February 2, 1970. Three F-106 Delta Darts took off from the Malmstrom Air Force Base (which is near Great Falls in Montana) for a routine training mission. Suddenly, one of the fighter planes — the one piloted by Captain Gary Faust, entered into a flat spin, a phenomenon in which the aircraft stalls and quickly loses altitude while spinning from wing to wing. Once this happens, the aircraft is usually very difficult to recover.
As Gary’s aircraft fell, his team mates tried to help giving him spin-recovery instructions. But when the aircraft dropped below 15,000 feet, Gary decided it was time to abandon his stricken aircraft.
But the unthinkable happened once Gary went out of the plane.
… the reduction in weight and change in center of gravity caused by the removal of the pilot, coupled with the blast force of his seat rocketing out of the plane pushing the nose of the aircraft down, changed the dynamics of the falling aircraft causing it to miraculously recover from the spin.
[...]
From his parachute, he watched incredulously as the now-pilotless aircraft glided down gently and skidded to a halt on a wheat field near Big Sandy, Montana. Gary drifted into the nearby mountains, and was later rescued by local residents.
Truly miraculous.
More details about this story over at Amusing Planet.
(Image Credit: US Air Force/ Wikimedia Commons)