F-4E 77-0293 Phantom II F-4E 77-0293 Phantom II, The Only One in the World...
During a flight in 1984, the crew (front cockpit and rear cockpit pilots) of 77-0293, which was in the inventory of 111th Squadron Command, 1st Main Jet Base Command-Eskişehir, had completed their mission and were about to land. On the final approach, the aircraft encountered a dense flock of birds and the pilots were forced to enter the flock.
It is one of the most remembered legends in the F-4 community. F-4E 77-0293 landed without a pilot, in fact, because of this landing; 77-0293 was given a pilot's badge and its badge was drawn on the front of the left air intake. F-4 fighters identify the aircraft as "number 293" and refer to it as a "badged aircraft".
During a flight in 1984, the crew (front cockpit and rear cockpit pilots) of 77-0293, which was in the inventory of 111th Squadron Command, 1st Main Jet Base Command-Eskişehir, had completed their mission and were about to land. On the final approach, the aircraft encountered a dense flock of birds and the pilots were forced to enter the flock.
At the end of the collision with the dense flock of birds, the decision was made to eject and they ejected from the aircraft by ejecting their "ejection seats".
Important Note: Picture is representative. The moment of ejection of the pilot seats from the F-4.
77-0293 descends in a stable manner with a normal glide angle and makes a clear landing on the runway. After some distance on the runway, it goes off the runway and stops on the dirt section. Necessary technical interventions are made immediately by the "Crime-Rescue" team.
Subsequently, the aircraft is towed to the 1st HİBM (Air Supply and Maintenance Center) Command, where Turkish Air Force jet fighter aircraft and Turkish Armed Forces gas turbine engines (turbojet, turbofan, turboprop, turboshaft) are maintained at the highest level, for maintenance and repair purposes, repaired, necessary maintenance is carried out, experience (test) flights are made, the aircraft is allocated a badge, the badge is engraved in front of the left air intake and the aircraft is allocated for flight again.
"The F-4E Phantom, Tail Number 77-0293, is the only aircraft in the history of world fighter jets whose seats were ejected, left without a pilot, landed on its own and then resumed flight service."
During its flight at Osmaniye-Eskişehir Air-to-Ground Firing Range in 1986, 77-0293 was again struck by a dense flock of birds, both engines stopped (stalled), the pilots were separated from the aircraft with ejection seats, the aircraft crashed and suffered irreparable heavy damage, which is referred to as "collateral damage" in aviation jargon, and was written off (written off from the inventory).
