Pilot recounts crash at Lethbridge airshow
Posted Aug 17, 2010 4:52 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A CF-18 fighter pilot is speaking out for the first time about how he defied death by only a few seconds.
On July 23rd, Captain Brian Bews ejected from his jet moments before it crashed and went up in a fireball at a Lethbridge airstrip.
He’d been on a practice run for the Alberta International Airshow.
It all happened in seconds.
Captain Bews says he felt some turbulence and the jet started sliding.
That’s when he knew he had to get out and ejected with 5,000 pounds of thrust.
He hit the ground hard four seconds later, injuring his back. He was then dragged by his parachute straight toward a barbed-wire fence.
Despite all that, Captain Bews says he wants back in the air. “I’ve been asked, ‘do you have any reservations about getting back in the cockpit?’ Absolutely not,” he says. “I wish I could fly today.”
Captain Bews has to wear a back brace right now, but is expected to make a full recovery. Doctors say it could be another couple of months before he can fly again.
He spoke about the incident for the first time Tuesday at the Military Museums in southwest Calgary.
