Indianapolis: Disaster on a Dead Stick

Disaster on a "Dead Stick"

Built in the 1960s, the A-7 Corsair fighter-bomber has been outmoded by more advanced planes such as the F-16. At Nevada's Nellis Air Force Base, where a squadron of A-7s is located, pilots say the plane is a "dead stick without power" -- meaning that without engine thrust, the jet cannot easily be guided.

| Over Indianapolis last week, that shortcoming led to disaster. An Air Force pilot, Major Bruce Teagarden, 35, was on a routine flight when his engine went dead at 30,000 ft. Gliding down to Indianapolis Airport through a low cloud cover, Teagarden came in too high to...

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