[0:00]It's the 7th of April, 2003 and two A-10 Thunderbolt Warthog are on a mission to provide air support for ground troops fighting in Iraq. Captain Kim Killer Chick Campbell and her flight leader, Lieutenant Colonel Rick Bino Turner, raced toward a huge sandstorm that covers the area. When they get a call from the battle below. Yardo 5, this is Advanced 33. My guys are taking fire in the northern part of town. It's Lieutenant John Coke Blocher. His unit's been holding position at a strategically vital bridge on the north of Baghdad. And now, the Iraqis have come to defend it by firing rocket propelled grenades directly at the American positions. Copy. Yardo 5 and 06 inbound. The mission's clear. The two warthogs race toward their target and at the same time, they mark friendly and enemy forces on their maps. Turner searches the dust clouds billowing below him through his space stabilized binoculars and finds what he's looking for. A gap. Quickly, he throws his plane inverted and pulls hard on the stick, disappearing below the weather. Then, Campbell hears him over the radio. All right, KC, it's your turn. She initiates the same maneuver and follows him through the dust. As she descends, a shadow falls over the warthog. The planes emerge from the storm, enough to see what's below, and it's a massive battle. A storm of explosions, smoke and tracers rage between the city streets. On the ground, the Iraqis hear the roar and look up to see approaching A-10s. Their guns are moved skyward in response, and they fire. Back in the planes, an explosion in mid-air pulls Kim from her thoughts. It's anti-aircraft fire bursting a few yards away from her aircraft, close enough to feel the shake. She hears Turner on the radio. Advanced 3-3, Yardo 5 and 06 in the area. Targets are under the bridge support, east side. Turner is about a mile ahead and radios that he's going in alone. Yardo 5, in from the north. He gets down low over the water, flying in from the north. He flies past multitudes of buildings all the while buffeted by the enemy fire. But at least for now, he's still got some element of surprise. He's setting up his attack run, as he hears over the radio an urgent message from Coke, the ground controller. Yard 05, not effective. You need to come in from south to north. Both warthogs pull up and regroup, flying to the south, and coming on another approach flying low over the river. But now, the word is out, and the Iraqis know they're here. Campbell hears Turner come up on the radio. Wedge, shooters, guns. Copy. Campbell immediately gets into wedge formation and braces for her first attack run of the day. Despite the severity of the threat, Turner has decided to use guns and not bombs. Friendly forces and civilians are in the area. Guns are more accurate, but the pilots need to use forward firing to get right underneath the bridge to strike the enemy. They race down toward the bridge. It appears from the haze to the north like a ghostly specter. They can't see the enemy sitting under a shadow, but they know they're there. One's ready. Two's ready. Campbell sees as Turner opens fire first. The deafening roar washes over the battlefield as his A-10 unleashes 70 rounds a second into the target. Then, he pulls up. Now it's her turn. She pulls the trigger. The four second of fire rips through the earth and the structure of the bridge, striking all over the marked area. Until her warthog too flies over the Iraqis' position, escaping the anti-air fire. Immediately Coke comes up on the radio. Yardo 5, no joy on target. We're still taking fire, still taking fire. I request another gun run on that target again. They've missed. The white surface of the bridge and its supports concealed the Republican Guard. The Iraqis have hidden under the bridge precisely to hide from threats like the A-10s. The pair turn back around in perfect formation, lining up for another run. But they've poked the hornet's nest and the Republican Guard are now waiting for them. As they fly in low along the Tigris River, tracers start zipping past all around the warthogs. The bridge comes into target. One's ready. Two's ready. Turner pulls the trigger sending a volley into the hiding place under the bridge. This time, shells fly in from a much lower angle, sending the enemy scrambling for cover. The second Turner pulls up, Campbell unleashes her A-10's power right into the same spot. The roar of the rotary gun once again grips the battlefield, pinning the enemy down. A brutal string of impacts rips through the earth and concrete, followed by the deafening roar of Campbell's warthog flying overhead. But the results are the same. Yardo 5, no joy on target. They're still under the bridge. The Iraqis continue to fire at the American ground positions. The enemy have chosen their positions well, and seemingly, even the warthogs can't touch them. The Americans need to try something else. Turner and Campbell disengage from the fight and prepare their next move. They opt to use Hydra rockets. Unguided Hydra rockets are small, but they each have a dozen of them. Standby, I'll go first. Copy. Turner banks toward the target once more. He gets as low as he dare over the water. Up above, Kim holds her position as she watches her flight leader skimming the river towards the bridge. Hydra rockets are targeted by aim alone, so the A-10 needs to be facing the target head-on. Turner holds his course steady through anti-aircraft fire and smoke as the targeting computer calculates a firing solution. Finally, the target under the bridge appears clear in his sights and he fires. In a blur of volley of rockets speed off from their pods. Trails of smoke launched straight towards the bridge. Turner watches with satisfaction as a ripple of explosions is unleashed. The bridge is rocked, but he can't see if he's hit the enemy. Coke once again comes on the radio. Negative, negative, didn't go in. Just impacted on the surface. Turner curses his luck. He signals to Campbell that she's clear to start her attack run. Clear the hot, two. Two's in from the south. Kim dives down and takes the position. She races along the same