't think the ejection seat worked anyway when the aircraft went into the water, the engines and electrical systems instantly shutdown when it hit the water. When he went in the water he probably thought he will just be rescued without having to eject but by the time he realized that the canopy won't open and he will have to eject everything was most likely wet and the ejection system didn't work anymore or like the poster above said the aircraft simply didn't have zero ejection seats.
Maybe the helicopter-rescue crewman should have cut his harness and dropped into the sea to try and smash the canopy with whatever bit of heavy kit he was carrying...maybe. The aircraft may have had an emergency-use fire-axe behind a panel within easy reach of the cockpit, especially installed for quick access by on-the-scene rescuers.
@@nodnerbhu It was incidents like this why zero-zero ejection seats were invented. Back then, a lot of people probably couldn't fathom why you would need to eject from an aircraft sitting on the runway, they soon learned a lot could go wrong even on aircraft not flying or moving.
As technologically advanced as we like to believe man is, there are always lessons to be learned. Poor souls are often our lessons learned. I pray that this fellow's family and friends realize that the changes made due to his accident probably saved others.
@@dan27032 US Forrestal class CVs of the late 50s. Matter of fact, USS Ranger (commissioned 1957) was only stricken from the naval registry in 2004. No doubt that HMS Victorious was up to date with her new radar and tracking systems and her new deck, but she was simply older, and not the MOST up to date.
This dying so close to help makes me remember the submarine Thetis which partially sank in Liverpool bay, only a handful got out and the rest died hearing the desperate attempts to get to them, the stern actually showing above the surface.
It is my understanding that this is why Pilots go full throttle once they hit the arresting cable. If cable snaps they have a chance at getting airborne again befre hitting the water. And back in that day an ejection seat would have shot him through the canopy. The headrest framing would make first contact, but I'm told the pilot still got a heck of a concussion from it. Grew Up on Air Force Bases! Sad to watch him sink like that.
Full throttle is for a bolter (a missed wire or hook skip). If you're slowed too much before the cable snaps, full burner won't be enough to keep flying. Sadly.
On this type he must open canopy before ejection. Canopy breaker was installed after this accident. Also before ejection he must free him self from seat harness, legs belts was jammed(as was shown by retrieved plane with body).
He did manage to eventually open the supermarine bullet proof canopy. The tethered ejector leg restraint straps locked him in after the electrical systems shut down once in the frigid waters.
This sujet was included in a Soviet news chronicle and I saw it at cinema as a school boy in 1958. Could not forget and satisfied to find it again. The father of my classmate died as a test pilot in a helicopter crash in 1954. He managed to jump out but a falling part of the propeller put out his parachute.
Well that wouldn't exactly work, rifle rounds such as 7.62 mm and 8 mm would only do as much as a scratch on the thick (probably around 30mm) bulletproof windshield. That's why aircraft were equipped with armaments such as 20mm Hispanos and 30mm cannons so they could tear off wings on planes, shatter through the cockpit windshields, and set fires in the fuel tanks and engine.
@@bruhism173 you're also putting yourself in danger if your trying to shoot the glass, like I said the glass is bulletproof and there's a high chance of the bullet bouncing off the screen which could hit you, as sad as it is to see that you can't do anything to help your comrade, putting yourself at risk as well isn't a good idea, instead what could be done is trying to find solutions to fix these design flaws so that situations like these never happen again :/
@Bad War Crimes did you seriously call the guy that died in that incompetent.....? He couldn’t open the canopy because it is jammed and is designed to withstand machine gun fire. I would like to see you bash through a cockpit made to withstand machine gun fire......
It's worse than that. When he was found, it was discovered that he had managed to get the canopy open, but he couldnt get out because he was tethered to the Seat. Horrible.
Could of actually touched the sea floor before he drowned, I mean depending on the depth. So he may have had a glimpse of his resting spot, that’s wicked, terribly sad.
Throttling up is only effective when the hook skips or misses, not when the actual arrester cable fails itself which by that point there's nowhere near sufficient speed to take off again.
Imagine explaining this to his family: "Your husband/son didn't die in action in a war, he didn't crash land his aircraft, nothing malfunctioned while he was flying the plane. He made a perfect landing on an aircraft carrier and everything looked fine when the arrestor gear suddenly failed and he slowly rolled off the landing deck. And while the fall to the water didn't kill him the canopy was jammed meaning he couldn't get out of his sinking aircraft. In fact not even our scrambled helicopter couldn't save him in time. A few more seconds may have sufficed... He drowned inside his aircraft." Losing somebody is always very difficult. But even more so when it's in such a stupid way.
