{"id":657945,"date":"2026-05-10T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-10T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/?p=657945"},"modified":"2026-05-06T16:10:59","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T14:10:59","slug":"the-pilot-who-fell-from-mach-3-and-lived","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/the-pilot-who-fell-from-mach-3-and-lived\/","title":{"rendered":"The Pilot Who Fell From Mach 3 \u2014 and Lived"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.et_pb_title_container h1.entry-title { padding-top: 40px !important; }<\/style>\n\nOn January 25, 1966, test pilot Bill Weaver was flying an SR-71 Blackbird at 78,000 feet over New Mexico at Mach 3.18. Behind him sat reconnaissance systems officer Jim Zwayer. They were testing a new navigation system when the aircraft&#8217;s right engine suffered a catastrophic inlet unstart \u2014 and in the thin air at the edge of space, the Blackbird tore itself apart.\n\nWhat happened next defies belief. Bill Weaver survived. The aircraft did not.\n\n\n<div style=\"background:#f0f4ff;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:18px 22px;margin:24px 0 28px;border-radius:0 8px 8px 0\">\n<p style=\"margin:0 0 10px;font-weight:700;color:#333;font-size:17px\">Quick Facts<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Date:<\/strong> January 25, 1966<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Aircraft:<\/strong> Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird (Article 2003)<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Altitude:<\/strong> 78,000 feet (~23,800 m)<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Speed:<\/strong> Mach 3.18 (~3,900 km\/h)<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Pilot:<\/strong> Bill Weaver (survived)<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>RSO:<\/strong> Jim Zwayer (killed)<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><strong>Cause:<\/strong> Right engine inlet unstart leading to structural breakup<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">When the Inlet Unstarted<\/h2>\n\nAt Mach 3, the SR-71&#8217;s engines did not simply suck in air. Each engine was fed by a complex inlet system with a moveable spike cone that precisely managed the supersonic shockwave entering the nacelle. When the shock wave positioning was disrupted \u2014 an event called an &#8220;unstart&#8221; \u2014 the result was instantaneous and violent: a massive asymmetric thrust imbalance that slammed the aircraft sideways with forces no pilot could overcome.\n\nWeaver felt the unstart hit like a sledgehammer. The right nacelle lost its airflow; the left engine continued producing full thrust. The resulting yaw was so savage that the Blackbird pitched up violently and broke apart around the two crew members. At Mach 3.18 and 78,000 feet, there was nothing either man could do.\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Torn Free by the Airstream<\/h2>\n\nWeaver never ejected. He did not have time. The aircraft disintegrated around him, and the force of the airstream \u2014 at more than three times the speed of sound \u2014 ripped him free of the cockpit. His pressure suit inflated automatically, becoming his only protection against the near-vacuum conditions at 78,000 feet. Without the suit, his blood would have boiled. The temperature outside was approximately minus 70 degrees Celsius.\n\nWeaver tumbled through the stratosphere, unconscious. His parachute deployed automatically by the barometric pressure system in his harness. He regained consciousness hanging beneath his canopy, drifting through clear blue sky over the New Mexico desert, with no aircraft in sight. He was alive, though he did not yet know if Jim Zwayer had survived.\n\nZwayer had not. His pressure suit had been compromised during the breakup, and he died before his parachute could deploy. He was 39 years old.\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Surviving the Unsurvivable<\/h2>\n\nThe physics of Weaver&#8217;s survival are extraordinary. No crew member had ever survived the in-flight breakup of a Mach 3+ aircraft. The forces involved \u2014 deceleration from Mach 3 to zero in seconds, exposure to near-vacuum and extreme cold, tumbling through the atmosphere at terminal velocity \u2014 should have killed him outright.\n\nThe SR-71&#8217;s pressure suit, manufactured by the David Clark Company, saved his life. Designed for exactly this scenario, it maintained pressure around his body, prevented his blood from boiling, and provided breathing oxygen during the uncontrolled descent. The automatic parachute deployment system ensured that even an unconscious crew member would have a functioning canopy.\n\nWeaver returned to flight status and continued flying the SR-71 for Lockheed. He later described the experience with the understated calm that characterised test pilots of his era. The accident report led to design improvements in the SR-71&#8217;s inlet system, reducing the severity and frequency of unstarts on later flights.