[WAPO] Capt. Jonathan "Holster" Morgan was on a routine training mission slicing through clear blue sky over Washington.He had lifted off from Joint Base Andrews in Maryland at 9:13 a.m. on a spring day in 2017, heading to a Pennsylvania shooting range with three other F-16s to practice bombing runs.
Less than a minute into the air, his jet accelerated faster than he had ever felt. Warning lights flashed in the cockpit.
"Lead," Morgan radioed to his commander, "my engine’s giving out."
Without power, his beloved F-16 had turned into a $22 million glider, and at its controls, he was hurtling like a driver with no brakes.
Morgan had to maneuver 38,000 pounds of metal and fuel away from the nation’s capital.