On 1 May 1983, during a training fight over Israel’s Negev desert, an Israeli Air Force F-15D collided with an A-4 Skyhawk. The Skyhawk pilot ejected safely. The F-15 spun toward the ground until its pilot, Zivi Nedivi, lit both afterburners and pulled out. A cloud of leaking fuel hid the damage, so neither he nor his navigator could see how bad it was. He flew to Ramon Airbase and landed at about twice normal landing speed; the tail hook ripped off and the jet stopped about 20 feet from the end of the runway. Only then did he see the right wing was gone except for about two feet near the body. Engineers later explained that the F-15’s wide, flat body made enough lift at high speed, and the engines did the rest. The jet was repaired and flew again.
Sources: Wikipedia, ‘1983 Negev mid-air collision’; McDonnell Douglas and IAF accounts.
Footage: U.S. Air Force video via DVIDS (U.S. F-15s standing in for the Israeli jet) – 402917, 429711, 771440, 519799, 943819. The appearance of U.S. Department of War (DoW) visual information does not imply or constitute DoW endorsement. Photos: U.S. government and public-domain images via Wikimedia Commons.
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He did not know the wing was gone until the jet had stopped. Would you have tried for the runway, or ejected?
The pilot said if he would have known the extent of the damage he would have ejected. They sent engineers over to inspect it. They were likewise amazed that it survived.