I voluntarily quit navy pilot training at age 23 because I despised the mathematics involved, but seeing this video footage makes me realize that navy flying wasn't my cup of tea.
Yes they did. It was retreived from about 60-70 meters depth. (180-200 feet) The pilot still in the cockpit. As I remember he wasnt able to release the straps by his legs in time, so he couldnt get out. Nightmarish scenario!
I think this is before the time of zero-zero ejection seats. These older seats weren't powerful enough to get a pilot high enough when used at standstill on the ground and could only be used in the air.
That's awful....I saw a similar accident on USS Independence. An EA-6B landed and the wire broke just like it did here. The pilots (3 of them) ejected but one landed on the wreckage in the ocean. He forgot to release his parachute and when the plane sank he was giving us the thumbs up and a few moments later, he went under with the plane.
Couldn’t eject from older planes like that unless you were moving. Nowadays when a plane touches down, the pilot goes to full power so if the cable breaks they’ll fly away.
@Uncle Gilbert I think my comment was a rather flippant. For that I apologize to the men on that ship and to those who read my first comment. What I should have said, You would think they would have fore-seen the possibility of that kind of problem and developed a solution. That would have been the job of the Aircraft manufacturer and their R and D team. Like some type of explosives devise to shatter the canopy. It was damned hard to watch.
@@WintersWar I think my comment was a rather flippant. For that I apologize to the men on that ship and to those who read my first comment. What I should have said, You would think they would have fore-seen the possibility of that kind of problem and developed a solution. That would have been the job of the Aircraft manufacturer and their R and D team. Like some type of explosives devise to shatter the canopy. It was damned hard to watch.
@@bcask61 I think my comment was a rather flippant. For that I apologize to the men on that ship and to those who read my first comment. What I should have said, You would think they would have fore-seen the possibility of that kind of problem and developed a solution. That would have been the job of the Aircraft manufacturer and their R and D team. Like some type of explosives devise to shatter the canopy. It was damned hard to watch.
The moment the arrester gear failed the aircraft had practically come to a standstill and then slowly coasted further and over the edge. Why didn't the pilot apply full brakes?
Isn't it like told to eject out if your arrestor hook fails, like it doesn't even matter if the plane is not heading into the water, it's just told to eject. Regardless this is truly disturbing
I find the contrast between this piece and the way news items are presented today interesting. If this happened today the newsreader would lead with "and a warning, some viewers may find the next story distressing". I think people even as recently as 60 years ago had a different attitude to seeing someone die in this way. It was only 13 years after WW2 so many people had personal knowledge of killing and seeing people die in sometimes brutal ways. They would be upset but I think people had an ability to see things like this and move on.
Can you imagine the anxiety he must've felt. Horrible way to die.
Yeah...
I think that, every time I see that clip. Poor man.
The same story happened to my father in the 1960s. When approaching at night, the engine of the MiG-17 aircraft failed. He managed to land the plane in the Caspian Sea. The plane sank at a depth of 6 meters. He shot a pistol through the cockpi canopy. After the water filled the cockpit, the pressure equalized and he was able to eject the cockpit canopy. An inflated life jacket pushed him to the surface. He injured his spine on landing.
The ship was in 6 metres of water?
Wow - good thinking on his part! Very glad he made it.
@Morty P My same feeling.
@@vaughanpower4538 uuh.. I think he meant the landing on water part. The MiG-17 never served on carriers (as the Soviets had none at that point).
@@Atesz222 I own a car.
The rescue guy must be haunted for his life now. He was just 2 feet away from him and he couldnt get him out of the cockpit. He must have seen the look on the pilot's face as he was drowning to his death.
@SlavKing1945 I don’t think that’s the right sort of thing to be saying about describing the horrors of watching a man drown in his own cockpit, knowing that he’ll sink hundreds of meters down to his grave.
It is underrated, but have some respect for the dead
@@-Flea How is he/she disrespecting the dead? It's quite a valid and non-offensive observation. The horror of the situation is already displayed quite graphically in the video. The comment is only about what the rescue guy might have felt at that moment and afterwards.
I might be way wrong, but I believe the sentiment is called 'empathy'? You know, imagining yourself in the place of others and understanding their feelings and -in this case- suffering?
