Originally Posted by
Dr Jekyll
Wasn't one of those ejections from an FAA Phantomt?
28 April 1968 - F-4 Vietnam. Shot down & Rescued.......Martin-Baker ejectee #2108
14 Sep 1970 F-4J San Diego. Flame out. ‘Lack of fuel’. #2867
22 Sep 1971 F-4 pilot’s canopy loss. #3127
15 Oct 1973 - RN FAA Phantom – double engine flame out. #3717
No real details on final F-14 ejection, though a friend is quoted as saying:
"The real RIO in question was Lt. David J. “Goose” Lortscher. His callsign Goose later became part of the [Top Gun] movie. I knew him in the F-14 RAG, VF-124 although I don’t think I ever flew with him. He already had a couple of ejections and we used to laugh that we did not want to fly with him because he was, “bad luck”. Nevertheless, he was a highly respected officer and RIO, and no one actually avoided flying with him. He was a big guy, and easy-going. He ended up with five total ejections, the last one proved to be fatal. But that last one was different than the movie."