On Friday September 21, 1956, seasoned World War II pilot Thomas W. Altridge Jr was testing out a new aircraft - the F11F. It was a relatively easy mission, fly over the Atlantic Ocean, disperse a few rounds, and then head back to base and enjoy his weekend. Unfortunately, it didn't turn out that way.
After released 70 rounds of ammunition, Altridge took a steep nose dive to test the plane's maneuverability when his windshield was hit by something and his plane started losing power. He was unable to make it back to base, and his plane crashed in a nearby forest which resulted in a large fire, and hundreds of rounds of ammunition exploding. Aldridge suffered a 3 broken vertebrae and a broken leg after hitting what he thought was a bird.
A post-accident investigation discovered something that would embarrass Aldridge for the rest of his life - he had shot down his own plane. After firing several rounds of ammunition, he entered a nose dive - which led him straight to the ammunition he had just fired! The bullets had hit his windshield, engine, and popped a massive hole in one of the plane's wings!
