welcome back to caught on camera. i m contessa brewer. air shows are meant to showcase the abilities of planes and pilots with death-defying stunts and precision maneuvers. but at one show in canada, it was how the pilot exited the aircraft that got the spectators attention. a military fighter jet, the canadian air force s cf-18 hornet, is practicing a low speed, low altitude maneuver called an alpha pass, for the left bridge international air show in alberta. the air show doesn t officially start until the next day, but some eager aviation buffs are on hand to see the action. all eyes are on the plane as it swoops overhead. the spectators are about to get a show they ll never forget. two cameras are recording the well-trained pilot s tricky move. one camera zooms in. the other stays wide as the plane slows and starts to turn.
feet over the naval air station in maryland. test flight photographer is filming an f-18 hornet from a chase plane. it was basically filled with concrete. the mission was to find out how the mark 82 would separate from the airplane in an emergency mode. dozens of other cameras are also recording the critical test of the navy s newest fighter jet. they are all stuck all over the airplane and then i m there as the insurance policy. if something goes wrong and they lose the airplane, they have my film that can come back and reassemble what happened. little does he know, it s his plane that will run into trouble. when the planes reach 500 feet, the hornet releases the bomb flying at more than 500 miles per hour. we had just gotten into
position and it came down a little bit and then turned on its side and took our right wing off. a slow motion camera on the f-18 records the bomb shearing off part of the wing. when it hit us, it was nothing. i felt a little bump. nothing like when you run into a telephone pole backing up out of a parking place. but then we did 360-degree rolls in less than a second and a half. so that got my attention. hep and the pilot are the only two people in the plane as they spin wildly around and around, their plane becomes engulfed in flames. hep doesn t know the plane is on fire and critically damaged. i thought, oh, we lost
welcome back to caught on camera. i m contessa brewer. air shows are meant to showcase the abilities of planes and pilots with death-defying stunts and precision maneuvers. but at one show in canada, it was how the pilot exited the aircraft that got the spectators attention. a military fighter jet, the canadian air force s cf-18 hornet, is practicing a low speed, low altitude maneuver called an alpha pass, for the left bridge international air show in alberta. the air show doesn t officially start until the next day, but some eager aviation buffs are on hand to see the action. all eyes are on the plane as it swoops overhead. the spectators are about to get a show they ll never forget. two cameras are recording the well-trained pilot s tricky
welcome back to caught on camera. i m contessa brewer. air shows are meant to showcase the abilities of planes and pilots with death-defying stunts and precision maneuvers. but at one show in canada, it was how the pilot exited the aircraft that got the spectators attention. a military fighter jet, the canadian air force s cf-18 hornet, is practicing a low speed, low altitude maneuver called an alpha pass, for the left bridge international air show in alberta. the air show doesn t officially start until the next day, but some eager aviation buffs are on hand to see the action. all eyes are on the plane as it swoops overhead. the spectators are about to get a show they ll never forget. two cameras are recording the well-trained pilot s tricky move.