He ain’t no girl real men see each other die
@@TropicalAsian-1000 Real men don’t see each other die, people see people die - nothing about death makes you a real man, seeing people die can leave men a shell of their former self, traumatised after witnessing some of their closest friends die.
@@raulmckool He’s referring to the guy saying “underrated comment” and he has a point - why would you write that about a comment describing horror and death?
My God I can't even imagine dying like that, what a horrible, and I mean horrible way to go, to have rescue 2 feet from you and not being able to get out because of a stupid canopy. This is unbelievably sad. RIP Sir.
Aviation Nut agree with you
This is the result of idiots.
Yes. That's quite horrible. But equally (or more?) horrible is the deaths hundreds of thousands of Innocents in the middle East.
PS: no disrespect meant for that officer. He is only obeying the orders.
@@msh9111 Real talk ✌🏽
It was a plane designed to carry nuclear weapons. Before this man could release bombs on someone, Neptune swallowed him. Fair deal.
Absolutely tragic.
Lol
h
@@lebronyeimsv3974 You're a POS.
@@SWog617 what? 0.p
@@lebronyeimsv3974 abused as a child. Takes anger out on RUclips by laughing at dead people
Wow, I didn't expect a pilot to actually die in such a way when clicking on this video... Though maybe it was some sort of hyperbole. Truly sad.
If you ever wonder what a white line you can see in the canopy of a modern fighter is, its called the miniature detonation cord, and it can break the canopy in cases such as this and let the pilot eject
An invention created from blood
@@K1ngMidas Like pretty much anything forged for warfare.
@@Fiddleshtick and general safety as a whole, alot of the core diving rules are written in blood, especially the uni directional bezels on diver watches for timing dives..
@@jimmafoo9013 Not to talk about airplane safety. It's only because of previous crashes it is so safe to fly
He was stuck in his harness.
Lots of brilliant brains were involved to design such a sophisticated machine but it was hard to believe they could have missed such a simple scenario to prevent the pilot from drowning. Despite it has been so many years passed, I still feel very sad to see someone die this way.
There’s more videos of this happening. More recent ones. The one showed a pilot looking right at the camera as his jet sunk. His mates watched him go under. It’s so awful.
Lol
Simple? Aight design leg straps for me
No ejection seat!
he died for nothing to the criminal negligence and corrupt regime's dishonest practices of lobbyist war 'contracts', and 'no one to blame' for the cronies already divided the money reserved for the 'acceptable losses' and 'collateral damage'
It’s a Scimitar. Over half of them were lost to accidents. Still a Tragedy.
I believe 39 of the 76 built were lost to accidents... and cost the lives of 9 pilots.
I was only 5 years old when I was on the Victorious's re-commissioning ceremony in Pompey dockyard with my dad. It seemed enormous to me. Poor sailor who died, my heart goes out to his family all these years later.
*pilot
@@MaxC__ yes sorry , pilot officer. Unfortunately death never recognises rank. Feel sorry for him and all concerned. Horrible way to go.
@@mickypful sir, may i know what year was it ? 1958 ?
@@curbeverything1712 Hi , yes I believe it was 1958. I was at the re-commisioning ceremony. I was with my father and only 5 years old . I remember the huge banquet table with a whole hog in the centre with an apple in its mouth. The talk was of the 20 million pounds spent on the refit which was an amazing amount. I visited many times in Pompey Dockyard whilst growing up and welcomed her home after her round the world trip. By the time I was old enough to join up she'd gone to the breaker's yard. The 3 commissioned carriers at the time were : Victorious, Ark Royal ans Hermes.
@@mickypful Thank you for the reply.
It really makes me sad thinking what the pilot must have felt from inside the canopy while he was going down.
My dad and my roomate both served on aircraft carriers about 30yrs apart. They both talked about this watching this exact thing happen while on board.
It does happen, sadly. Seems to me there should be some kind of preventatives for that. Couldn't he eject when he knew he hadn't caught the hook? Seems there was about 2 seconds from the hook fail before he hit the water that he could have immediately popped the canopy and ejected. In his case, it seems he had trouble with his harness straps. Guess we'll never know. I'm sure it does happen though and I think the deckhands are ready to react quickly in most cases. (RIP.) This was in 1958, I've seen a more recent video of the same kind of incident, where the aircraft didn't sink immediately. Guess it also depends on their cargo.
All the pilot needed was a hammer.
@@VidarrKerr It seems unwarranted that the pilot didn't have time to root around in his toolbox and use his trusty Spear and Jackson claw hammer...or had he forgotten to pack it? 👉🇬🇧👉🦐👉🗿👈
@@alexmarshall4331 His toolbox was probably in the trunk. But, he should have carried his service pistol. He could have shot out the glass. It really sucks.
