One of the best war stories yet, but not mine. My son Nick was building time in the right seat of a KC135, deployed to the middle-east when this happened:
“The AC (Aircraft Commander) got very very sick on the flight. He had to go to the back, and I had to get us home and land by myself. We declared an emergency and requested an ambulance meet us at the jet. He’s at the hospital now. “
Nick is not as long-winded as his old man, so let me expand after getting the whole story:
Wow, what a story! Would take me forever to write it up. It was a kidney stone. Minimum crew, AC, CP, boom operator. I guess the AC initially looked like he was convulsing. Then looked like he needed to puke. An F-16 was on the boom at the time, everybody was in a turn to the west. Too much pain to talk, AC non-verbally signaled for Nick to take over pilot flying duties, then checked off and disappeared.
Nick did not initially declare an emergency with the AWACS or Turkish controllers. My summary of why, declaring with the Turkish controllers would have been an emergency all by itself. They denied him the flight planned route, but cleared him to a different point. He had to re-string the route in the box, but still that was preferable to stirring the pot. His plan was to wait until later when he was talking to American controllers. So there he was, flying a KC-135 solo at barber pole speed from Syria into Turkey. He said it reminded him of some of his very first solos, where he knew he was the only one who could get himself out of this mess. Eventually the boom operator, a chief master sergeant, came forward and helped Nick run the checklists. They discussed the need for Nick to switch seats, decided both would watch very closely and he very carefully switched to the left seat with the AP on. Say what you will about that decision, it worked. As far as I know, the only advantage was having the nose wheel steering tiller after landing….
So, he declared an emergency with the American approach controllers, initially asking for a visual, but changing that to an ILS subsequently, I guess for the added guidance and routine of it. I am livid that the controller copped an attitude. Nick was on base, and it looked like the controller was going to blow him through final, so he asked “Are you planning to vector me through final?” The controller replied, very sarcastically “ turn right to XXX heading, maintain XXXX altitude until established, cleared the ILS.”, as if Nick had some audacity to tell him how to do his job. Guy, pick another time to show us how smart you are! When he switched to tower it was as it should be, the runway is yours, cleared to land and how else can I help? Somewhere before landing they managed to strap the AC into the right seat, but he was useless. Nick stood on the brakes to clear mid-field, otherwise precious time would be lost going all the way to the end and back. I suspect it will be a long time before he has a war story to top this one.
Captain’s Log 