he thought. Reflexively, he pulled power and bunted the nose down, dangerously steepening his rate of descent.
On the platform, Shakey and the others immediately sensed disaster. The Hornet was high and fast, and at a quarter mile Shakey heard the strike fighter pull power to correct. The deck was coming up now, fast, and Sponge was in danger of overcorrecting and flying through glide slope. If he did, he could impale himself on the ramp, the opposite of hitting the top loading strap of the barricade.
“Pickle him!” Stretch screamed.
Shakey squeezed the wave-off switch and shoved the handle to the bottom. “Wave off! Wave off!” Within the next couple of seconds, the rate of collision between Sponge and the ramp or Sponge and the barricade picked up considerably. He must have been way back on the power! thought Shakey as he screamed, “BURNER! BURNER! BURNER!”
Dutch and Stretch shouted the same into their handsets. As a result, they saw the afterburners stage and the white burner plume leap from the tailpipes as the engine pitch changed to a booming roar. The Hornet continued to settle and the ramp continued to rise, with the red glow from the wave-off lights now reflecting off the bottom of the aircraft. Sponge had stopped his rate of descent and was now safe from collision with the ramp. The LSOs, however, were horrified as they watched the plane head for the top loading strap.
If Sponge hit the strap, the aircraft would smash violently onto the deck. The potential results were ominous: Sponge might be knocked out; the ejection mechanism might be crunched; the aircraft might explode into a mass of twisted metal and fire; or the wreckage, whatever its condition, might slide off the angle into the dark sea.
Shakey froze as he focused on Sponge’s hook point, time seeming to slow as the Hornet thundered over them. Oh, God, please, he prayed, and turned his body left.
Dutch shouted, “Holy shiiit!”
Traveling at over 130 knots, the hook point nicked the top loading strap. The hit started an undulating motion that quickly moved from the heavy steel cable to the stanchions. At that instant the burner plume passed over the barricade and shook it violently, the plume igniting a small grease fire at the top of two nylon bundles.
The LSOs, stunned by what they had just witnessed, watched the small fire struggle with the wind and rain. Sponge climbed out ahead of the ship at a steep angle, burner cans still white.
