USAF Thunderbird Pilot Ejects at Mountain Home AFB

Captain Chris Stricklin ejected safely during the "Gunfighter Skies 2003" air show at Mountain Home AFB (50 miles south of Boise, Idaho).

Apparently, Stricklin misinterpreted his altitude and initiated his Split-S maneuver 800 feet lower than he should have. Full story here.

This shot shows Stricklin ejecting just 140 feet above the ground - 0.8 seconds before impact. This is reportedly from Bennie Davis:

Re: Thunderbird crashes at Idaho air show (Score: 0) by Anonymous on Jan 29, 2004 - 07:01 AM I was the photogrpaher of the image you speak of and I watched the action unfold while the jet was headed straight for me. There seemed to be no way for Capt Strikland to pull out. Thank God he put it down in a safe place and saved a lot of lives. Any longer on the stick and that jet may have taken out the control tower. (which I was shooting on top of) The whole thing was unfortunate, but a least it was only a $22 million dollar Air Show, it could have been worse. Bennie Davis

Sm  Md  Lg

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