Now this is what we’d call a perfect landing. Footage recently resurfaced of an AV-8B Harrier landing on the USS Bataan without its nose gear. After experiencing a front landing gear malfunction, U.S. Marine Corps Capt. William Mahoney had to perform a blind vertical landing on the ship onto the specially designed support — and he nailed it.
In the video, found and posted by The Aviationist, Mahoney explains that there is no way to train for landing in this particular situation. So, using the the ship’s lighting system and the help of another jet pilot in the tower, he landed on what is basically a stool-like structure that was created for this type of situation. The jet stabilized at 20 feet, from where he could not see the stool, and he managed to land directly on top of it.
