> At that time no one knew why his aircraft had flamed out. We all supposed it had been some freak accident that sometimes happens with no explanation. One thi

> At that time no one knew why his aircraft had flamed out. We all supposed it had been some freak accident that sometimes happens with no explanation. One thing we knew for sure, it was not pilot error. This accident had to be some kind of mechanical malfunction, but what? Our squadron had a perfect safety record and was very disturbed because of the loss of an airplane the day before. Today in peacetime if this happened, they might ground the fleet depending on the details and leadership risk climate. If it were pilot error, this would be less concerning, since the cause would be known, and not to cause future problems (other than training-related concerns like if others would make the same mistake) A rogue mechanical failure that causes a crash/bailout is very concerning! Risk tolerance was probably higher back then.