Pilot: Terry Kryway.......
Ripper Jim Roberts: I recall it clearly, having flown that same day. The sea state was really crappy and when Terry made his landing I was in the ready room watching his landing on the PLAT. It could have happened to ANY of us flying the Crusader aboard the Roosevelt that day. The deck was moving all over the place, and with only a 12 foot hook-to-ramp clearance, there was NO room for error coming aboard. Thus, but for the grace of God, any of us could have taken the same ride. ........ I think it should also be pointed out - - emphasized - - that Terry was a super outstanding pilot. He was a member of the Red Rippers flight demo team, and that single event should not, in any way, detract from our view of his piloting ability.

..... the aircraft hit hard on the starboard main mount and broke the wheel off. The wheel bounced up into the wheel well and ruptured the main fuel line; that's the cloud of fuel you see in the first picture.




The scraping of the bare main strut pulled the nose to the right, imposing an asymnmetrical load on the tailhook, ripping it out. The fuel caught fire, and the rest is as you see it.











Movies of the incident clearly showed a 5-foot diameter vapor donut for an instant just in front of the intake at the moment the engine flamed out. Terry cobbed the throttle and felt nothing so he "read the instructions"* as the nose passed over the end of the angle.
*Note: "Reading the instructions" is an euphemism for pulling the face curtain to fire the ejection seat. There are no instructions printed there, but if there were, one could read them.... if you read really fast.





























He got a small abrasion on his neck from his harness, but that was all.

Joe D. Dunegan AE2, VS-37