A4G Skyhawk on HMAS Melbourne Deck Ops early 1970s

Greyscale video with music by TOOL. The pilot closing the canopy at the beginning is the pilot who has a cold cat shot in 889 going over the side. The pilot expertly stays with the aircraft and comes to the surface safely once the ship propellors have passed overhead. He is picked up by the SAR Wessex 31B and returned to the deck. The other minor mishap shows an A4G rolling onto its port drop tank due to an off centre arrest caused by the wallowing motion of the deck in poor conditions. The deck crew put the Skyhawk back on its wheels with very minor damage to the tank and wingtip. The whole time the engine is running at idle so deck crew were careful. The catapult crew do not look down into the fuel and steam to watch the launch, it tastes awful. :-)