@@VidarrKerr Oh I gotcha...!! With the spare wheel!!
This is so tragic . . . A picture perfect approach and landing, only to die trapped in his cockpit when the arresting gear fails . . . Rest In peace Commander Russell.
He even caught the second wire
Lmao😂😂
@@5446isnotmynumber funny?
He ain't resting..
@@seltaeb9691
Funny doesn't mean joy.
Imagine that guy is still in the cockpit of that plane at the bottom of the ocean.
Bodies dissolve over months in salt water. There’ll be nothing left, not even a skeleton by now.
@@wattlebough agree 👍
@@wattlebough did not know that
@@wattlebough chances are the canopy was water tight, so no water got in. He was likely at the bottom for hours before suffocating
His body was recovered 4 days later I believe.
What an awful way to die. Can you imagine sinking to the bottom of the sea in complete darkness knowing you can't be rescued..!!
Absolutely unimaginable horror.
I believe what most likely happened to him is as he started sinking his cockpit filled with water and most likely drowned before he hit the bottom
Ha ha. It wouldn't have gone all the way to the bottom without filling up with water. Glad to help.
what a waste of a good plane
@@jennycraig99,do you mean plane more important than human life ?
This is terrible. I hope this substantially paved the way for more effective rescues.
As far as im aware they made glasses ejectable
The leg straps on the scimitar were redesigned. Ejection seats were upgraded too.
That was probably the only cable not changed out during refit. Very sad to imagine how the pilot perished.
Arrester wires should be changed after 15 uses if memory serves me right
@@Thefishyveteran sir..you are absolutely right... please follow the right path before its too late... reverting to islam for peace and for success hereafter... Hazrath isa as ( jesus Christ according to Christianity ) is a messenger of Allah swt the Almighty..
@@rainwaterno1239 Ah yes, because you pushing your religion down people’s throats is going to change anyone’s religion. So glad I left organized religion because of people like you
@@rainwaterno1239 This was in the 1950’s, a person died, and you are using his death to push your religion? I am glad to know there are people who practice the same religion as you, but are much better human beings than you.
Bit of additional info on the story -
"Divers recovered the nose section of XD240 and Commander Russell's body four weeks later and underwater escape training was improved as a result of the investigation. Trials of ejections through the canopy were carried out in 1959, resulting in the fitting of canopy breakers to the head box of the seat. Underwater ejection trials did not take place until 1962.
Shortly after this accident, the ejection seats of all Scimitars were issued with modified leg restraint garters that had removable D rings to cope with when the cords would not disconnect from the seat pan. According to contemporary reports, it was said that when XD240 sank, the pilot was free apart from his leg restraints. He could not undo them in time, and the aircraft dragged him under.
In those days the emergency egress drills on the surface recommended that you undid everything before getting rid of the canopy on the basis that it provided protection from fire on the ground and water coming in at sea."
so his dead saved countless lives of pilots.
Lmao😂😂😂😂😂
@@5446isnotmynumber sick kiddo
"An enquirery was held to find out why the arrestor gear failed"
How about you find out why the cockpit on the Scimitar would not open in water! Jesus.
Water pressure
@@skunknoodles6426 think about it, there was maybe half a foot of water in the first 30 seconds.
Canopy*
They probably held it about the arresting gear because this wouldn’t be a problem in the first place if it had actually stopped the plane
@@mcepicton5602 the scimtar is a naval aircraft. There are countless situations like engine failiour, pilot error, battle damage, mechanical error/malfunction, bad weather or (like in this case) problems while landing, where the aircraft will be forced to ditch into the ocean and in a war this can happen on a regular basis. If the pilot cant get out then this is a fatal flaw in the aircrafts design which would cost hundrets of pilots their lives. Think about how many pilots had to ditch their plane during world war 2. Imagine if their planes had the same design flaw.
It did not need zero-zero ejection seat. The ship should have had a net under the perimeter of the deck. I would have ejected though.
Because your are so great?
No you wouldn't have because that wasn't an option.
I was a crewman on EA-3B Douglas Skywarriors (Whales) and we ALWAYS launched and recovered with both upper hatches (Cockpit and crew compartment) locked open. Idea being to prevent a problem such as this!
