NASA’s C-130 Hercules and crew safely touched down at McMurdo Station, Antarctica, after an around-the-globe journey to deliver the agency’s Galactic/Extragalactic ULDB Spectroscopic Terahertz Observatory (GUSTO). The United States research station, operated by the National Science Foundation, is host to NASA’s Antarctic long-duration balloon campaign in which the GUSTO mission will take a scientific balloon flight beginning December 2023.
The C-130 crew, which has now completed half of the 26,400-nautical-mile round-trip journey, first stopped at Fort Cavazos, Texas, on Oct. 17, to load the GUSTO observatory and members of its instrument team. Additional stops to service the aircraft and for crew rest included Travis Air Force Base (AFB), California; Hickman AFB, Hawaii; Pago Pago, American Samoa; and Christchurch, New Zealand, before finally reaching McMurdo, Antarctica – a mere 800 miles from the South Pole.

GUSTO, part of NASA’s Astrophysics Explorers Program, is set to fly aboard a football-stadium-sized, zero-pressure scientific balloon 55 days and beyond, on a mapping mission of a portion of the Milky Way Galaxy and nearby Large Magellanic Cloud. A telescope with carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen emission line detectors will measure the interstellar medium, the cosmic material found between stars, and trace the full lifecycle of that matter. GUSTO’s science observations will be performed in a balloon launch from Antarctica to allow for enough observation time aloft, access to astronomical objects, and solar power provided by the austral summer in the polar region.
NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility Aircraft Office in Wallops Island, Virginia, which manages the C-130, spent nearly a year in coordination efforts preparing for GUSTO’s trip to its launch site. From international clearances with agencies, cargo configurations with NASA’s Balloon Program Office, logistical support with the National Science Foundation at McMurdo, to specialized training on nontraditional navigation systems in Antarctica, the Aircraft Office developed an extensive plan to safely deliver the intricate science payload.
The first-ever mission to Antarctica for the NASA C-130 aircraft presented several long-haul cargo flight challenges. Mission managers and NASA’s Office of International and Interagency Relations (OIIR) started early to stay ahead of coordination of international flight clearances.
“We work very hard to make sure that we execute the mission at a high standard of technical competence and professionalism to maintain NASA’s international reputation,” said John Baycura, Wallops research pilot on the GUSTO mission.
Large time-zone changes challenge the crew’s circadian rhythm. Ninety hours in flight across multiple time zones requires an extra pilot and flight engineer on the mission to share the workload. Mandatory crew rest days at strategic locations, per NASA policy, ensure the crew receives enough time to rest, adjust to the schedule, and proceed safely.

Unexpected weather also tops the list of most pressing challenges for this type of flight. Oceanic crossings come with the added risk of weather complicated by no radar coverage over the ocean. The crew uses DOD and civilian weather agencies to identify hazardous weather and adjust flight routes, altitude, and timings accordingly. “For the specific case of McMurdo, while en route, we called the weather shop at McMurdo Station to get a forecast update before we reached our ‘safe return’ point. Using a conservative approach, we decided whether to continue to McMurdo Station or return to Christchurch and try again the next day,” said Baycura.
For this mission, no commercial entities supported the final leg to Antarctica. U.S. Air Force C-17’s and the New York Air National Guard LC-130’s that typically transport to McMurdo Station had limited space in their schedules. By using NASA’s C-130 for this specialized cargo mission, “the balloon program gained a dedicated asset with a highly experienced crew and support team. This greatly reduced the standard project risks to schedule, cargo, and cost,” said Baycura.

70-year-old California man is waiting quietly for officials from the Department of Defense (DoD) to contact him after he flew his private plane over Area 51 out of curiosity, the Daily Caller has learned.
The private pilot successfully flew over the Nevada Test and Training Range (NTTR) inside the Nellis Air Force Base, a highly classified military installation commonly known as Area 51, and is now awaiting punishment from authorities, he told the DOA in multiple voice messages.


