A USAF Pilot Safely Pulled Off An Emergency Manual Landing of Her A-10 Warthog

Kim Campbell, a pilot in the US Air Force, demonstrated remarkable expertise during a dire situation in Afghanistan. After her Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II was hit by an enemy missile, Campbell experienced a loss of hydraulic control. Nonetheless, her skillful management of the aircraft allowed her to return to base safely, protecting both herself and her flight leader.

Kim Campbell's A-10 Warthog is struck by an enemy missile

On April 7, 2003, Kim Campbell undertook a mission to strike an Iraqi command post in Baghdad. However, during the flight with her lead, Lt. Col. Rick "Bino" Turner, they received an urgent request for air support from the 3rd Infantry Division, who were under attack.

Navigating through the city, Campbell and Turner faced the challenge of minimizing civilian casualties and avoiding damage to infrastructure. They also had to contend with the constant threat of surface-to-air missiles, necessitating careful maneuvers to protect Campbell's A-10 Warthog from potential strikes. Despite the heightened risks due to dense cloud cover, they continued their mission.

Executing multiple runs and employing rockets and 30 mm bullets against enemy forces, the operation initially seemed successful. However, disaster struck on their final approach when Campbell's A-10 was engulfed by an ominous orange fireball , causing severe damage to the hydraulics system and sending the aircraft plunging towards the ground.

Kim Campbell was trained in how to manually fly the A-10 Warthog

Kim Campbell's flight training immediately took over. She first focused on maintaining control of the aircraft, later recalling , “In an emergency situation like that, I felt like time slowed down. I knew I had to take quick action but I also had to figure out what was going on in my cockpit.” Her solution was to manually fly the A-10.

Despite the challenge, the A-10 is one of the few aircraft that can function without hydraulics, thanks to its manual reversion system. This allows the pilot to continue flying in emergencies.

“Aircraft control in the manual flight mode is exceptionally demanding of piloting skills,” noted the Air Force Human Resources Laboratory in a 1982 report on the manual reversion system.

A quick lesson while under fire

Campbell had to reteach herself how to manually fly while being shot at by anti-aircraft fire. Thankfully, her skills as a pilot were honed enough that she didn't struggle too much. “Once I flipped the switch to manual reversion, I don’t remember it being overly difficult,” she said. “I was just so relieved the airplane was finally climbing and responding.”

Campbell and Turner were able to get out of the combat zone relatively unscathed after the critical hit, and the pilot manually flew the A-10 for 300 miles to Kuwait.

Landing manually is a completely different ball game

Landing an A-10 manually is a completely different challenge; without hydraulics, making precise adjustments becomes significantly harder. It’s so challenging that the manual reversion checklist advises to "attempt only under ideal conditions."

Kim Campbell, however, didn’t have the luxury of such conditions. Her aircraft was riddled with bullet holes and had damage to the right horizontal stabilizer. After discussing her options with Turner and assessing the risks, they decided to try a manual landing. Campbell later noted “[Turner's] actions after I was hit were absolutely critical. I was so focused on flying the airplane, getting it under control, whereas he had more awareness of what was going on around me.”

Campbell successfully landed the A-10 and was later awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for her efforts. Lt. Col. Mike Millen, Chief of the 355th Fighter Wing Commander’s Action Group, remarked, “Kim landed that jet with no hydraulics better than I land the A-10 every day with all systems operational.”

Interestingly, when Campbell later practiced manual landings in simulators, she wasn't as successful.

Kim Campbell went right back to it

Even though she showed bravery in the moment, Kim Campbell confessed that she was truly frightened inside. “When I go back and listen to the audio recording [of the flight], I can hear the fear, I just didn’t have time to think about it,” she recalled. Nevertheless, she climbed back into the cockpit the next day.

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Now retired, Campbell logged 1,800 hours of flight time and completed over 100 combat missions in the A-10. For her, it’s all about being an excellent pilot. "I never wanted to be labeled as a female fighter pilot," she explained. "I wanted to be the best pilot. So just work hard and be credible. Be good at what you do."