The snag was with the leg restraints of the bang seat. The egress drill was, not surprisingly, to keep the canopy closed until all restraints were released. Of course you guys did not have bang seats - kudos to you - but the irony is that in this case it cost the pilot his life..
William Carter A-3D ...had not ejection seats so it was called „All 3 Dead” am I right? Greetings from Poland.
What years? What squadrons? I’m A3crewman 1981-1988.
@bee kay Good old NAS JAX. I'm sitting here just off the flight line looking at the P8's getting ready to take off.
@bee kay still is a wild town, used to go down there from Ft Stewart every chance I had a few years ago. You navy boys would always out drink most soldiers
I served in HMS Eagle in the Mediterranean in 1955-56. There was an exact same tragic accident with a Seahawk jet which ditched overboard. We had to watch as the pilot was unable to open the canopy......
That must've been a terrible thing to witness. I couldn't begin to imagine what went through those pilots minds.
There’s a video of one pilot looking right into the camera as he sunk. It rattled me. Terrible.
Sorry for you and also thanks for service
Man, I can't imagine how his loved ones must have felt seeing this footage, it's heartbreaking to watch.
😂Lmao
@@5446isnotmynumber what's funny...?
@@rockstarJDP lol
@@5446isnotmynumber your trolling game is weak. Try harder.
@@rockstarJDP It's hella weak lmao. Dude just says "lol" or "lmao" with a laughing emoji. Pathetic.
A tragic reminder of just how tenuous our hold to life is.
😆 lol
The fact it was this hard to open the cockpit, let alone the failing landing mechanisms, is terrible.
this report is ice cold. The speaker sound like he's reporting an animal planet documentary
Seriously you don't understand that this was the tone of all news reporting 50 or more years ago? Reporters were not supposed to show emotion as they are today, but just to give a factual account of events. In fact, the incident would not even be showed today, it would be considered too upsetting for viewers to see. May I suggest you watch a few more old documentaries to educate yourself a little.
@@jeremyfielding2333 100%
@@jeremyfielding2333 Just because Im baffled how ice cold that is doesn't mean I don't understand it was normal back then.. I just pointed how different it is
Well most men at that time lived through war so seeing someone die was common
@@Superior1995Rex you're in the RUclips comment section logic doesn't exist, just people with a strong urge to defend pre existing beliefs. Lol the fact that someone said it was normal to see people die back then is really so dumb cus its normal to see people die now from covid , I don't see people using less tone lol
Amazing footage. And both the helicopter pilot and rescuer risk their lives to save him, you can see how low the heli was flying in those rough conditions, amazing flying by the heli pilot!
I thought they were about to go down, too. Crazy flying. He did everything he possibly could. What a horrible thing to experience. I can’t imagine.
Lol
Years and years have passed since then, but even though I still feel completely terrified watching this. Poor man, what a slow and HORRIBLE way to die. Rest in peace.
That means you’re a normal human and not a sociopath. There’s other similar incidents on camera and they really get to me.
😂😂😂😂
@@5446isnotmynumber Username checks out
So sad. :-(
Тяжело наблюдать беспомощность спасателей - при отсутствии возможностей помочь лётчику выбраться из кабины - прямо на их глазах сгинувшего в пучине океана.
Его же подняли на лесенке.
@@Tolianchig это спасатель был
😂😂
can't imagine being that rescuer, seeing your fellow soldier trapped in a sinking jet, banging the glass yelling for help, while you just hanging from the chopter and can only see the final glimpse of your friend's eyes
Lmao!
doubt he was banging the glass...he was a cool collected pilot trying to undo his leg restraints plus he had some oxygen for air
"The most up to date aircraft carrier in the world"
I remember that day with saddness, I served on the hermes
You was there ?
Thanks for serving. Very brave.
Lol😂
Dreadful, I'm not sure who I feel worse for, the pilot who knows he's going to die, or the people trying to rescue him. May they both find peace.
Every knowlwdge and development upgrade in aviation is paid in someone's life.
Amen!😟🛩
I believe that goes for everything. Someone has to make a mistake for lessons to be learned
Very unlucky, for the worlds 3rd best Navy.
That is true, the canopy cord detonator, the strap guillotine, arrestor cables that allow high throttle landings, ejector seat all came out of somebodies death.
Soooo.....the carrier just underwent extensive re-fit and modernization. Guess they skipped the arrestor cables!
Lol
I’ve seen this a few times now in different videos but it’s still sickening every time I see it.
More like based.
Yep, nope, seen all I need to. Will be placing myself as far from the ocean as possible
Very sad... imagine the panic😢
Lmao!
