Patrick D. McCaslin Interview, 25 February 2001
‹‹ Interview Index
1 /
2 /
3 /
4 /
5 /
6 /
7 /
8 /
9 /
10 /
11 /
12 /
13 /
14 /
15 /
16 /
17 /
18 /
19 /
20 /
21 /
22 /
23 /
24 /
25 /
26 /
27 /
28 /
29 /
30 /
31 /
32 /
33 /
34 /
35 /
36 /
37 /
38 /
39 /
40 /
41 /
42 /
43 /
44 /
45 /
46 /
47 /
48 /
49 /
50 /
51
| PM: | Right, so I have a memory that at some point we either put those crosshairs on the numbers I jotted down, or I just said, "Fix the crosshairs here." (I hear Sandhill cranes going over). | |
| INT: | (Yeah, I can hear something too). | |
| PM: | And if that's what happened then, at that point we could fly back to that point simply by making a bomb run. You know, have the aircraft turn, fly to where those crosshairs are, and basically bomb that point, and you fly right back to the point. | |
| INT: | And again, you had onboard computer that would do that. | |
| PM: | Yeah, right. Analog computer, an old computer, but— | |
| INT: | But, meaning he would you give you a waypoint to get back to there? | |
| PM: | No waypoints, it would be like putting a thumbtack in a board—that's the crosshairs, and you have a string attached to it, and you just fly around that string. Wherever you are, you can turn and fly down the string, you know. And my memory is that the tower asked us to go take a visual look at what was out there. | |
| INT: | Let's talk about that a little bit. You remember the tower saying that—you heard that over your intercom? | |
| PM: | What I heard, I heard the pilot saying things to the tower that made it clear to me that that's what they wanted, and that he wasn't too keen to do it. | |
| INT: | Now why do you say that? That was an impression you had at the time? | |
| PM: | He said something like, "Okay, look, I'll go, I'll do one visual pattern, and then I'm putting this thing on the ground." | |
| INT: | Okay. Now when you say pilot—pilot or co-pilot? | |
| PM: | Don't know which one it was. It was whoever up front was responding to that call. | |
| INT: | Who normally operated radio? | |
| PM: | Normally the co-pilot would op—would change the radios, and would make radio calls. But in a situation like this, I'm not sure who made that call, but I know one of them said something like that, "Okay, I'm gonna make—okay, I'll do it, I'll make one visual pass," words to that effect, "but then I'm putting this thing on the ground." And we flew a visual |
‹‹ Previous Page — Next Page ››
22