Flight log [Daily Caller obtained]

He flew over Area 51 in a slightly diagonal line around Emigrant Valley and Groom Lake inside Area 51, according to an open source flight record obtained by the Daily Caller. Area 51 airspace typically requires permission from air traffic control to enter because of its sensitive military contents.The Daily Caller identified the private pilot by using pilot registration records and cross referencing the model of the plane. The man in question confirmed his flight over Area 51 to the Daily Caller and said he did it to test “frequencies” in restricted air space.
He told the Daily Caller he mostly saw desert and mountains in the restricted air space, with no signs of UFOs or alien life forms. He said the plane was not intercepted by military aircrafts despite Area 51’s notorious sensitivity and military exercises.
The man expects to be in touch with the U.S. military because of the incident and believes his pilot’s license will be suspended after an extended bureaucratic process, he told the Daily Caller. The Caller is protecting his identity because of the sensitivity of the situation.
The NTTR is a Major Range Test Facility Base (MRTB) where advanced military training and tactical development takes place alongside research for the DoD and Department of Energy, according to the Nellis Air Force base.

“There are several agencies that have jurisdiction over various parts of the Nevada Test and Training Range. The U.S. Air Force controls the airspace over the range and roughly 2.9 million acres of land withdrawn for military use. Various organizations including the Department of Energy, Department of the Interior and private towns such as Rachel also manage portions of the land,” a spokesperson for the Nellis Air Force Base told the Caller in a statement.
“As a matter of practice, we do not discuss specific security measures. The Nevada Test and Training Range provides flexible, realistic and multidimensional battlespace to test and develop tactics as well as conduct advanced training in support of U.S. national interests; any attempt to illegally access the area is highly discouraged,” the spokesperson added.
The CIA first acknowledged the Area 51 testing site in August 2013 when the agency complied with a public records request from George Washington University scholars, Reuters reported.
Area 51 was developed by the CIA in the 1950s to test U-2 reconnaissance planes and it was later used during the Cold War to develop the Air Force’s stealth capabilities, the documents obtained by George Washington’s National Security Archive show.
The predecessor to the Department of Energy officially added Area 51 to its Nevada testing site with a 1958 land use order, records indicate. The area is located roughly 80 miles north of Las Vegas, Nevada, and covers roughly 38,000 acres or 60 square miles of terrain.
Area 51 was hidden from the American public for decades and its secrecy has garnered widespread speculation surrounding the presence of potential UFOs and extraterrestrial life.
One example, the Roswell incident in 1947, revolved around a suspected UFO found outside of Roswell, New Mexico, that some believe was brought to Area 51 for testing and experiments. The reports of a flying saucer around Roswell generated mass speculation about UFOs at the beginning of the Cold War between the U.S. and Soviet Union, according to the National Air and Space Museum.
The Roswell incident continues to be a source of theorizing and speculation, as shown by the History Channel’s August 2023 “UFO Hunters” episode centered around the suspected UFO sighting.
The FBI initially believes the flying saucer spotted in Roswell was a weather balloon with a radar attached to it, according to a 1947 memo from the FBI’s Dallas field office. The U.S. Air Force later investigated the Roswell incident in the 1990s and concluded the flying saucer was from a balloon research project.
In addition, the Air Force investigation found that claims of alien bodies observed in the desert were either the result of test dummies from the research project or a combination of mishaps that tragically took the lives of Air Force personnel.
Three witnesses testified in July before the House Oversight Subcommittee on National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs
for a hearing related to Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP), more commonly known as UFOs.
David Grusch, a whistleblower and former DoD employee, testified with two Navy veterans about suspected UAP encounters and the U.S. government’s alleged knowledge of them. Grusch also made explosive allegations surrounding the U.S. government’s alleged discovery of alien life forms and a widespread government coverup of such knowledge. His allegations remain uncorroborated.
The DoD launched a website in August with the goal of providing declassified photos and videos of resolved UAP cases in addition to other resources related to UAPs. The new website is run by the DoD’s All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office and was authorized as part of the fiscal year 2023 National Defense Authorization Act.
In late January and early February, a Chinese spy balloon flew over U.S. airspace for several days and traveled over sensitive military sites before being shot down at the direction of President Joe Biden. The balloon was made with commercial American technology and specialized Chinese equipment indicating it was part of a spy mission.
The DoD did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.

