SAN DIEGO — The Marine Corps pilot who safely landed a KC-130J tanker in a California discipline after a mid-air collision with an F-35B in 2020 obtained the very best army aviation award Wednesday in San Diego, the Marines stated in a information launch.
Marine Capt. Michael Wolff, a KC-130J Tremendous Hercules pilot, obtained the Distinguished Flying Cross at a ceremony at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, the Marines stated, for touchdown “efficiently after shedding two engines in flight.”
Wolff landed the four-engine aircraft in a farmer’s discipline with the assistance of six crewmembers and a co-pilot, the Marine Corps stated.
What the Marines’ information launch doesn’t say is that Wolff misplaced these two engines as a result of a mid-air collision with a Marine Corps F-35B Lightning II jet whereas conducting refueling operations on Sept. 29, 2020. The pilot of the F-35 safely ejected earlier than the jet crashed within the Imperial County desert. The four-engine KC-130, its two right-side engines closely broken within the collision, made an emergency touchdown in a discipline close to the Salton Sea.
“I’m grateful how every thing turned out. I’m joyful to be alive,” Wolff stated in a press release. “I nonetheless love flying, and I used to be joyful to stand up within the air as quickly as I may afterwards. Everybody did their half and got here collectively.”
The Miramar-based third Marine Air Wing didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark Friday.
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