Some may not find this very interesting but I was amazed to meet this guy (Mr. Beaumont)today. I work in healthcare so I can't tell you how I met him but as I was working for this fellow, I made some small-talk asking the usual superficial/benign questions to distract him from my work and to help him feel like a human being instead of some inanimate thing having something unpleasant done.
He begins to tell me what he does now and then tells me he spent a few years in the Airforce as a T-38 instructor, then some other aircraft I have forgotton because he then launched into this story I was able to find on the net about his last flight as U-2 pilot. Pretty amazing in my book. He said the ejection seat only sent him about 15 feet up because the seat rails had broken in the crash. I hope you like it as it was pretty amazing hearing this guy tell it like it happened on a trip to wal-mart or something.
Here is an excerpt out of Chris Pocock's book "Dragon Lady", page 151:
An even more remarkable incident occured on the last day of January
1981. Captain Edward Beaumont was in the early stages of check-out at
Beale AFB, having made his first trip in the U-2CT only nine days earlier.
This day, he was flying one of the last single-seat U-2C models remaining
in Air Force service (they were finally retired a few months later). On a
bright winter's day, he performed a number of touch-and-gos, and then
climbed out for some work at medium altitude. After this, he reported
descending through 14,000 feet. Some time later, his mobile control
officer on the ground at Beale was surprised to hear Beaumont key the
mike, but make no transmission. Instead, all that could be heard was a
heavy breathing sound as the U-2 pilot's transmitter remained open, but
silent. The tower was alerted, and a T-37 trainer that was also flying
locally was instructed to rendezvous with the errant U-2 and attract
Beaumont's attention.
As the two pilots in the T-37 drew alongside, they could hardly believe
their eyes. The U-2 pilot appeared to be slumped at the controls, with the
aircraft in a gentle, turning descent. Beaumont had had a catatonic
seizure, and was completely unconscious. With the accompanying pilots in
the T-38 (sic) powerless to intervene, the U-2 floated slowly towards the
Sierra foothills north of Oroville. As it neared the sloping ground, some
high-voltage power transmission lines barred the way. The T-37 pilot
braced themselves for a searing explosion as the black airframe flew into
the 230,000-kilovolt wires.
It never came. Incredibly, the U-2 clipped the bottom two wires with a
wingtip, but failed to incinerate. In fact, the contact with the power
lines had the effect of rolling the aircraft into the correct attitude for
a forced landing in an adjacent cow pasture. Had its wingtip not been
flipped up in this way, the aircraft would have cartwheeled as it impacted
the gently sloping terrain with one wing low. As the astonished T-37
pilots orbited overhead, the U-2 flopped into the muddy field and ground
to a halt with the engine running. Fuel began spilling from a ruptured
tank, but it ran downhill and therefore failed to ignite.
The sudden arrival on terra firma revived the stricken pilot. Although
confused, he managed to shut the engine down. But the drama wasn't yet
over. As the still-groggy Beaumont began to extricate himself from the
aircraft, his foot slipped and caught in the D-ring of the ejection seat,
which he had failed to make safe. It fired through the canopy, flinging
the pilot upwards with it. Beaumont's body described a somersault, but he
landed on his feet to one side of the aircraft, while the seat thudded
into the ground nearby. His only injury was a chipped tooth! When the
preliminary accident report was circulated, SAC generals and Lockheed
managers alike thought that someone had made up the whole story as a joke.
Not surprisingly, Beaumont was scrubbed from the U-2 programme on medical
grounds. The U-2C which ended its flying days in a cow pasture, is now on
display at Beale.
[That aircraft is article 381 / serial 56-6714]
He begins to tell me what he does now and then tells me he spent a few years in the Airforce as a T-38 instructor, then some other aircraft I have forgotton because he then launched into this story I was able to find on the net about his last flight as U-2 pilot. Pretty amazing in my book. He said the ejection seat only sent him about 15 feet up because the seat rails had broken in the crash. I hope you like it as it was pretty amazing hearing this guy tell it like it happened on a trip to wal-mart or something.
Here is an excerpt out of Chris Pocock's book "Dragon Lady", page 151:
An even more remarkable incident occured on the last day of January
1981. Captain Edward Beaumont was in the early stages of check-out at
Beale AFB, having made his first trip in the U-2CT only nine days earlier.
This day, he was flying one of the last single-seat U-2C models remaining
in Air Force service (they were finally retired a few months later). On a
bright winter's day, he performed a number of touch-and-gos, and then
climbed out for some work at medium altitude. After this, he reported
descending through 14,000 feet. Some time later, his mobile control
officer on the ground at Beale was surprised to hear Beaumont key the
mike, but make no transmission. Instead, all that could be heard was a
heavy breathing sound as the U-2 pilot's transmitter remained open, but
silent. The tower was alerted, and a T-37 trainer that was also flying
locally was instructed to rendezvous with the errant U-2 and attract
Beaumont's attention.
As the two pilots in the T-37 drew alongside, they could hardly believe
their eyes. The U-2 pilot appeared to be slumped at the controls, with the
aircraft in a gentle, turning descent. Beaumont had had a catatonic
seizure, and was completely unconscious. With the accompanying pilots in
the T-38 (sic) powerless to intervene, the U-2 floated slowly towards the
Sierra foothills north of Oroville. As it neared the sloping ground, some
high-voltage power transmission lines barred the way. The T-37 pilot
braced themselves for a searing explosion as the black airframe flew into
the 230,000-kilovolt wires.
It never came. Incredibly, the U-2 clipped the bottom two wires with a
wingtip, but failed to incinerate. In fact, the contact with the power
lines had the effect of rolling the aircraft into the correct attitude for
a forced landing in an adjacent cow pasture. Had its wingtip not been
flipped up in this way, the aircraft would have cartwheeled as it impacted
the gently sloping terrain with one wing low. As the astonished T-37
pilots orbited overhead, the U-2 flopped into the muddy field and ground
to a halt with the engine running. Fuel began spilling from a ruptured
tank, but it ran downhill and therefore failed to ignite.
The sudden arrival on terra firma revived the stricken pilot. Although
confused, he managed to shut the engine down. But the drama wasn't yet
over. As the still-groggy Beaumont began to extricate himself from the
aircraft, his foot slipped and caught in the D-ring of the ejection seat,
which he had failed to make safe. It fired through the canopy, flinging
the pilot upwards with it. Beaumont's body described a somersault, but he
landed on his feet to one side of the aircraft, while the seat thudded
into the ground nearby. His only injury was a chipped tooth! When the
preliminary accident report was circulated, SAC generals and Lockheed
managers alike thought that someone had made up the whole story as a joke.
Not surprisingly, Beaumont was scrubbed from the U-2 programme on medical
grounds. The U-2C which ended its flying days in a cow pasture, is now on
display at Beale.
[That aircraft is article 381 / serial 56-6714]
