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Jet Ejections That Made Aviation History

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US F-117 Stealth Fighter Loses Wings During Air Show

F-117 Stealth Fighter
Staff Sgt. Aaron Allmon II, U.S. Air Force

The Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk is one of the US military’s prized creations as it was the first operational aircraft to be built using stealth technology. It was highly utilized in the Gulf War, and only one Nighthawk was lost in battle. Unfortunately, one was also lost in a Baltimore, MA area air show. On September 14, 1997, Capt. Bryan Knight was flying the F-117 over a crowd of excited spectators when the port wing completely separated from the fuselage. The stealth jet went spiraling toward earth, and Knight was able to eject safely. The aircraft remains destroyed two homes in a Chesapeake Bay marina, but luckily no one was seriously injured.

The subsequent investigation revealed that the aircraft was missing four fasteners for the wing’s structural support. A mistake that was probably made when the aircraft’s wings were removed and reinstalled a year earlier.