The SR-71 Blackbird’s Pratt & Whitney J58 Engines Suffered an ‘Unstart’ at 83,000 Feet — and the Aircraft Began Falling Sideways

The SR-71 Blackbird’s Pratt & Whitney J58 Engines Suffered an ‘Unstart’ at 83,000 Feet — and the Aircraft Began Falling Sideways

In 1984, an SR-71 Blackbird flying at 83,000 feet over the Soviet Kola Peninsula lost both Pratt & Whitney J58 engines simultaneously — and dropped 65,000 feet toward the Barents Sea in less than two minutes. Pilots Joseph Matthews and Curt Osterheld experienced “crushing G-forces” as the Lockheed Skunk Works aircraft yawed sideways through the atmosphere at Mach 3. Matthews manually restarted the engines just in time to avoid ejection, refueled…