In 2020, Captain Taylor Bye, a pilot with the 75th Fighter Squadron in the U.S. Air Force, was honored with the Air Combat Command Airmanship Award. Her exceptional abilities were showcased when she executed an emergency landing in a Fairchild Republic A-10C Thunderbolt II with the landing gear retracted and the canopy missing.
This achievement cemented her legacy as an exceptional pilot.
Overview of Taylor Bye’s incredible landing
After what the Air Force described as a “catastrophic” failure, Taylor Bye expertly brought her A-10C to a safe landing, despite a malfunction in the 30 mm GAU-8 Avenger during a flight over the Grand Bay Range at Moody Air Force Base in Georgia. This unexpected malfunction caused the attack aircraft’s cockpit canopy to detach and damaged the landing gear systems.
Thanks to Bye’s proficiency, the damaged aircraft was safely landed. Reflecting on the incident, she said, “My initial reaction was to climb away from the ground and then look at my engines. The amazing thing about the A-10 is even though all these things happened, I had two perfectly working engines and hydraulic systems.”
Teamwork helped save the day
Taylor Bye was the flight leader on the day of the incident, accompanied by her wingman, Maj. Jack Ingber. Following the malfunction, Ingber visually inspected her A-10C to help establish what had gone wrong.
“I slowed down the aircraft and that’s when (Ingber) looked over my jet,” Bye explained. “The trust in this community and the Air Force in general, but specifically this fighter squadron, is huge because I’m completely relying on him to let me know what’s going on so I can take the proper action and get both him and I back on the ground safely.”
Bye had to reduce her visibility
“When anything (unusual) happens, it’s apparent and very easy to spot it and fix it,” Ingber noted. “It’s my primary job to think of everything that (Bye) is not because she has a massive handful of an airplane that is falling apart.”
After evaluating the extent of the issues, Bye carried out a belly-landing with the 20-ton aircraft. To counteract the impact of the 350 MPH winds buffeting the cockpit, Bye repositioned her seat, though this adjustment limited her ability to see her surroundings clearly.
Bye was nervous but did her job
“I guess I was nervous the whole time, but I didn’t have time to think about being nervous,” the pilot remarked. “My job was to take care of myself and to take care of the jet.” Fortunately, she landed the A-10C without incident and walked away without injury.
In the aftermath, Lt. Col. Stephen Joca, commander of the 75th Fighter Squadron, highlighted, “what’s most important is preventing total loss of the A-10 or even worse, her life,” and added “there are some steps that were covered in the checklist – the rest was just superb airmanship and decision making.”
The Republic Fairchild A-10 Thunderbolt II’s famous ruggedness
Throughout its service life, the A-10 has become renown for its durability and reliability. Nonetheless, even this resilient aircraft is susceptible to malfunctions.
A similar incident took place in 2017, involving Maj. Brett DeVries of the 107th Fighter Squadron based at Selfridge Air National Guard Base, Michigan. His A-10 experienced a failure with its GAU-8 Avenger, resulting in the blowing off of the cockpit canopy and the landing gear becoming inoperable.
Mirroring Bye’s actions, DeVries executed a belly landing and emerged unscathed.
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Since “she managed to skillfully and safely land her A-10 with minimal damage,” despite the dangerous situation she found herself in, Taylor Bye received the Air Combat Command Airmanship Award.
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