Seeing the interest to host the National Championship Air Races at each of these unique venues gives me great hope for the future of air racing,” said Fred Telling, CEO and chairman of the board for the Reno Air Racing Association. “We’re looking for our next home, somewhere we can celebrate many more anniversaries, so we’ve assembled an expert committee that is putting an extreme amount of care and diligence into choosing our next location.”
The bidders that responded to the request for proposals include:

• Casper, Wyo.                         ·Buckeye, Ariz.
• Pueblo, Colo.                         ·Roswell, N. Mex.
• Thermal, Calif.                       ·Wendover, Utah

The National Championship Air Races is a unique event that has called northern Nevada home since its founding in 1964, nearly 60 years ago. In the past 10 years alone, the event has attracted more than one million visitors to the region, generated more than $750 million for the economy and contributed significant aviation-related education and outreach to schools and non-profits all around the area.
The committee researching the bid submissions is made up of RARA personnel from all areas, including operations, safety, security, business development, and more. The race classes are also represented in the group and will continue to be an integral part of the selection process. At this point, the selection committee is thoroughly vetting the different proposals and will conduct site visits later this year. There are numerous factors to consider, but a few of the critical requirements for the event include considerable open land available for the racecourses, suitable runways, ramp, and hangar space, administrative and security facilities, as well as proximity to hotels, commercial airports, and restaurants.

“We only want to go through this process once and because of that, we’re going to make sure our next location is the best fit for the future of the air races,” said Terry Matter, board member and chairman of the selection committee. “Each of the bidders’ proposals were thoroughly prepared and completely addressed the RARA RFP requirements. We are so grateful for their initial attendance at the bidders’ conferences and at NCAR in September, and for the time and effort each one of them put into their proposal preparation. It is very exciting to know that our new home will be in one of these great cities. Soon our Site Selection Committee will visit these locations to further evaluate their ability to be the future host of the National Championship Air Races.”
A final decision is expected to be announced early next year as the organization prepares for a final air show in Reno in 2024 before moving to the new location in 2025. For more information and ways to support the organization, visit www.airrace.org.
About the National Championship Air Races
The National Championship Air Races are held every September just north of Reno by the Reno Air Racing Association, a 501(c)(3). The event has become an institution for Northern Nevada and aviation enthusiasts from around the world with seven racing classes, a large display of static aircraft and several military and civilian flight demonstrations. Independent economic impact studies show that the event generates as much as $100 million annually for the local economy. For more information on the National Championship Air Races, visit AirRace.org.

Daher has recently surpassed 500 deliveries of the TBM 900 series single turboprop. The milestone aircraft was handed over to a U.S. customer just ahead of NBAA-BACE 2023.
The TBM 900 was first introduced in 2014, following the production of 324 TBM 700s and 338 TBM 850s. The first of these aircraft—the TBM 700 initially developed jointly by Socata (formerly Morane-Saulnier) and Mooney—made its first flight on July 14, 1988. The more powerful TBM 850 first flew in 2005, shortly before Daher took a 70 percent stake in what had become Eads-Socata. It subsequently acquired the remaining 30 percent from Eads.
Notably, the TBM 900 ushered in winglets and a Hartzell five-blade scimitar propeller, among other improvements to the turboprop. The family evolved through the 930 (2016, a higher-end version with Garmin G3000 touchscreen cockpit), the 910 (2018, similar to the 900 with G1000 NXi avionics), and the 940 (2019, a derivative of the 930 with autothrottle and, from 2020, the Homesafe emergency autoland system).
Today the flagship is the TBM 960, which is powered by a PT6E-66XT turboprop with dual-channel digital electronic propeller and engine control. Following its unveiling in 2022, the TBM 960 has been a strong seller. Deliveries had reached 92 at the end of September, and more than 100 aircraft are on order. That equates to more than two years of production.

Ural Airlines A320 (reg. RA-73805), that will attempt a take-off from its current location, after the aircraft ran out of fuel and landed in a grass field on September 12th.
The airline confirmed the decision to make the Airbus A320 to takeoff form its current location


The airline is awaiting the delivery of lifts to carry out landing gear testing.
The plan also includes dismantling the seats to make the aircraft lighter.

A potential solution to carbon-free flying is inching closer to reality.
Since the start of this year, small planes equipped with hydrogen fuel cells have made their first test flights over the U.S. West Coast and the English countryside. The aviation startups ZeroAvia and Universal Hydrogen now claim their novel aircraft will be ready to start flying commercially as early as 2025.
A new analysis suggests that, if the technology can scale, it could sharply reduce greenhouse gas emissions for certain planes — and potentially lay the groundwork for decarbonizing broader swaths of the global aviation market.



