One of the strangest aviation mishaps that ended happily happened on February 2, 1970.
Once an aircraft enters into flat spin, it is usually very difficult to recover.
As Garys aircraft fell, his team mates tried to help giving him spin-recovery instructions.
But when the aircraft dropped below 15,000 feet, Gary decided it was time to abandon his stricken aircraft.
But of course, Gary couldnt.
Gary drifted into the nearby mountains, and was later rescued by local residents.
Shortly after the landing, a local sheriff arrived.
He telephoned the base at Malmstrom for instructions on how to shut down the engine.
Eventually, the F-106 skidded some 400 yards on its belly before it ran out of fuel.
The event drew a small crowd, but they smartly stood back, away from the unpredictable aircraft.
Soon a recovery crew from McClellan Air Force Base arrived on the scene and began to dismantle the aircraft.
In any case, the Cornfield Bomber was repaired and returned to service.
At that moment, the aircraft was merely 500 feet from the ground.
It left Polish airspace and crossed into East Germany and then into West Germany.
NATO at once scrambled two F-15s to intercept the unknown intruder.
The pilots reported back in disbelief that the plane was pilotless.
The MiG-23 crossed the Dutchs airspace and entered Belgiums when it ran out of fuel.
It eventually crashed into a farmhouse near Kortrijk, tragically killing an 18-year-old man.
The aircraft had flown over 900 miles without a pilot.
References:# F-106 DELTA DART,https://www.f-106deltadart.com/580787cornfieldbomber.htm# National Interest,https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/how-russian-mig-23-ended-crashing-inside-belgian-farmhouse-65521
