It’s the 27th of March, 1999. An F-117 Nighthawk tears through the dark, stormy skies, low over the Serbian countryside. The pilot is Lieutenant Colonel Darrell Zelko and his mission is to to bomb the Command Center of the Serbian Air Force in Belgrade.
It's the headquarters of the force that is going to try and stop him on his mission tonight. Zelko is escorted by F-16 Vipers with missiles that can lock on and destroy enemy radar. As he approaches the Serbian border, he hears a command come over the radio.
"This is Joint Forces Air Component Commander. " Because of the bad weather the escorting Vipers are ordered to immediately turn back and return to base. He's on his own.
If he is to make it home safely, he has to remain undetected. A ghost. Fortunately, he is in the most advanced operational fighter bomber that has ever flown.
The Nighthawk's stealth capabilities make the 65 foot long bomber appear on radar as if it was the size of a tennis ball, allowing it, so far, to go unchallenged in every mission. That is every mission until this one. On the ground an anti-air missile battery is waiting for him.
It's under command of Lieutenant Colonel Zoltán Dani. Serbian spies have let him know that the enemy aircraft are coming and he thinks today is his best chance to take down one of the elusive ghosts. "Sweep the skies!
" Dani orders and a P-18 early warning radar comes to life. "It's on. " They think at its lowest frequency it may be capable of detecting the enemy planes, "I don't see the target" but it also detects clouds and rain, resulting in a screen covered in fake signals.
But, looking closely, Dani sees something: "I see it. " one tiny dot moving through the masses of clouds, a tiny dot headed right towards them. "The ghost is here.
" "Turn on the targeting radar" "It's on. " "We have 20 seconds. " "I don't see the target" "Nothing.
" "Keep looking. " Zalco's Nighthawk speeds towards his objective, the computer preparing the drop. "Let's go again.
Phi 1 is on. Phi 2 is on. " Dani double-checks the low frequency radar.
He can see the target. It's right in front of them. But he needs the SAM radar to get a lock.
"I don't see the target. " The men scan the sky just as instructed, "I don't see the target. " yet the screens remain dead.
But then, Zelko opens his bomb bay, increasing the Nighthawk's radar signature, just at the wrong moment. "I have it. I have it.
" "Phi 2 is tracking the target. ” "Phi-1 is tracking the target. " "Launch.
" Two missiles fire off the launcher in quick succession, streaking across the sky. Zelko drops his bombs. They follow the path designated by the laser, and explode.
He soars past the target. It’s another mission success, and he ascends to 6 kilometers. But, a few seconds later, his cockpit is filled with the wail of an urgent alarm and his controls light up.
It's a lock alert. Almost at the same time he sees the two missiles illuminate the clouds below him, and then break through. They're coming right at him!
He immediately breaks into evasive maneuvers. He pulls his aircraft up to try and escape. He's pushed into his seat as he ascends, as the aircraft screams more warnings at him.
The F-117 has no chaff, so with the missile locked on it's entirely on the pilot's actions to try and evade the threat. Time slows. He knows: it's over… "They got me.
" These are proximity missiles and should detonate near the aircraft. But, somehow, the first missile malfunctions and races by his canopy. The second missile, though, doesn't malfunction.
It explodes, sending out a cloud of sharp shrapnel that perforates the left wing of his Nighthawk. The entire left side is blasted to pieces, illuminating the night sky a fiery orange. The aircraft immediately loses control and is thrown into a wild spin.
As the plane spins, Zelko is pinned to his seat and experiences severe G-forces. The spin increases in violence. Flashing warnings illuminate his controls, and a bright flame shines through the cockpit windows, as the landscape spins around him.
He knows he's in a critical situation. Even ejection might prove fatal, but it's his only choice. He fights 7Gs of force, 100 pounds pulling up on each of his arms.
Fueled by adrenaline, he gets hold of the ejection handles and pulls. In the blink of an eye, the canopy is blasted away, and his seat rockets out of the cockpit. For one and a half almost eternal seconds Zelko free falls through the air, strapped to his chair.
