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.
How lethal can a UAV be? The military thinks it can take out a
high-profile target and even considered doing so when it began
hunting down Osama bin Laden. The Associated Press reports US
intelligence and military officials intensely debated how far to go
using an unmanned aircraft to spy on — and perhaps attack
— Osama bin Laden in the year before Sept. 11, 2001.
According to preliminary findings of an independent commission
investigating the attacks, the discussions, which reached some of
the highest levels of government, centered on when and how to use
the Predator UAV.
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