Air-to-air refueling operations are very common and routine. However, as you'll see in the video above, things don't always go as smoothly as they are supposed to. The pilot flying the tanker must have seen his life flash before his eyes the moment the above NATO E-3 Sentry got a little too close, almost resulting in a collision. As you'll see, the two aircrafts narrowly escaped a total disaster, but not before some crew members were hurt and the aircraft itself was damaged.
via The Aviationist
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The pilot of the KC 135 didn't see his life flash before his eyes. in fact he probably was unaware of the incident until he was told about it afterwards. he's looking forward and can't see the E3. looked like a good emergency disconnect from the boom operator and I don't see any damage there. looks likely some people who weren't belted in their seats on the E3 might have been hurt from the hard pushover though.
October 29 2012 at 11:26 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyI don't know for sure, without seeing the instruments and knowing the weather conditions, but it looks like the boom operator in the 135 had the E-3 TOO close for refueling. The boom operator could have instructed the E-3 to maintain distance and extended the boom nozzle out further to reach the E-3. From looking at the shadows, the E-3 was directly below the 135, not a safe position! The person seeing their life flash before their eyes was more than likely the boom operator who is laying right there by the rear window!
October 29 2012 at 4:16 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply