Famous WW2 Jet Crash...?

Question

The movies Midway, Tora! Tora! Tora!, and Pearl Harbor all use the same piece of footage from a real life plane crash from WW2 where a jet comes in for landing in a carrier, but crashes and kills 14 people. The man who piloted this jet survived the crash and is still alive today. Who was the man who piloted this jet plane? I need the answer soon, please!

Answer 1

There are a couple of these scenes that come to mind. One involves a Hellcat that gets broken in two  and the other is a jet of the Korean war era (a Cougar I believe). Those scenes have been used in numerous movies. I have never heard if the pilot of either is still alive.

Answer 2

The film clip, often used, is from Korea.  It is an F9F and the pilot did walk away although I don't know his name.

The other two "famous" clips are the F6F coming in off center, filmed from the vulture's roost, catching the right wing on the end of the island and careening around it, he too walked away and tells this story on several History/Discovery channel programs.  The other is an F6F catching a wire, and dropping the left main off the side of the deck, which ruptures the centerline fuel tank and engulfs the ship in flames, the fuselage skin is seen wrinkling in the heat.  He was helped from the burning wreck by a Flight Deck Officer or Chief and lived too.

Answer 3

WWII?  Wrong.

Answer 4

Perhaps one of the famous carrier crashes on this video is the one you are looking for.

Answer 5

Hey, I think we need some more info, was it really a jet fighter? There werent any carrier jets in WW2. There is some famous Korean-war era footage of a jet fighter hitting the ramp, maybe a couger or a panther. Is this the footage you want? It was in 'Hunt for Red October' as well if thats the one. Let us know.

Answer 6

OK... First off, there were no JETS landing on carriers during WWII.  The only country who even had operational jet aircraft during WWII were the Germans, and by the time they got their Messerschmidt ME262 flying, they had no aircraft carriers to land on.

I don't have the details on the particular aircraft crash that you are referring to, but I have seen the film clip.  The aircraft was probably a Grumman F4F Wildcat or F6F Hellcat... Both were prop driven fighter aircraft flown by the US Navy during WWII.

Answer 7

It's from The Hunt for Red October (1990).  When the F-14 comes in to land it switches to an F9F Panther hitting the carrier deck and breaking into pieces.

This one:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=PpOkZn3W4N8

It was during the Korean War.

Answer 8

I think that the jet pilot bought the farm in the jet crash on the carrier.  I would think that anyone who would have survived that crash would at least have a footnote in history and does not which makes me believe that he actually did not survive that crash.

Carrier fires or crashes are difficult to survive; although, McCain survived a carrier fire in his parked jet while the pilot next to McCain also managed to get out of his jet cockpit in that carrier fire, but the guy next to McCain perished in the fire.  I know that that comment has nothing to do with your question, but it does show how a jet pilot on a carrier can climb out of his cockpit and almost escape a fire but be consumed by the fire.  "Comeback" McCain must have about nine lives to have survived that carrier fire, subsequent shootdown over North Vietnam where he was severely hurt, and spending many years as a POW of the Soviet Union backed North Vietnamese where McCain endured years of torture and solitary in his initial period as a POW.