00:00There's no place in the world more dangerous to land a jet than the deck of an aircraft
00:04carrier.
00:05No shoulder to swerve onto.
00:07No room for second chances.
00:09It's just you, your machine, and a few hundred feet of moving steel surrounded by nothing
00:15but ocean.
00:17Every landing is a test.
00:19Every launch is a gamble.
00:21And sometimes the system fails.
00:24This isn't just a list of crashes.
00:27These are moments where split-second decisions meant life or death.
00:32Where training collided with chaos.
00:35Where some walked away and some never did.
00:39Today, we're diving into five carrier incidents that shook even the most seasoned pilots.
00:46From a trailblazing aviator whose final flight changed Navy history, to a launch gone cold
00:51at full power, and a landing that snapped steel like string.
00:56You might know the footage, but you've never heard the full story.
01:00This is Military Expert, Let's Get Airborne.
01:09She was a pioneer, the first female carrier-qualified fighter pilot in the U.S. Navy.
01:15A symbol of change.
01:17Flying the F-14 Tomcat, the same jet made famous by Top Gun.
01:23But on October 25th, 1994, just off the coast of San Diego, something went wrong.
01:32Kara Holtgren was coming in for landing on the USS Abraham Lincoln.
01:36She'd done it before, just a few times.
01:40Enough to know the rhythm and the risk.
01:44But this time, as she lined up behind the carrier, something didn't look right.
01:50The approach was steep.
01:52The Tomcat drifted left of center line.
01:55And then, just a few seconds from touchdown, the left engine flamed out.
02:01That was all it took.
02:03In an instant, the fighter rolled hard to the left.
02:07Too low.
02:08Too slow.
02:10No time to recover.
02:11Her radar intercept officer ejected.
02:14Survived.
02:16Kara's seat fired moments later.
02:18She ejected.
02:20But never had a chance to survive.
02:23The Navy lost one of its most promising aviators.
02:26And the nation lost a symbol of progress.
02:31Her crash sparked headlines, controversy, and hard questions.
02:36Was she rushed through training?
02:39Was the aircraft at fault?
02:40Or was it just a brutal, unforgiving moment?
02:45Whatever the cause, one thing's certain.
02:49Kara didn't crash because she was a woman.
02:52She crashed because she flew a jet that demanded perfection.
02:56And punished the smallest mistake.
02:59This wasn't just a tragedy.
03:01It was a turning point.
03:08July 13th, 1984.
03:10The USS America is underway in the Indian Ocean.
03:13On the flight deck, an EA-6B Prowler from VAQ-135 sits loaded and ready.
03:20Four men on board.
03:21One mission.
03:22And a catapult that would never give them enough.
03:26The crew hears the signal.
03:28Steam pressure builds beneath them.
03:31The shuttle grabs the nose gear.
03:33Launch.
03:38The aircraft lurches forward, but doesn't gain speed.
03:41It's a cold cat.
03:43A failed catapult shot.
03:45The Prowler doesn't fly.
03:47It falls.
03:50Inside the cockpit, chaos explodes into instinct.
03:53The pilot, Lieutenant Junior Grade Michael DiBartolomeo, knows they're out of time.
03:57He calls out,
03:59EJECT!
03:59EJECT!
04:00EJECT!
04:01One by one, the three electronic countermeasures officers punch out.
04:06Parachutes bloom over the sea.
04:08Then, Michael pulls his handle.
04:10He waits that extra heartbeat, just long enough to make sure they're clear.
04:15But it's too late.
04:17His seat launches into the side of the aircraft.
04:20Or the ocean.
04:21We'll never know for sure.
04:23His body is recovered hours later.
04:25The rest of the crew survives.
04:27Because he stayed those precious seconds longer.
04:31To them, he wasn't just a pilot.
04:33He was a leader.
04:35And in those final seconds, a protector.
04:38The cold cat incident became a harsh reminder.
04:41Not all failures come from the enemy.
04:44Sometimes, it's the system.
04:47Sometimes, it's steel that breaks.
04:49And sometimes, it's the bravest man on board, who never makes it home.
04:59It was an ordinary landing aboard the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower.
05:04Until it wasn't.
05:05This wasn't a fighter jet.
05:07It was an E-2C Hawkeye.
05:09A high-wing, twin-prop, early-warning aircraft.
05:12Big.
05:13Slow.
05:14Heavy.
05:15Heavy.
05:15With a five-man crew and a 28-meter wingspan, it's the Navy's eyes in the sky.
05:21On March 18, 2016, the Eisenhower was operating off the coast of Virginia.
05:27The Hawkeye lined up for recovery.
05:30Final approach looked routine.
