“On January 3, 1976, my Radar Intercept Officer (RIO) , Ger Lindgren, and myself were leading a three ship of USMC F-4J Phantom II of VMFA-333 from Beaufort, South Carolina, our home base, to NAS Oceana, Virginia in preparation for our deployment aboard the USS Nimitz CVN 68. Since it was a short flight from Beaufort to Oceana, we had about 9000# of fuel remaining.

During the rollout on final, on speed at approximately 350 feet AGL, we experienced a severe compressor stall on the left engine followed by an immediate loss of power. With full flaps and the fuel on board, although the right engine afterburner did light, I was unable to arrest the sink rate.

When it became apparent we would not reach the runway, I commanded ejection, initiated by my RIO. Thanks to the situational awareness of my back-seater and the exemplary performance of the Martin-Baker H7 ejection seat, I survived the ejection from 50-100′ AGL with 800-1000 fpm rate of descent in the aircraft. I only received about one half swing in the chute, but that was all I needed. Thank you Martin-Baker for giving me these extra years!”