I'm trying to remember what a friend who's a pilot told me the stall speed is for a jet that size. Stall speed is the point at which the weight of the plane is greater than the lift - meaning it glides as well as a piano thrown out an open window.
If memory serves, it's + or - 160 MPH or thereabouts. When you consider that the pilot set it down in water at that speed, it's all the more incredible. No doubt he dumped the flaps at the last micro-second but jeeeezuzzzz...
Gotta be an old Navy jet-jockey - what an
incredible piece of flying.
The Block Island Ferry was in on the rescue too - thank God it was the high-speed ferry and not the old Banana-tou...
Heads up job by the skipper of the ferry - after that I'll never makes jokes about the Polish Navy again - well, maybe not as many anyway...
The whole story is nothing short of miraculous - it could have very easily gone the way of that tragic flight that hit the bridge in DC years ago and plunged into the Potomac if not for the courage and skill of captain and crew.
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