F-111D Escape Capsule recovered after USAF F-111D # 68-0125 crashed on Sept 11, 1987
Delivered to the USAF on 18 September 1972.
Crashed 1415hrs MST, 11 September 1987,524th TFTS / 524 AMU 27 TFW / 12th Air Force.
Bill Hammond was stationed at Cannon AFB and witnessed the crash from his vantage point at the bomb dump. Bill says that " the jet impacted about 1 3/4 miles from the end of runway 22 at CAFB. The crew were practicing single engine approaches and the engine that was providing thrust flamed out. A well known fact about the Vark is that the engines don't have very good response to rapid throttle movements. I saw the A/C wallow around for several seconds before the capsule separated. The ejection was initiated at about 200 feet (maybe) and the parachute barely opened before impact.
The airframe impacted on the right wing & cart-wheeled several times before coming to a rest upside down, with the virtical stab broken off and stuck in the ground
Crew ejected safely.
PILOT Maj John Sides
WSO ..Maj Russell Striker
Call sign - Captor 11
The aircraft had accumilated 1444 flights and 3494.2 flight hours at it's time of loss.
These notes are accredited to the great efforts of Steve Hyre, who also kindly contributed this and a lot more to F-111.net
& Don Logan's F-111 Aardvark reference book.
Check here for more photos and info on this Escape Capsule