@@5446isnotmynumber What is so funny about this tragic incident? ! 🤔
@@allgood6760 Dude doesn't get any girls or attention so he's being a desperate troll crying out for any attention to make him feel better about himself. Truly sad.
Wow. What a bad way to go. To slowly see yourself sink below the waves and see water gushing into your pilot seating area. Knowing that none is going to be able to rescue you. Jeez i can't imagine.
More like based, It is what skyking would of wanted!
That's sad .. can you imagine how helpless everyone on the boat felt?
Thamks to him, every next pilot is safe
indeed
Not exactly. This has happened way more recently, and the video was much more clear. It shook me up.
Plus, there were others. Not just the one I mentioned.
...
I described the same incident with my father. He was a fighter pilot in the USSR and suffered an accident over the Caspian Sea (read carefully my first post).
Lolol
Did they not have ejection seats?
They did but he would have died doing it in the water or on the deck. Due to 1 There being no Zero Zero Ejection seats then and 2 No canopy busters on the seats so he would have broken his neck smacking the canopy
I don't think the ejection seat worked anyway when the aircraft went into the water, the engines and electrical systems instantly shutdown when it hit the water. When he went in the water he probably thought he will just be rescued without having to eject but by the time he realized that the canopy won't open and he will have to eject everything was most likely wet and the ejection system didn't work anymore or like the poster above said the aircraft simply didn't have zero ejection seats.
Maybe the helicopter-rescue crewman should have cut his harness and dropped into the sea to try and smash the canopy with whatever bit of heavy kit he was carrying...maybe. The aircraft may have had an emergency-use fire-axe behind a panel within easy reach of the cockpit, especially installed for quick access by on-the-scene rescuers.
@@AviationNut There had been an underwater ejection from a Westland Wyvern not to long before that.
@@nodnerbhu It was incidents like this why zero-zero ejection seats were invented. Back then, a lot of people probably couldn't fathom why you would need to eject from an aircraft sitting on the runway, they soon learned a lot could go wrong even on aircraft not flying or moving.
As technologically advanced as we like to believe man is, there are always lessons to be learned. Poor souls are often our lessons learned.
I pray that this fellow's family and friends realize that the changes made due to his accident probably saved others.
😂😂
“Making her the most up to date aircraft carrier in the word” lol ok
Why would you doubt that?
@@dan27032 US Forrestal class CVs of the late 50s. Matter of fact, USS Ranger (commissioned 1957) was only stricken from the naval registry in 2004. No doubt that HMS Victorious was up to date with her new radar and tracking systems and her new deck, but she was simply older, and not the MOST up to date.
I feel like this really isn’t a subject of focus for this video...
This dying so close to help makes me remember the submarine Thetis which partially sank in Liverpool bay, only a handful got out and the rest died hearing the desperate attempts to get to them, the stern actually showing above the surface.
The carrier apparently needed to have the arrestor geer upgraded.
the fact they never found him is even more sad
The arrester gear, pilot ejection seat, canopy and rescue failed.
That sucks being so helpless..
It is my understanding that this is why Pilots go full throttle once they hit the arresting cable. If cable snaps they have a chance at getting airborne again befre hitting the water. And back in that day an ejection seat would have shot him through the canopy. The headrest framing would make first contact, but I'm told the pilot still got a heck of a concussion from it. Grew Up on Air Force Bases! Sad to watch him sink like that.
Full throttle is for a bolter (a missed wire or hook skip). If you're slowed too much before the cable snaps, full burner won't be enough to keep flying. Sadly.
On this type he must open canopy before ejection.
Canopy breaker was installed after this accident.
Also before ejection he must free him self from seat harness, legs belts was jammed(as was shown by retrieved plane with body).
He did manage to eventually open the supermarine bullet proof canopy. The tethered ejector leg restraint straps locked him in after the electrical systems shut down once in the frigid waters.
Sad that was completely survivable if he had punched out, or at least blew the canopy before it (likely) shorted from the water.
This sujet was included in a Soviet news chronicle and I saw it at cinema as a school boy in 1958. Could not forget and satisfied to find it again. The father of my classmate died as a test pilot in a helicopter crash in 1954. He managed to jump out but a falling part of the propeller put out his parachute.
I feel maybe he could've gotten out if someone had taken a rifle and attempted to shoot out the cockpit glass.