Retrofitting a propeller plane with fuel cells and liquid-hydrogen tanks would result in a nearly 90 percent reduction in life-cycle emissions, compared to the original aircraft, according to the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), a nonprofit think tank. That’s assuming the hydrogen is made using only renewable electricity —not with fossil fuels, the way the vast majority of hydrogen is produced today.
Fuel cells work somewhat like batteries. On planes, hydrogen flows into the fuel-cell system and spurs an electrochemical reaction that produces electricity; this in turn drives electric motors and spins propellers. But barring a technological breakthrough, fuel cells can’t produce enough power to carry the large, long-distance aircraft that are responsible for the bulk of aviation’s carbon dioxide emissions.
Instead, the tech will likely be restricted to short-haul, turboprop airliners that can seat roughly 50 to 60 passengers and fly just a few hundred miles, such as the distance from New York City to Washington, D.C. Today’s turboprops represent about 1 percent of global passenger traffic.
Still, experts say fuel cells could help pave the way for larger and more powerful hydrogen models, including potentially jets with combustion engines that burn liquid hydrogen. Airbus and Boeing, the world’s top two aircraft makers, are both developing hydrogen technologies as the industry faces growing public pressure to address climate change.
“The introduction of the fuel-cell aircraft will be the testing ground for just generally using hydrogen in aviation,” Jayant Mukhopadhaya, aerospace engineer and a Berlin-based researcher for ICCT, told Canary Media. ​“How will it work at airports, how is the refueling going to happen, how does hydrogen get delivered, what safety concerns you’re going to have — all of those bits and pieces.”
Why hydrogen is gaining favor Around the world, commercial air travel accounts for over 2 percent of energy-related CO2 emissions, according to the International Energy Agency. That number is set to soar in the coming years as more oil-burning planes and more passengers hit the skies.
In the near term, airlines and plane manufacturers are working to curb emissions by designing more fuel-efficient engines, electrifying ground operations and increasing their use of ​“sustainable aviation fuel” made from used cooking oil, forestry residues, carbon dioxide and other feedstocks. Last year, alternative fuels accounted for less than 0.1 percent of the total jet fuel used by major U.S. airlines.
Although plant- and waste-based fuels can be cleaner to produce than petroleum-based fuel, they still emit carbon dioxide when burned in engines. Hydrogen does not — that’s why airlines and manufacturers are joining efforts to develop H2-powered aircraft. Fuel cells in particular don’t generate harmful nitrogen oxides or fine particulate matter, since they don’t burn fuel.
A retrofitted fuel-cell aircraft would emit about one-third less CO2 over its lifetime than an aircraft burning ​“e-kerosene,” a type of sustainable aviation fuel made from electricity, water and carbon dioxide, according to the ICCT analysis.

Hydrogen, especially of the ​“green” variety, costs significantly more to make and buy than conventional kerosene. However, because fuel-cell systems are far more energy-efficient than engines, aircraft don’t need to use as much fuel to fly. If green-hydrogen production ramps up and fuel-cell aircraft catch on, it could be cheaper to refuel with H2 than fossil jet fuel in the United States in 2050, the ICCT said in a white paper published on Wednesday.
“The most surprising part was the [energy] efficiency impacting the price of fuel,” Mukhopadhaya said. ​“That was something we weren’t expecting.”


Hydrogen aviation takes first flightsZeroAvia and Universal Hydrogen, both headquartered in California, have spent the first half of 2023 testing and demonstrating some of the world’s first hydrogen fuel-cell aircraft.
In January, ZeroAvia first launched its 19-seat prototype plane at Cotswold Airport, a private airfield near the English village of Kemble surrounded by farms and grazing sheep. The blue-and-white Dornier 228 has now flown 10 times, hitting key milestones and enabling the company to begin the next phase of flight testing.
ZeroAvia, which has raised over $140 million from investors including United Airlines and American Airlines, retrofitted one side of its twin-engine turboprop with fuel cells and batteries, which can reach a maximum power of 600 kilowatts. The other side kept its oil-burning jet engine. Over the course of six months, the aircraft reached a maximum speed of 150 knots, flew to a height of 5,000 feet and performed an endurance test for 23 minutes.
“There was no malfunction of the fuel cell during the flight-test campaign,” Gabriele Teofili, ZeroAvia’s head of aircraft integration and testing, said on a recent call from the airport’s hangar, tilting his laptop to show the prototype parked behind him.
Teofili said the company successfully demonstrated to the U.K. Civil Aviation Authority that the hydrogen-electric system behaved as expected — and that the aircraft has enough range to fly to another nearby airport. ZeroAvia is now preparing to begin its first cross-country flights in England before the end of this year. It’s also working to retrofit a second regional turboprop in Washington state, in partnership with Alaska Airlines.
“The idea is to demonstrate that it’s not only possible, but it’s safe, it’s reliable, and it’s profitable,” Teofili said of the hydrogen aircraft. He noted that ZeroAvia plans to shed the batteries and engines that it’s using during testing to deliver a final aircraft powered only by a 1.8-megawatt fuel cell. The company claims it’s on track for commercial operations in 2025, starting with a nine- to 19-seat aircraft with a 300-mile range.


