A Fighter Jet Pilot Passed Out While Flying Over Oregon, But Managed to Not Crash

The student passed out for 11 seconds after a quick turn caused the pilot to experience G-forces.

F15 Fighter Jet (TheBusyBrain/Flickr)

A student pilot narrowly avoided disaster while flying over Oregon in a military training drill, Popular Science reported.

During the training flight last March, the student passed out for 11 seconds after a quick turn caused the pilot to experience G-forces, which caused blood to travel away from their brain. The student was able to keep the plane in the air after coming to and neither person in the mission was injured. (An instructor was flying the mission in a separate fighter jet.) But the F-15 did sustain $2.5 million in damages from the maneuver.

According to the Air Force Safety Center, there were 12 incidents where Air Force pilots fainted while flying in the last year. Most involved students.

Pilots can wear aviation suits designed to keep blood in pilots' upper bodies as well as practice breathing exercises.

Read the full Popular Science article on G-forces and the Oregon pilot's near-miss here.

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