How d'you rescue the pilot of an F-22 when he's locked inside the cockpit of a $361 million state-of-the-art fighter? You whistle for the nearest firefighters - and ask them to use a chainsaw to cut through a polycarbonate canopy that is three-quarters of an inch thick. No kidding. I hadn't heard about this incident, which apparently took place last April. So when I received an email a couple of hours ago, I did some checking and found a report by Robert Bryce - and these pictures - at CounterPunch.org. According to his report, the cost of replacing the canopy was $286,000. Tres embarrassment.
Footnote: Maybe there's a lesson to be learnt from the pilots who flew the World War II-vintage Supermarine Spitfire. They had a crowbar on the left side of the cockpit - just in case they couldn't get out.
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