This Pilot Accidentally Took Of With Wings Still Folded!

A Crucial Mistake

Forgetting to buckle a seatbelt is one thing, but forgetting to unfold a jet’s wings before takeoff is an entirely different story.

On January 22, 1968, a VF-53 Navy squadron pilot aboard the USS Bon Homme Richard made a serious oversight. During a routine night exercise in his F-8 Crusader, the pilot was required to ascend to 2,100 feet, simulate a landing without fully touching down, and take off again—a standard touch-and-go drill. Eager to finish quickly, he skipped a crucial step: completing his pre-flight checklist.

As he executed the maneuver, something felt off. The aircraft was sluggish, and its performance was not what he expected. Concerned, he radioed air traffic control (ATC) to report the issue. To his astonishment, the ATC informed him that his F-8’s wings were still folded—a feature used on carrier-based planes to save space on crowded decks.

Folding wings is essential for compact storage on aircraft carriers, but flying with them in that position is extremely dangerous. The pilot quickly recalled a previous incident where an F-8 had flown with folded wings. In that case, engineers had emphasized one key rule: never unfold the wings in mid-flight. Doing so could lead to the aircraft losing control and spiraling out of the sky.

Despite the dangerous situation, the F-8 remained surprisingly stable. The pilot carefully managed the situation and successfully returned to the carrier, landing the Crusader without incident. Upon inspection, the only damage was a bent wing fold and a broken wing fault mechanism.

This incident serves as a stark reminder of the critical importance of following pre-flight procedures, no matter how routine the mission might seem.