As a young fighter pilot in training at RAF Brawdy in South Wales I was tasked to fly a Hunter on an air combat training sortie as part of a four-ship formation with another aircraft as the ‘bounce.’  It was Friday the 13^th of May 1977 and we tried several times to fly the mission, eventually getting airborne that afternoon.  At 20,000’ feet I opened the throttle to full power to start a manoeuvre and the engine suffered an uncontained failure, which resulted in a very sudden deceleration and most of the warning lights in the cockpit illuminating.  I was over the Irish Sea and about 20-miles from land, so I tried to glide as close to land as possible.  Unfortunately, the fire burned through the controls and I ejected in a steep dive at 9,000’ feet and 330kts.  I completed my drills, enjoyed the parachute decent and was in my dingy about 10-minutes later.  The Whirlwind rescue helicopter from RAF Brawdy was scrambled and I was recovered 45-minutes after I had ejected.  After a short stay in sick bay, I was released to enjoy my weekend and was back in the cockpit on the Monday morning.  I went on to have two wonderful children and now grandchildren too and a full career in the RAF, retiring as an Air Marshal in 2011.  I am relishing my second career with Lockheed Martin in the UK, as the Chief Executive – thank you Martin-Baker for making this possible.  Today ‘13’ is my lucky number!