Captain Brian “Boozer” Bews, one of the top skilled pilots within the Royal Canadian Air Force, always knew he wanted to fly.
In July of 2010, while training for the Alberta International Airshow, his CF-18 Hornet CF188738 fighter suffered a mechanical failure while performing a complicated maneuver that he had done many times before.
But as seen in footage taken that day, it looked like this would be his final flight.
However, Bews would not go down without a fight. With quick thinking skills that are only second nature to the best pilots in the world, he attempted to stabilize the aircraft.
Still, nothing was working. Flying only a few hundred feet above the surface, Bews only had four seconds to do something before crashing.
The state-of-the-art ejection seat in the Hornet calculated the aircraft’s orientation, altitude, and speed, sending Bews to the opposite side.
The pilot then set off his parachute mere seconds before the CF-18 plunged to the ground. Healmost got hit by the plane, which crashed and exploded nose first in a massive fireball.
The ejection went smoothly, with a brisk wind pushing the pilot away from the wreckage.
However, the parachute’s shroud lines became entangled in his leg upon landing. Before it could be released, the parachute re-inflated and dragged the pilot for several yards.
Luckily injuries were not serious, and Brian “Boozer” Bews recovered quickly.
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