• News
  • Film and TV
  • Music
  • Tech
  • Features
  • Celebrity
  • Politics
  • Weird
  • Community
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
TikTok
YouTube
Submit Your Content
Terrifying footage shows Navy sailor getting sucked into jet and miraculously surviving

Home> Community> Life

Published 12:32 18 Dec 2024 GMT

Terrifying footage shows Navy sailor getting sucked into jet and miraculously surviving

John Bridges was helping prepare a jet for a mission when the horrific incident took place

Emily Brown

Emily Brown

Horrifying footage shows the moment a 21-year-old Navy sailor was sucked into a jet engine - but miraculously, he managed to survive the ordeal.

Planes might look tiny when we look up at them in the sky, but walking past them on the tarmac tells a different story.

Even smaller jets need a good engine to get them up in the air, and the huge blades that make up the engine definitely aren't to be messed with.

Obviously people who work with planes are aware of this, but that's not to say accidents don't happen.

Advert

See one terrifying example below:

Navy sailor John Bridges had been working to complete a pre-takeoff check on a plane when he suddenly found himself sucked into its engine, prompting others on the scene to rush to his rescue.

Bridges, a 21-year-old flight deck crewman, had been deployed to support Operation Desert Storm in 1991, and was working on the plane in the early hours of the morning ahead of a planned precision strike mission.

Footage from the scene shows Bridges and his co-worker, Michael McDonald, completing their checks, with Bridges' tasked with carrying out his last check - making sure the aircraft was connected to a catapult on the USS Theodore Roosevelt for takeoff.

Bridges was working on an A-6 Intruder when the incident took place (Barry Iverson/Getty Images)
Bridges was working on an A-6 Intruder when the incident took place (Barry Iverson/Getty Images)

The sailor checked where the launching mechanism was, but when he began to move away he found his coat, goggles, helmet and tools ripped from him as he was lifted off the ground.

His clothes and equipment were sucked into the engine first, causing a large explosion which rang out just as Bridges himself was pulled into the jet.

According to Military.com, jet engine turbines are usually capable of turning anything other than air into a 'fine goo' as they spin anywhere from 1,000 to 20,000 rotations per minute.

Bridges' helmet and equipment did get shredded in the engine, but thankfully it was those objects that helped save his life.

Bridges helmet was sucked in first (Carriers at War)
Bridges helmet was sucked in first (Carriers at War)

The pilot of the plane immediately felt the foreign objects in the engine and turned it off, though it took about three minutes before they shut down completely.

In the meantime, Bridges had been able to use his arm to wedge himself in the walls of the engine, thanks to the fact the engine intake on that particular plane wasn't very big.

He was able to prevent himself from being sucked into the blades as they shut down, and thankfully walked away with only a few injuries.

The sailor suffered a broken collarbone, a blown eardrum and some cuts and scrapes, but most importantly he had his life.

Featured Image Credit: YouTube/Mister_Rooster

Topics: Military, Technology

Emily Brown
Emily Brown

Emily Brown is UNILAD Editorial Lead at LADbible Group. She first began delivering news when she was just 11 years old - with a paper route - before graduating with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University. Emily joined UNILAD in 2018 to cover breaking news, trending stories and longer form features. She went on to become Community Desk Lead, commissioning and writing human interest stories from across the globe, before moving to the role of Editorial Lead. Emily now works alongside the UNILAD Editor to ensure the page delivers accurate, interesting and high quality content.

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

23 hours ago
a day ago
3 days ago
4 days ago
  • Getty Stock Image
    23 hours ago

    People are only just learning what the tiny hole in nail clippers is actually for

    We all have them but clearly we don't know everything about them

    Community
  • Getty Images/manusapon kasosod
    a day ago

    Mythbusters revealed who can really endure more pain, men or women

    It's a question which has people sharing a lot of strong opinions

    Community
  • Getty Images/Sean Anthony Eddy
    3 days ago

    Woman who 'died for 32 seconds and saw the future' has terrifying warning for humanity

    Angela Harris died for just over half a minute in 2015

    Community
  •  Instagram/thylaneblondeau
    4 days ago

    'Most beautiful girl in the world' explained why she later dismissed the title years on

    Thylane Blondeau's modelling career took off when she was just four-years-old

    Community
  • Terrifying simulation shows how soldier survived after live grenade was launched inside his chest
  • Shocking footage shows Southwest plane nearly crash into private jet while trying to land in Chicago
  • Terrifying footage shows helicopter spinning out of control and crashing on California beach
  • Trump launches military strikes on Venezuela as terrifying footage shows explosions throughout capital