01 December 2005

A-10 Pilot Saves the Day, Has Giant Cajones

The Stars and Stripes newspaper reports that an A-10 pilot saved the lives of seven people aboard a Piper Chieftain near Hahn, Germany. The Piper apparently lost electrical power while above the clouds, and the pilots called German ATC on their battery-powered handheld radio for assistance. The controllers then vectored a nearby pair of A-10s to the Piper's location.

Major Peter Olson contact the Piper pilots and, through a series of radio calls and hand signals, got them to follow him down through the clouds to a safe landing at Hahn Airport.

The article casually mentions that the two airplanes often lost sight of each other in the clouds. Let me tell you -- I've flown formation in Germany, and I know how thick German clouds can be in November. Major Olson really did a great job by guiding the stricken plane down, and should be commended, of course. But, yikes. Formation flight in the thick goo, at final approach speed, with a non-formation trained civilian pilot? Wow. Where do we get such men?

I'm serious. I'm not entirely sure I would have done the same, back when I was "Hogdriving" over Germany. I hope the Piper pilots realize how lucky they were to have encountered such a willing and daring rescuer.