Deputy General E.a. Konstantinos Doctoridis describes how he managed to save himself 40 years ago from a fall Fantom F-4

Almost 40 years have passed since the night in which then captain Constantine Doctoridis surrendered to flames and fell to the sea of the Ionian Sea. The senior officer along with his co-pilot managed to escape Fantom F – 4 and fought about six hours with the furious waves until they were picked up by a ship that rushed to rescue them. The happy ending with the fall of the F-16 fighter aircraft and the rescue of the governor, Lieutenant Panayiotis Apostolakis, is not the only incident that had a positive outcome. Something similar had also happened in the summer of 1984 when the Vice-Chief of Greece today Constantine Nt. “It was the evening of July 19, 1984 when we took off (a pair of aircraft, me as No. 2) from Andravida Airport and headed to the low intercept area west of Kefalonia, in order to train in low night interceptions. After 15 minutes of flight and entering the area we separated and began to descend. Around 2000 feet descending to get the height of the exercise (1000 ft) , I heard a “gap” on the plane , accompanied by a small jolt. I wondered what that was, because it looked like something hit my plane,” he tells newsit.gr the deputy general in retirement and defensive analyst Constantine Mayand adds: “I looked unconsciously at the instruments, but I had no strange indication. But I didn’t have time to get my head out and the bright red light of the right engine is lit with the sign “FIRE”. The captain then of the warship he had for co-pilot in Fantom F-4 Lieutenant G. Geroulis didn’t lose it for a moment. “I immediately pull the controller back to gain height, while at the same time turning towards the Airport. I bring the right engine Manetta back expecting the light to go out, but unfortunately that didn’t go out. I look at the right wing and then the mirror to see the fuselage of the Aircraft. I am immediately turning off the right engine while at the same time promoting the left engine’s manetta to prevent the speed from decreasing. For my bad luck the left bright red light with the sign “FIRE”! There was a fire in the left engine. I mentioned the problem with number one (on the other aircraft) that I have a fire on both engines. The plane was sinking dangerously and I informed my co-pilot that we are abandoning.” Then the senior Air Force officer tells us the moments of agony that followed from the moment of ejection from the aircraft to its fall into the sea. “I then pulled the arm of abandonment with strength, felt to stand up with the seat and then nothing, unconscious, I don’t remember anything. I had lost consciousness of the many G’s! (22 G’s when leaving meaning 22 times my weight). I suddenly began to regain consciousness. I felt that I was being kicked in the face very hard and swirled out of the air. I didn’t see, I didn’t understand anything but beating and helping. I didn’t know if I was alive or if I was dreaming! Suddenly all of this disappeared,” says the Vice-Chief and complements: “I was falling too fast. Something was happening and the sea was approaching. I was spinning and swinging, something was wrong! Next to me almost a short distance I saw a lot of foam and white circles. That was where my plane fell. Fortunately the parachute opened.” But the adventure of the captain and his co-pilot did not end there. As they would have to fight the manic sea of the Ionian Sea and be kept on the surface until the moment the rescue means came. “I immediately activated the life jackets I wore. Fortunately they worked and swelled immediately. The boat under the seat was automatically activated by abandoning. Now I had to look at what is going on with my fall into the turbulent sea (strong wind of tension 8 Beaufort), bringing to mind everything I learned in education once I get in touch with the water,” says Mr. Constantinos Doctoridis and then after describing us how he managed to get on the boat, open the survival box and speak to the radio with the captain of the other aircraft. He knew that there was no way he would be gathering before dawn, as the air force did not then have a night rescue helicopter. “I tried to overcome my thoughts and fears. “The waves were very large, the parachute became confused on the anchor of the boat and remained open in the water and thus more intensely accepted the ripples and oscillations and started slowly getting dizzy and feeling nausea. The first few hours had a relatively good time. But the more time passed, the harder things got. The strong air froze me when I was at the peaks of the waves.” Eventually after about six hours of battle with the waves, a ship approached the fighter aircraft commander. “After several attempts due to the big waves, I was picked up and found myself in the Governor’s warm cabin, which gave me warm blankets and tea to recover and warm up. There I saw with great relief and joy and my co – governor whom he had previously collected. He was lucky too.”