On 1 May 1983, during an Israeli Air Force training dogfight, an F-15D collided with an A-4 Skyhawk. The pilot Zivi Nedivi and his copilot had no idea that the right wing of the F-15 was ripped off about two feet from the fuselage. The F-15 entered a controllable spin after the collision. Nedivi decided to attempt recovery and engaged afterburner to increase speed, which allowed him to regain control of the aircraft. He was able to prevent stalling and maintained control due to the lift generated by the large horizontal surface area of the fuselage, the stabilators, and the remaining wing areas.
The F-15 landed at twice the normal speed to maintain the necessary lift, and its tail hook was torn off completely during the landing during a failed attempt at using the emergency arresting gear installed on the runway to bring the aircraft to a halt. Nedivi managed to bring the F-15 to a complete stop approximately 20 feet from the end of the runway. Later he said that had he known the extent of the damage he would have ejected from the plane.