When The Engine Quit At 150 ft., This Pilot Had Less Than A Second To React
Matthew Cipolla / YouTube
A Fraction Of A Second Longer And This Would Have Been A Different Story
During an airshow in 1988, Antatoly Kvotchur, an experienced test pilot, had a brush with death. While performing at the show with a relatively new MiG-29, something went terribly wrong. As the narrator will point out, one of the engines simply shut off during a maneuver, plunging the aircraft towards the ground. Low to the ground, there was nothing he could do to recover leaving him only one choice.
He ejected so low that the parachute barely opened in time!
The maneuver Kvotchur was performing was low to the ground and with the engine abruptly cutting out, he literarily had less than a second to asses the situation and eject. Gladly, he did just that. As you’ll see, with such low altitude his parachute barely anytime to open and he just made it. This is truly amazing event caught on camera and fortunately, it had a spectacular ending.