05:32The aircraft caught the fourth arresting wire, just as it should have.
05:36And then, the wire snapped.
05:38No warning.
05:40No time to react.
05:41The steel cable recoiled with explosive force, whipping across the flight deck.
05:47It struck eight sailors, some violently.
05:51Skulls fractured.
05:52Bones broken.
05:53One sailor was thrown into a jet blast deflector and knocked unconscious.
05:58Meanwhile, the Hawkeye kept rolling.
06:01It plunged off the deck, its nose dropping toward the ocean.
06:05But the pilot managed to pull up just above the waves.
06:09They flew out, low and heavy, and circled back.
06:12The aircraft returned safely.
06:14All five crew members were uninjured.
06:17But the sailors on deck weren't so lucky.
06:20Eight injured.
06:21Some severely.
06:23A routine trap turned into a mass casualty event,
06:26because of a single failure in a critical system.
06:29An investigation found that maintenance errors caused the cable to snap.
06:34Improper tension.
06:35Bad calibration.
06:37The kind of detail that gets missed.
06:39Until it doesn't.
06:41On a carrier deck, everything is engineered for extremes.
06:44But even hardened steel has a limit.
06:47And when that limit's breached,
06:48even a thin cable can become a whip.
06:51A weapon.
06:52A killer.
06:52A killer.
06:58February 16, 1991.
07:01USS America is recovering jets from a desert storm strike.
07:06One of them is an A-6E intruder, bureau number 155602.
07:13It had taken anti-aircraft fire over Iraq.
07:16The aircraft was damaged, leaking hydraulics.
07:19But the crew kept it flying and brought it home.
07:22The landing was good.
07:23The arresting cable caught.
07:25The aircraft stopped.
07:27Then, something went wrong.
07:30When the wire disengaged, the jets started rolling forward.
07:34No brakes.
07:35No nose wheel steering.
07:37The crew had no control.
07:38And the edge of the flight deck was getting closer.
07:42In the cockpit, Lieutenant Commander Mack Williams.
07:46Lieutenant L. Fox.
07:48They had only seconds to act.
07:50They couldn't steer.
07:52They couldn't stop.
07:53They pulled the handles.
07:55Both ejected.
07:56Right from the deck.
07:58Both survived.
08:00But both were injured when they hit the non-skid surface of the carrier.
08:05Behind them, the intruder rolled to the very edge of the deck.
08:10Its tail lifted over open water.
08:12The nose stayed just barely on board.
08:15The jet was still intact.
08:18Damaged, but repairable.
08:20But there was no time.
08:22Other aircraft were in the pattern, low on fuel.
08:25The deck had to be cleared, fast.
08:28The decision was made.
08:30Push it over the side.
08:32It wasn't a crash.
08:33It wasn't combat.
08:35It was one of the rarest emergencies in naval aviation.
08:39An ejection from a jet that never left the ship.
08:49July 14th, 1955.
08:52The USS Hancock is operating off the California coast.
08:56Routine flight ops.
08:58Clear skies.
08:59An F-7U-3 Cutlass.
09:02Bunno 129595 approaches for landing.
09:06At the controls, Lieutenant Commander J.T. Alkire.
09:11A seasoned pilot with VF-124.
09:14But the aircraft, known for its instability, comes in too low.
09:19Too fast.
09:20In a split second, the Cutlass hits the edge of the flight deck.
09:25What's called a ramp strike.
09:27The jet slams into the steel, breaks apart instantly, and explodes in flames.
09:33Debris rains across the deck.
09:35Fire erupts.
09:37LCDR Alkire is killed on impact.
09:40Several sailors nearby are injured, burned by fuel and hit by wreckage.
09:45But, miraculously, no other fatalities are recorded.
09:49The crash is caught on camera.
09:52To this day, it's one of the most studied ramp strikes in naval history.
09:56The Cutlass had a reputation.
09:58Tricky to fly.
10:00Unforgiving under pressure.
10:02And after this, its days were numbered.
10:05By the end of the decade, the Navy retired it for good.
10:08But for the crew of the Hancock, this wasn't about design flaws or budget decisions.
10:14It was about how fast everything can go wrong.
10:17How one miscalculated landing can turn deadly, even before the wheels touch steel.
10:23Five stories.
10:25Five seconds that changed everything.
10:28These weren't just accidents.
10:29They were lessons, written in steel, smoke, and sacrifice.
10:34Carrier Aviation doesn't forgive.
10:37It demands perfection, every time.
10:39And when that fails, it leaves behind more than wreckage.
10:44It leaves stories we can't afford to forget.
10:48This is Military Expert.
10:50Thanks for watching, stay sharp, stay safe, and we'll see you on the next flight.
Comments