Meanwhile, Universal Hydrogen says it’s making progress on an even bigger retrofitted turboprop. The company has raised at least $82.5 million from investors such as GE Aviation, American Airlines and the venture capital arms of Airbus, JetBlue and Toyota.
In March, the Los Angeles–based startup launched its first test flight from a small airport near Moses Lake, Washington. Its 40-passenger Dash 8 prototype has one original engine, plus a 1.2-megawatt fuel cell and 800-kilowatt electric motor, with no batteries.
Mark Cousin, Universal Hydrogen’s CTO, said the aircraft has flown nine total times, including a series of trips from Washington down to Mojave, California, where the plane now resides. The prototype climbed up to 10,000 feet high, hit speeds of 170 knots, and operated for more than an hour in flight. The company is continuing to test key elements of the hydrogen powertrain, including the cooling system that keeps the fuel cell from overheating — a challenge that can limit the technology’s performance and range.
Universal Hydrogen is also preparing to ground test a 2 MW powertrain on an ATR 72 turboprop, which could begin flight-testing in 2025, Cousin said. The company aims to enter a hydrogen-fueled aircraft into passenger service later that year or in early 2026.
Both ZeroAvia and Universal Hydrogen are using hydrogen in its gaseous form to power fuel cells during flight testing, though the companies plan to use liquid hydrogen eventually. The fuel is less widely available today, but it packs more energy on a volume basis than gaseous H2 and can be stored in fewer, lighter tanks on the aircraft.
Along with retrofit conversion kits, Universal Hydrogen is also developing liquid-hydrogen storage capsules. The idea is to collect hydrogen from electrolyzer plants, which use water and renewable electricity to produce ​“green” hydrogen — and today remain few and far between. Trucks or trains would then transport the capsules to airports.
Cousin said the company’s ultimate goal is to convince airlines and major airplane manufacturers that it’s possible to develop the necessary infrastructure for powering larger hydrogen-burning aircraft. Airbus, for instance, is building a demonstration engine to test hydrogen propulsion in one of its A380 superjumbo jets.
“The real objective is to demonstrate not only that we can fly a [turboprop] on hydrogen, but also to demonstrate that hydrogen propulsion…is a viable solution for short- to medium-range operations,” he said.

Two passengers on an Air Canada flight were reportedly escorted off an airplane for refusing to sit in wet, vomit-covered seats.
Susan Benson was fellow passenger on the same Aug. 26 flight from Seattle to Montreal sitting near the vomit. She shared the incident in a now-viral Facebook post to hold the airline accountable because she felt it was unfair to the passengers.
"There was a bit of a foul smell but we didn’t know at first what the problem was,” Benson wrote in the post. “Apparently, on the previous flight someone had vomited in that area. Air Canada attempted a quick cleanup before boarding but clearly wasn’t able to do a thorough clean.”

According to Benson, the seatbelt and seat were still visibly wet and there was vomit residue around the seats. The smell of vomit mixed with the scent of perfume and coffee grinds, which were put in the seat pouch to mask the smell.
The passengers flagged down a flight attendant to tell her they couldn’t sit in those seats for the five-hour flight, calling the incident “unacceptable,” Benson told USA TODAY over the phone. 

“The passengers were clearly upset and clearly bothered,” Benson said. “They were not rude, not yelling, not belligerent. They were firm and just insistent that she couldn’t sit in that.”
According to Benson, the flight attendants were “extremely apologetic” and said, “it was a miscommunication with the cleaning crew the night before and the seat didn’t get cleaned properly.” They also told the passengers there was nothing they could do because all the seats were full.

After some back and forth, the passengers were given blankets, wipes and more vomit bags and settled in for the flight. ​

Security came soon after and escorted the women off the flight. “Air Canada literally expects passage (sic) to sit in vomit or be escorted off the plane and placed on a no-fly list!” Benson wrote. 
The flight ended up being 31 minutes delayed but made it to Montreal safely. 
Benson told USA TODAY that she posted details of the incident online to hold Air Canada accountable so “they would do something about it.” She feels as if the airline treated the passengers unfairly. 
Air Canada did not respond immediately to USA TODAY’s request for comment but shared a statement with Insider saying, “We are reviewing this serious matter internally and have followed up with the customers directly as our operating procedures were not followed correctly in this instance. This includes apologizing to these customers, as they clearly did not receive the standard of care to which they were entitled and addressing their concerns.”
“I really hope they actually do something and not just say they do to keep the peace,” Benson said. “(The passengers) weren’t unreasonable at all in my opinion.”

