   LT Edward A. Dickson was hit by Triple A fire while on his bombing run. Despite the damage and a warning from his wingman, he continued his run and delivered the ordanance on target. He made it "Feet Wet", but the flames were engulfing his aircraft and he ejected. The seat egressed from the aircraft but no chute deployment was witnessed. During a two day SAR effort no sign of LT Dickson was found. In 1985 the Vietnamese handed over his ID card to confirm an earlier claim that his body had been recovered and buried. One year earlier, in 1964, LT Dickson, during a training flight over California's Sierra Neveda Mountains, had an engine failure and was forced to eject from his Skyhawk. The seat egressed the aircraft properly but the parachute did not open. LT Dickson fortunately landed in deep soft snow on a steep mountain slope. After a slide down the mountain he was able to walk away from his ejection unhurt. Later, while being transported down the mountain, along with his undepoyed parachute, his chute suddenly deployed as they progressed below 10,000 feet in altitude. Working as designed, the chute's barometric sensor had not activitated until it dropped below its setting of 10,000 feet. With mountains in the area over that height, aircraft operating there had their seats reprogrammed to open at 14,000 feet. |