Pilot Okay

Lt. Wesley Baumgartner is lucky to be alive.

The 26-year old Navy pilot assigned to VFA-15 -- the Valions -- was part of a two-aircraft flight taking off from Raleigh-Durham International Airport Friday, when his F/A-18 Hornet (file photo of type, below) burst into flames. Baumgartner ejected from the aircraft with minor injuries, as the Hornet cartwheeled down the runway, engulfed in fire. Air traffic was halted for hours, as was ground traffic on a nearby interstate, while officials put out the fire, cleaned up the wreckage and began the investigation.

"He's got a bump on the head," Baumgartner's father, William, told The News & Observer of Raleigh. "He'll be recovering there for a day or so."

The pilot was on a training mission from Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia Beach (VA) and had stopped at RDU to refuel, according to local news reports.

"The second military jet did a cartwheel, and when I lost sight of it, the nose was burying into the ground," said Rob Shapard, a reporter for the Raleigh Herald-Sun, who was on a flight that hadn't yet pushed from the gate. He spoke by phone from the Delta flight.

"It was surreal," he said. "It was almost like a NASCAR crash. You could see dirt flying."   

Baumgartner managed to eject about a third of the way down the 7500 foot-long runway, according to airport spokeswoman Teresa Damiano. The F/A-18 continued to roll (and cartwheel) for another 4000 feet before coming to rest less than a football field's length from the terminal.

The military is investigating the incident. In the meantime, Baumgartner, who was knocked unconscious during his ejection, has joined a very elite group of pilots. Brian A. Miller, executive vice president of Martin-Baker America, is sending the lieutenant a necktie covered with tiny red triangles -- the symbol painted on aircraft equipped with ejection seats -- and a pair of silver wings. Worldwide to date, about 7000 pilots have safely ejected from their aircraft, he said. "Every few years, we throw a party and they come."

FMI: www.navy.mil, www.martin-baker.co.uk