In 1956, a US Navy Test Pilot Shot Down His Own Plane

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The incident taught Navy pilots a valuable lesson about flying faster than the bullets in front of them.

On September 21, 1956, test pilot Tom Attridge was piloting a F-11 Tiger fighter jet off the coast of Long Island. During a high-speed gunnery test, Attridge performed a fairly remarkable feat—albeit an embarrassing one—when he struck his own aircraft with 20mm cannon fire. The incident remains, 70 years later, one of the oddest mishaps in aviation history. 

Year Introduced: 1956

Length: 27 ft 4 in (8.33 m) with wingtips folded

Wingspan: 31 ft 7.5 in (9.64 m)

Weight (MTOW): 23,459 lb (10,641 kg)

Engines: One Wright J65-W-18 afterburning turbojet (7,450 lbf thrust)

Top Speed: 726 mph (1,169 km/h) / Mach 1.1

Range: 1,280 mi (2,060 km)

Service Ceiling: 49,000 ft (15,000 m)

Loadout: Four 20mm Colt Mk 12 cannons; 4 hardpoints equipped to carry rockets, missiles, drop tanks

The F-11 was an early supersonic US Navy fighter that entered service in the mid-1950s. Used........

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