‘The third F-4 got airborne for a few feet. However, after touching back down on the runway, the pilot needed to drop his tailhook to catch the long field arresting gear before going off the far end of the runway,’ John Chesire, former US F-4 Phantom pilot
Taking a family member on a fighter jet — whether for a flight or even a taxi run — is not something that typically happens, unless that person holds the necessary qualifications to be on board, such as having undergone the same military training.
John Chesire, a former US Navy F-4 Phantom II pilot, shared a memorable account on Quora about an unusual squadron event from his early career.
According to Chesire, the commanding officer of his first F-4 squadron organized a family open house on a weekend, during which wives and girlfriends were invited to tour the facilities and aircraft. After lunch in the ready room, the main attraction was the opportunity for the women to ride in the backseat of an F-4 Phantom during a high-speed taxi run.
The plan called for all squadron aircraft to line up at the hold-short line of the 12,000-foot (3,658-meter) runway, each with a passenger in the rear seat. Every aircraft was to accelerate to high speed down the runway, then brake, exit the runway, and return to the hangar.
The exercise did not go as intended.
The first aircraft reached high speed before the pilot applied heavy braking, causing the wheels to overheat and smoke as it exited the runway, prompting the crash crew to respond for a possible brake fire. The second aircraft suffered a worse outcome, with both tires blown as the pilot attempted to stop before reaching the runway’s end. The third aircraft briefly became airborne before touching back down, forcing the pilot to deploy the tailhook to catch the arresting gear and avoid overrunning the runway.
At that point, someone in authority called a halt to the entire event, to the disappointment of those still waiting their turn. Chesire notes that by today’s standards, the commanding officer would likely have been relieved of command for authorizing such a hazardous and unsanctioned activity—though attitudes were markedly different at the time.
Reflecting on the episode, Chesire described it as a formative lesson on the dangers of a high-speed abort. He noted that the runs were not competitive—each aircraft went individually—but the pilots were pushing for enough speed to give their passengers an exciting experience. However, aborting at high speed was something few, if any of them, had actually practiced. The aircraft were fully fueled, making them significantly heavier than they would be on landing and far less responsive to braking than most pilots had anticipated.
Three details from Chesire’s account stand out as particularly telling. The first is almost understated in its absurdity: “The third aircraft actually got airborne for a few feet”—a line that captures better than any analysis how quickly the situation had slipped beyond anyone’s control. The second cuts to the heart of why it all unraveled: as Chesire puts it, aborting at high speed was something “maybe none of them had ever done,” with aircraft full of fuel, far heavier than at landing, that “did not slow easily.” The third is a quiet reminder of how much the culture has changed: “Today the CO would probably be relieved of his command—but things were much different back then.”
Photo by U.S. Navy
