13 Nov 1991, USS Eisenhower: During a mission in the Persian Gulf this VF-142 aircraft lost its radome when the latching mechanism failed. During the departure the radome came in contact with the canopy and broke out the forward glass and shattered the windscreen. The pilot suffered a broken right collarbone and glass in both eyes, but managed to bring the jet back to the ship for a perfect two wire landing. Forward visibility was restricted to looking through a three inch hole in the left windscreen since the rest of the forward glass was so badly cracked. The pilot was LCDR Joe Edwards and the RIO was LCDR Scott Grundmeier. LCDR Edwards was medevac'd to Bahrain for eye surgery then home to the US. LAter on he was a pilot for NASA in the Space Shuttle program. Both crew members received Distinguished Flying Crosses for their remarkable achievement. Aircraft is believed to be 161433.
1 Dec 1982 - I was flying an F-14A with LCDR Steve "Drifty" Smith over the Pacific Ocean off Southern California, and our mission was to shoot an AIM-7