Well that wouldn't exactly work, rifle rounds such as 7.62 mm and 8 mm would only do as much as a scratch on the thick (probably around 30mm) bulletproof windshield. That's why aircraft were equipped with armaments such as 20mm Hispanos and 30mm cannons so they could tear off wings on planes, shatter through the cockpit windshields, and set fires in the fuel tanks and engine.
This aint a video game.
@@Alvah707 exactly someone bout to die act while you can
@@bruhism173 you're also putting yourself in danger if your trying to shoot the glass, like I said the glass is bulletproof and there's a high chance of the bullet bouncing off the screen which could hit you, as sad as it is to see that you can't do anything to help your comrade, putting yourself at risk as well isn't a good idea, instead what could be done is trying to find solutions to fix these design flaws so that situations like these never happen again :/
Ah yes. A loaded rifle inside a small aircraft canopy. Get back on land man!
What a bloody nightmare..
Very unlucky!
@Bad War Crimes did you seriously call the guy that died in that incompetent.....? He couldn’t open the canopy because it is jammed and is designed to withstand machine gun fire. I would like to see you bash through a cockpit made to withstand machine gun fire......
@@mh-60t I think he was talking about the guy who said "very unlucky".. he was saying that "very unlucky" is a bit insensitive
@@kameronalu5031 if that were so he would have used a different word than "incompetent"
@@jaidengabriel1675 bruh
@@kameronalu5031 just realized I replied to a week old comment oops
I have seen too many crashes like that in my 20 years in the US Navy. RIP sir.
Arrestor gear fails. Thats why today, the pilots keep power on until they stop. Also in case they dont hook the cable. Sad day for every one on board.
amen
This is an early jet, I dont think the engines had enough thrust
Unbelievably shocking with rescuers only feet away but totally helpless...
My first thought that comes to mind. I would have jumped overboard to release his hatch.
It's worse than that. When he was found, it was discovered that he had managed to get the canopy open, but he couldnt get out because he was tethered to the Seat. Horrible.
This announcer was way to upbeat for this
That’s how they spoke on films back then. Not everyone is just like you.
Too
Never thought of this kind of tragic ending of a brave hero. I salute you Sir 👊
There’s more. It’s so horrible to see in video. I can’t imagine having to watch that in person. I’d be messed up for life. RIP brave men.
Could of actually touched the sea floor before he drowned, I mean depending on the depth. So he may have had a glimpse of his resting spot, that’s wicked, terribly sad.
It depends on the deepth. Most probably pressure would break the plane and he would die in a second. Rip.
@@domcasmurro2417
If it was off the UK it wouldn't have been very deep. Maybe 60 -100 ft.
@@pup1008 They found the plane and recovered his body around 4 weeks later, so it couldn't have been very deep like you said.
@@Nghilifa
Yeah I did post a follow up piece later on another thread. As you say they recovered they cockpit section with the guy's body in it.
My Dad ditched in a Swordfish on two occasions and survived, unfortunately the pilot drowned on one crash.
And that's why pilots throttle up when they touch down. Need the speed to take off again if something goes wrong.
there was a string attached so why would he
There was no way enough energy left to get airbourne again after slowing that much
Throttling up is only effective when the hook skips or misses, not when the actual arrester cable fails itself which by that point there's nowhere near sufficient speed to take off again.
Imagine explaining this to his family: "Your husband/son didn't die in action in a war, he didn't crash land his aircraft, nothing malfunctioned while he was flying the plane. He made a perfect landing on an aircraft carrier and everything looked fine when the arrestor gear suddenly failed and he slowly rolled off the landing deck. And while the fall to the water didn't kill him the canopy was jammed meaning he couldn't get out of his sinking aircraft. In fact not even our scrambled helicopter couldn't save him in time. A few more seconds may have sufficed... He drowned inside his aircraft."
Losing somebody is always very difficult. But even more so when it's in such a stupid way.
That’s why they invented zero-zero ejection seats-
Rest in peace nobel defender. Thank you for keeping us safe.
What was the name of this pilot?
Commander John Desmond Russell
Piet poppies
Eae CÂMARA.
Sam Hyde
Erwin Rommel
I voluntarily quit navy pilot training at age 23 because I despised the mathematics involved, but seeing this video footage makes me realize that navy flying wasn't my cup of tea.
"An enquiry was held to find out why the arrestor gear failed."
So, did they recover the aircraft and the dead body ??
Yes they did. It was retreived from about 60-70 meters depth. (180-200 feet)
The pilot still in the cockpit.
As I remember he wasnt able to release the straps by his legs in time, so he couldnt get out.
