An American SR-71 Blackbird Lost An Engine over Russian Territory at 83,000 Feet — And The Pilot Refused to Eject

An American SR-71 Blackbird Lost An Engine over Russian Territory at 83,000 Feet — And The Pilot Refused to Eject

Summary and Key Points: An American SR-71 Blackbird lost one engine to an inlet unstart at 83,000 feet and Mach 3 during a reconnaissance mission over Vladivostok, the major Soviet port on the Pacific. The pilot immediately shut down the second engine to prevent catastrophic asymmetric thrust from tearing the aircraft apart — leaving the SR-71 in an uncontrolled descent with zero thrust over Soviet territory. The pilot and Reconnaissance Systems…