quote:
Originally posted by bobyates:
Mid to late 1974 - Little Rock AFB, AR., on a weekend, just at sunset, a Colonel, flying a T-33 approached the base to land and was handed off by FAA at Little Rock to the GCA at LRAFB. The weather was decaying and the first attempt to land became a Missed Approach. In the process of 'going around' the tower told the GCA to advise the pilot to divert to Memphis NAS. The pilot responded that he did not have enough fuel for Memphis, and he would try again. The GCA Final Controller didn't want to try another attempt, so I traded positions with him (from Approach Controller). While I was checking out the position, the pilot declared 'Emergency Fuel', and this became a one-time deal. I 'tweeked' the equipment and accepted the aircraft at 9 miles final. At 4 miles the tower declared that the weather had fallen below minimums and the field was closed - no clearance. When I relayed this information to the pilot, he said, "I have no choice, I'm coming down." I continued to give advisories to the pilot, and at the 'Missed Approach' point I gave him the appropriate advisory to which he replied, "Please don't stop talking to me. I'm coming in!" I accepted responsibility at that point to continue, against FAA procedure. To the best of my ability, I pointed that man toward the center of the runway at the touchdown point, when the weather was 0/0. When I knew he was past the touchdown point, I threw the door open to the GCA and stepped out onto the decking to see only the belly strobe of T-33 pass by. Seconds after the plane passed I heard him flame out on the runway. He had to be hauled in from the runway by tug. I was in the 'Com Shack' for a cup of coffee, when the tower called and said the pilot asked to talk to the man who helped him land. Back in the GCA I spoke to the pilot by radio, where he thanked me for my help saying, "I owe my life to you." Days later I was called into the office to be told that I had been recommended for a Bronze Star for actions 'Above and Beyond". The Senior Controller, who was sharing this information with me added, "I'm throwing this recommendation away, because you broke a lot of rules doing this, and, besides, I spent 3 tours in Vietnam and never got a Bronze Star, and I'll be damned if your gonna get one here in peace time!" I WOULD REALLY LIKE TO KNOW WHO THE COLONEL WAS!
No good deed ever goes unpunished!! Sorry to hear about it! Here is a similar instance that happened on Iwo Jima 1945. The commander of the Fighter Squadrons felt that too many P-51s were turning back/aborting missions for mechanical reasons (in his mind "cowardliness"), so he put out the edict that any fighter pilot who made 20 consecutive missions without and abort would receive the Bronze Star, and well as his Mechanics. My father was a Crew Chief over 5 Mustangs with excellent records, so he set his sights on that goal, knowing it would mean points towards going home. To keep this story short, he made it with all 5 planes, but then the Commander reneged on the promise, only giving the medals and the "go home" points to the pilots.
Well, Dad didn't really care, but one of his pilots went ballistic over it. He gave the medal to Dad, but Dad wouldn't keep it, so the young Captain ordered Dad to tie the medal to a bomb on his plane and taxi it out, which Dad did. Dad really thought the pilot might drop the bomb on the Commander's hootch, but he didn't. Instead, he took the plane for a "test flight" north towards Japan, nearly 1000 miles away. The last radio traffic from him was that he was engaging targets on the surface - - he never returned...
Then name of the plane was - -
Dad's on the scaffold - -
Wandering and Wondering