Nightmarish scenario!
@@Timnaldo What he must have felt during the last moments, poor soul 😢
Tragedies like these at least led to the improvements to stop future ones.
Sooo... has anyone ever reclaimed the craft and pilots body from the sea?
They recovered half the plane and his body 4 weeks later.
When your number is up there's nothing you can do about that. I feel so bad about this, so bad.
Lol
This was in the early 60s. After this incident, he still flew the MiG-19, unfortunately he had already died 20 years ago.
Very sad. RIP sir.
British engineering at its finest... 😶😶
I mean the british-made ships that the japanese used against the russians were really powerful
That hurts my heart.
Crazy he couldn t use his ejection seat?
I think this is before the time of zero-zero ejection seats. These older seats weren't powerful enough to get a pilot high enough when used at standstill on the ground and could only be used in the air.
That's awful....I saw a similar accident on USS Independence. An EA-6B landed and the wire broke just like it did here. The pilots (3 of them) ejected but one landed on the wreckage in the ocean. He forgot to release his parachute and when the plane sank he was giving us the thumbs up and a few moments later, he went under with the plane.
It would have been some time before the pilot succumbed to the inevitable as his mask would have fed oxygen up to around a depth of 30m.
A 20 million pound refit, and the arresting-gear fails...UNACCEPTABLE!
God rest his soul.
God was the one who made the arresting cable fail.
So tragic, and such an unexpected outcome! Shocking...
Shocked every time I see this. Surely he could have used his ejector seat unless it was faulty.
No ejector seat that time
Unlikely that he had a zero-zero ejection seat at that time. I'm not sure, though.
Zero-Zero ejector came to be in 1961. Sadly too late for this guy.
In modern aircraft you also have a means to jettison the canopy for an emergency, but I am not sure if this technology was around in 1958.
Couldn’t eject from older planes like that unless you were moving. Nowadays when a plane touches down, the pilot goes to full power so if the cable breaks they’ll fly away.
Very sad to watch. Difficult to digest, even this happened decades ago.
A half-hearted attempt to rescue the pilot.
Superman wasn't handy at the time.
Right, they obviously didn’t like him very much. Smh.
@Uncle Gilbert I think my comment was a rather flippant. For that I apologize to the men on that ship and to those who read my first comment. What I should have said, You would think they would have fore-seen the possibility of that kind of problem and developed a solution. That would have been the job of the Aircraft manufacturer and their R and D team. Like some type of explosives devise to shatter the canopy. It was damned hard to watch.
@@WintersWar I think my comment was a rather flippant. For that I apologize to the men on that ship and to those who read my first comment. What I should have said, You would think they would have fore-seen the possibility of that kind of problem and developed a solution. That would have been the job of the Aircraft manufacturer and their R and D team. Like some type of explosives devise to shatter the canopy. It was damned hard to watch.
@@bcask61 I think my comment was a rather flippant. For that I apologize to the men on that ship and to those who read my first comment. What I should have said, You would think they would have fore-seen the possibility of that kind of problem and developed a solution. That would have been the job of the Aircraft manufacturer and their R and D team. Like some type of explosives devise to shatter the canopy. It was damned hard to watch.
First use of the gear that catches the plane? Unreal. So sad.
The moment the arrester gear failed the aircraft had practically come to a standstill and then slowly coasted further and over the edge. Why didn't the pilot apply full brakes?
A simple wire killed the pilot and the jet
Such a sad and tragic accident. RIP
The sad loss of cmdr Russell and the mistakes have no doubt save countless lives of other navel aviators.
Isn't it like told to eject out if your arrestor hook fails, like it doesn't even matter if the plane is not heading into the water, it's just told to eject.
Regardless this is truly disturbing
Alot of dirty hands in this accident.
Commander Russell
He left this world doing what he loved!
R.I.P.
Wow. Terrible design of both the arresting gear and the cockpit. More than 2 minutes to get out of the airplane? British engineering
I find the contrast between this piece and the way news items are presented today interesting. If this happened today the newsreader would lead with "and a warning, some viewers may find the next story distressing". I think people even as recently as 60 years ago had a different attitude to seeing someone die in this way. It was only 13 years after WW2 so many people had personal knowledge of killing and seeing people die in sometimes brutal ways. They would be upset but I think people had an ability to see things like this and move on.
This is why US jets land at about 85% of stall speed in case the wires fail. There are 3 different sets of arresting wires
Absolute nightmare