 The Las Vegas Air Races, a new aviation experience, has been announced for fall next year.
The Las Vegas Spaceport announced that the motorsport event is planned for Oct. 25-27, 2024, at its facility near Pahrump.
Organizers say the Las Vegas Air Races will feature aircraft reaching speeds of up to 500 miles per hour in an "up-close and thrilling encounter."


More than 500 vendors will showcase products, and the event will be designed to accommodate more than 25,000 people. There will also be drone races, rocket launch demonstrations and live music.
"Ensuring safety is paramount as we execute our plan to draw visitors to the Las Vegas Spaceport and establish our brand," Robert Lauer, CEO of the Las Vegas Spaceport, said in a statement. "Our upcoming Air Races event in the coming year will serve as a demonstration, not only for the FAA but also for the public, reaffirming our unwavering commitment to safety compliance.
The announcement comes as the Reno Air Races approaches its final edition later this month. Organizers cited the significant growth in the North Valleys region where the event is held as the reason for sunsetting the event.

We’ve all made mistakes on the job. Luckily, our mistakes don’t often put us in an almost certain death scenario that we narrowly escape from, becoming a legend of the aviation community in the process. However, one man that did exactly that is Walter “Taffy” Holden in his infamous flight in 1966. ​

An engineer by trade, Holden joined the cadets to go to university in 1943, where he gained a mechanical engineering degree. He gained minimal experience in small, single-engine aircraft during training, in which he flew a biplane and then did some training in a propeller aircraft called the DHC-1 Chipmunk. While Holden did gain his pilot wings, he continued to pursue engineering and became in command of the No. 33 Maintenance Unit of the Royal Air Force (RAF) at RAF Lyneham by 1966. As such, his only experience was in tiny, slow, and simple aircraft – nothing of which prepared him to fly one of the fastest jet fighters of the generation. 
Holden's unit maintained their premier jet fighter, the English Electric Lightning F.1. Powered by two huge engines and built to travel in straight lines at speeds of up to Mach 2 (2,470 km/h, 1,535 mph), the Lightning was an incredible feat of engineering. It had afterburning engines (that’s the jet of fire you see coming from the back of supersonic jets) and was the first jet able to supercruise, meaning it didn’t even need these afterburners to sustain supersonic flights. Essentially, this jet was seriously, seriously quick. 
On that fateful day, Taffy was working on the jet, trying to replicate an electrical problem that occurred when the plane whirred up to speed. He climbed into the cockpit to press the throttle a bit – however, in doing so, he depressed the throttle so much, it engaged the afterburners, causing a surge in power that saw hurtling down the runway. 


No problem, right? Just power down the engines. Except this jet in question had locking gates on the throttle once the afterburners were engaged, and Taffy wasn’t trained on how to release them. Someone had luckily told him prior to the maintenance, but he was going too fast and there was another plane that he had to avoid in front of him – he had to make a snap decision, and he chose to take off. 
Equipped with no helmet, no communications with someone that actually knew how to fly the thing, and landing gear locked in the down position, Taffy blasted through the runway and narrowly avoided the other aircraft before leaving the ground. He tried to eject, but the ejection seat was in service mode, so he was stuck inside. 
He managed to disengage the engines and turned the jet around, trying to land on a different runway. The first attempt was not going to end well so Taffy aborted, and he also aborted the second attempt. 
Finally, he managed to come in at the right angle and go slow enough to touch down, where he then used a maneuver called the “taildragger” in which he slammed the aircraft's tail down onto the runway; he had learned this from single-seat aircraft, though it is certainly not ideal for the Lightning. Taffy climbed out and reportedly said “terribly sorry Sir” - perhaps the most British reaction possible.  
The aircraft was repaired and returned to service, and now lies fully intact in the Imperial War Museum in Duxford. 
Taffy was found to have acted in the best interests of himself and the aircraft, and stayed in the RAF until retiring many years later. He died in 2016, aged 90, leaving behind the ridiculous and much-loved story of an engineer that accidentally flew a jet.