He’s barely conscious and he thinks that the seat is still inside the plane and that the ejection seat has malfunctioned. But then, he feels the tug of the opening parachute, and sees his burning Nighthawk tumbling away into the night. The violence of the spinning wreck is replaced by a total calm.
Zelko breathes heavily as he takes it all in. He's alive. But then another thought hits him.
"Man, mom is not gonna be happy about this. " He knows the enemy are going to be searching for him. if he can't fall to the ground unseen, he can still get rescued and get back home with no further complications.
But then, he looks up. He notices his parachute is bright orange. He might as well be waving a flare.
With his hopes of going unseen dashed, he takes out his survival radio to report he’s alive and well. “Mayday Mayday Mayday. Vega 31, Vega 31, going down.
” To his massive relief, the Mayday is heard. “Vega 31, Magic copies your Mayday. Last position?
” “Vega 31, last position in aircraft. Point after target. ” Zelko sees a ditch from above.
He doesn't get to say much more before hitting the ground. He's now alone, deep behind enemy lines. Zelko runs for the ditch he saw on the way down.
He quickly paints himself with mud and tries to hide as he awaits rescue. News of the downed plane quickly spreads. The Serbians waste no time and rapidly initiate a search.
All around him the activity gains momentum as more and more men appear. Men of the Serbian army comb the area, gradually joined by local policemen and civilians as the news spreads. Everybody wants to find him.
Flashlights illuminate the fields and trucks roll past on the nearby highway. Zelko can do nothing but sit and pray. Then, he hears a rustle in the undergrowth getting louder.
Just outside his ditch someone is searching. He stays still and quiet like a rock, quieting his breath. He hears panting and snuffling.
It's a dog. Slowly and carefully, Zelko pulls out his knife. The dog gets closer.
He weighs his options. Should he kill the dog? If he did, could he do it silently?
He finally makes up his mind to spare the dog reasoning that if he did kill it, the owner would be quick to follow. Then, to Zelko’s massive relief, the dog turns, jumps up and leaves. The radio crackles to life.
"Sandy 01, Vega 31, over. " Zelko's eyes go wide. They're here!
"He can be there, go with me. " “Go ahead, Sandy 01, over. ” “Vega 31, is it okay to come down there?
” Zelko doesn't respond. He peeks out of his hiding spot, searching the area for threats. Flashlights shine in the distance.
"He may be armed, be careful. " “Vega 31, if you don’t answer, we’re going to try this later. ” He makes his decision.
“Yeah. Okay. Let’s go for it.
” Zelko turns on his infrared strobe as a chopper races into the area. But the strobe fails and the helicopter can’t see him. He curses his luck and desperately checks for threats.
He has a backup, but it's nowhere near as subtle. But it's now or never. Zelko makes a quick decision.
And pops a flare. Bright light spills all around him and illuminates the area, pointing out his position for the rescue helicopter and the enemy alike. "There he is!
" The helicopter sweeps in rapidly, as the enemy also closes in, at the same time in the distance. Flashlights from enemy patrols are all pointed towards the flare. But then, another transmission comes through the radio.
“Snuff your flare, it blinds our night vision. ” Thinking quickly, Zelko rushes to take the flare and dunk it in the mud, just as the rescue helicopter comes in to land, right in front of him. And he is greeted by an American rescue team.
"How are you feeling, sir? " "Great! Now let's get out of here!
" The field is blasted with wind as the helicopter rises up into the air and exits the scene with just seconds to spare before the enemy spills over the landing site. Zoltán Dani and his crew to this day remain the only team to have downed a stealth aircraft in combat. When talking about the incident, Dani would later say "When it hit, it felt very good.
Like scoring the winning goal in a football match. " The US didn’t destroy the wreck, and the Serbian forces salvaged the mortally wounded Nighthawk unimpeded. And today you can still see pieces of Zelko’s aircraft in the Museum of Aviation in Belgrade.
Zelko always expressed a desire to find the man who shot him down and congratulate him. He finally got his wish in 2011, just 12 years after the incident. "The end of the 20th century was packed with unforgettable military stories.
Here’s another one — what many call the last tank battle of the century.
