The B-1A bomber had already started to dive toward the Mojave Desert when a chase plane radioed to Co-Pilot Doug Benefield, "How are you doing, Doug?" Replied Benefield: "We may have to punch it. We have to punch." Those were his last known words. Command Pilot Richard Reynolds pulled the eject handle, flinging the cock pit and its three-man crew free of the plane just 9 sec. before it slammed into the ground. Two of the men escaped with injuries.
But Benefield, 55, chief test pilot for Rockwell International Corp., which builds the bomber, died of severe head wounds.
The Air...
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