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USAF SR-71
Episode 3251 of the Vietnam Veteran News Podcast will feature a story about how a crippled SR-71 faked out North Vietnamese SAM operators. The featured story is titled: When a Crippled SR-71 Overflew Hanoi at 41k feet under Mach 1 North Vietnamese didn’t shoot it down because they thought it was booby trapped with a nuclear weapon It appeared on the Aviation Geek Club Online website and was submitted by Linda Sheffield Miller.
Miller reported that on May 15, 1972, during the Vietnam War, Major Tom Pugh and Major Ronnie Rice were flying an SR-71 Blackbird (#978), nicknamed the “Rapid Rabbit,” on what began as a routine high-speed reconnaissance mission. Cruising at Mach 3.2 and nearly 80,000 feet, the flight quickly turned into a life-threatening emergency. A strange hum in the interphone system foreshadowed a cascade of failures: first one generator went out, then the second failed just over a minute later. Without electrical power, the aircraft’s fuel pumps stopped, starving both engines and causing a complete flameout.
As the aircraft destabilized—its inlet spikes shifting forward and the jet pitching and rolling uncontrollably—Pugh prepared to order an ejection. However, the intercom failed, cutting communication with Rice. In a critical moment, Pugh carefully maintained control while reaching for a standby electrical switch. By successfully restoring partial power, he managed to relight the engines after descending to 41,000 feet and slowing to near Mach 1.
Unbeknownst to the crew at the time, they had drifted over heavily defended Hanoi, a city bristling with surface-to-air missiles. Remarkably, no attempt was made to shoot them down. Years later, a North Vietnamese general revealed the reason: they suspected the aircraft was bait, possibly carrying a nuclear weapon that would detonate if hit.
Pugh and Rice safely landed in Thailand and were awarded Air Medals for their extraordinary airmanship. Despite surviving this harrowing emergency. the “Rapid Rabbit” was lost just months later in a landing accident, ending its remarkable story.
Listen to Episode 3251 and discover more about how a crippled SR-71 faked out North Vietnamese SAM operators.