path as her leader, but it's a maneuver the Iraqis have now seen the warthogs execute from the same angle and the same place. And this time, they're definitely ready. An Iraqi with a shoulder launched man pad looks at the A-10 Thunderbolt through his sight. Campbell lines up her reticle facing it squarely under the bridge. As she fast approaches the target, then she pulls the trigger. Hydra rockets blast off from under her wing in quick succession, zooming towards the hiding place of the Iraqis. As the explosions grow, she pulls up on the stick and banks to the left to escape the anti-air fire. At that very moment, the Iraqi soldier finally gets a lock on the A-10. And fires. A stream of smoke emerges from below as a rocket powers towards Campbell. It screams in towards the fleeing A-10 and explodes right by her tail. There's nothing she can do. She sees her canopy enveloped by a bright fireball and is shoved forward and the nose of the aircraft jerks downward. Pointing into the city below. Oh shit! Two got hit. Two got hit. On the ground, the Iraqis cheer. They got one. Turner pulls his plane back towards Campbell, and at the same time, he informs the ground of what's going on. Advanced 3-3, yard 06 is hit. We're attempting RTB, do you copy? Yard 05, solid copy. Good luck, Kim. Kim Campbell doesn't respond. She's fighting with the controls as her warthog heads straight towards the Iraqi held streets of Baghdad. She grabs the stick and tries desperately to turn left back to the American held side of the river. But nothing happens. Her eyes dart between the instruments. The panel in front of her is a mass of flashing lights. Master caution light is on. Hydraulic warning lights. Hydraulic pressure on both redundant loops is zero. With all hydraulics gone, she has no control over the roll of her plane. She could eject right now or switch to manual reversion.
[9:07]It's an incredibly dangerous and torturous way to fly a warthog. But the other option is ejecting over the enemy side of the river. I'm not ejecting over Baghdad. She chooses to activate manual reversion. Now, she can only rely on her own strength. She pulls hard to the left and up. Her plane reacts slowly, bringing the elevator controls to the neutral position. May require up to 150 lbs of force on the control handle. So she pulls hard with both hands and slowly, the 16 ton machine rolls left, carrying her away from the enemy held side of the Tigris River. Chaff, flares. Turner's voice breaks through the beeps of the warning lights. Chaff, flares. Tracers zip by around the wounded warthog as Turner desperately tries to keep Campbell's plane from being hit again. She releases defensive chaff and pulls hard on the stick again with all her strength. With huge skill and effort, she steers her plane away from the raging battle below and manages to get it above the weather. Her right hand gives up and she switches control to the left as she considers her options. Landing on manual reversion mode is hardly practiced, and only three pilots have attempted it during Desert Storm, and one died trying. Should she eject? She's interrupted from her thoughts with Turner coming over the radio as he flies up alongside her. Yardo 6, it's still 200 miles to the base. How's she flying in manual? Don't push it. Friendlies below if you need to get out. She remembers the waiver she had to sign, that she understood that ejection seats were made for heavier pilots, usually men, and a G-force of an ejection could be fatal for her. Affirm, Yardo 5. Can you give me an on damage? What do you see back there? Yardo 6, copy. Turner looks hard at the smoking plane. His eyes run over the fuselage and the tail, and he sees hundreds of holes from the fragmentation of the warhead. You got holes scattered all over the fuselage and tail, stretching as forward as far as the gear pods and even into the wing root. There's a football sized hole in the right horizontal stabilizer. Turner looks toward the rear of the plane and is horrified to see flames flickering on the tail. Also, the right engine is covered in shrapnel strikes. Should he tell her? He decides against it. He needs to keep her positive and tries to lift her spirits. You have some improved ventilation back, but it's still airworthy. Copy yard 05. Campbell has made a choice. I can handle it. I'll take her home. I'm with you all the way. Campbell dumps her weapons over the desert to make the plane lighter and to avoid an explosion in a hard landing. The USAF, though, had hardwired the heavy electronic countermeasure pod to the wing. There's no way for a pilot to jettison it. It unbalances the plane, and to land on manual and with an ECM pod attached makes the whole operation more complex and dangerous. She has to physically fight against the skewed aerodynamics through the entire long flight back to base. But finally, the Al Jaber Air Base in Kuwait comes into view. She lowers the gear with the auxiliary handle. Seconds feel like an eternity until the gear extension lights finally come on. She's as ready as she'll ever be for landing. Yardo 6 emergency, gear down, full stop. Campbell slows the warthog. It becomes easier to control at a slightly lower speed, reassuring her as she comes in for the final approach. But there's one last surprise, just 60 ft from the ground. Her plane rolls sharply to the left. Her heart's in her mouth as she instinctively yanks the stick to the right. The aircraft mercifully returns to a controlled descent. And seconds later, she touches down on the runway.
[13:48]Thank you, God. The radio erupts with congratulations from all the fellow pilots as she comes down from the adrenaline high.
[14:02]Amazingly, the whole ordeal didn't phase her, and Campbell would get back in the air the very next day. Her aircraft, however, was damaged beyond repair and never flew again. Captain Kim Killer Chick Campbell was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for her airmanship. And we hope she enjoys this film. She's made it home. Check out this film to see how another pair of A-10s stopped the Iraqis from crossing that bridge the day before.
