On 23 June 1951, after already landing successfully aboard the USS Midway, George Chamberlain Duncan was catapulted again alongside Edward L. Feightner, who was testing a Vought F7U Cutlass. Duncan found he was carrying too much fuel for a safe recovery, so he jettisoned his tip tanks and loitered while Feightner completed six landings. On his final approach a downdraft aft of the stern dropped his Panther below the deck; the ramp strike split the fuselage, sent the burning rear section onto the fantail, and sent the nose section tumbling down the deck with Duncan still inside. His helmet and canopy were torn free. Crewmen pulled him from the wreckage with scorched ears and burns; he returned to flying duties six months later. 🫡

Air Marshal Nur Khan checks one of the first F-6 (MiG-19) delivered to Pakistan. The type served PAF for thirty-five years and was finally retired in 2002, when the last F-6 squadron (No. 23 ‘Talons’) re-equipped with new F-7PG aircraft. 1/2