\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe hcb-fetch-image-from=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=mnEgS3buPb8\" title=\"This SR-71 Pilot Free Fell from the Edge of Space\" width=\"1080\" height=\"608\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/mnEgS3buPb8?feature=oembed\"  allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><figcaption>The SR-71 pilot who free-fell from the edge of space<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe hcb-fetch-image-from=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=nRyIGTkcmII\" title=\"Fall from an SR-71\" width=\"1080\" height=\"608\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/nRyIGTkcmII?feature=oembed\"  allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><figcaption>Fall from an SR-71 \u2014 the Bill Weaver story<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n<em>Sources: Historyfeels (Instagram), Lockheed Martin, Air &#038; Space Quarterly<\/em>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On January 25, 1966, test pilot Bill Weaver was flying an SR-71 Blackbird at 78,000 feet over New Mexico at Mach 3.18. Behind him sat reconnaissance systems officer Jim Zwayer. They were testing a new navigation system when the aircraft&#8217;s right engine suffered a catastrophic inlet unstart \u2014 and in the thin air at the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":657941,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_focuskw":"","_yoast_wpseo_title":"","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[666,664],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-657945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history-and-legends","category-military-aviation"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Pilot Who Fell From Mach 3 \u2014 and Lived | MiGFlug.com Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/the-pilot-who-fell-from-mach-3-and-lived\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Pilot Who Fell From Mach 3 \u2014 and Lived | MiGFlug.com Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"On January 25, 1966, test pilot Bill Weaver was flying an SR-71 Blackbird at 78,000 feet over New Mexico at Mach 3.18. Behind him sat reconnaissance systems officer Jim Zwayer. They were testing a new navigation system when the aircraft&#8217;s right engine suffered a catastrophic inlet unstart \u2014 and in the thin air at the [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/the-pilot-who-fell-from-mach-3-and-lived\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"MiGFlug.com Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-10T10:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:960\/h:752\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/05\/sr71-blackbird-bill-weaver-breakup.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"960\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"752\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Tamika Johnson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Tamika Johnson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/the-pilot-who-fell-from-mach-3-and-lived\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/the-pilot-who-fell-from-mach-3-and-lived\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Tamika Johnson\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a3b0f1b2c017dca146d1474d88a7f2db\"},\"headline\":\"The Pilot Who Fell From Mach 3 \u2014 and Lived\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-10T10:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/the-pilot-who-fell-from-mach-3-and-lived\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":584,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/the-pilot-who-fell-from-mach-3-and-lived\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\/\\/migflug.com\\/jetflights\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/sites\\/4\\/2026\\/05\\/sr71-blackbird-bill-weaver-breakup.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"History &amp; Legends\",\"Military Aviation\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/the-pilot-who-fell-from-mach-3-and-lived\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/the-pilot-who-fell-from-mach-3-and-lived\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/the-pilot-who-fell-from-mach-3-and-lived\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Pilot Who Fell From Mach 3 \u2014 and Lived | MiGFlug.com Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/the-pilot-who-fell-from-mach-3-and-lived\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/the-pilot-who-fell-from-mach-3-and-lived\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\/\\/migflug.com\\/jetflights\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/sites\\/4\\/2026\\/05\\/sr71-blackbird-bill-weaver-breakup.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-10T10:00:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a3b0f1b2c017dca146d1474d88a7f2db\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/the-pilot-who-fell-from-mach-3-and-lived\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/the-pilot-who-fell-from-mach-3-and-lived\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/the-pilot-who-fell-from-mach-3-and-lived\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\/\\/migflug.com\\/jetflights\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/sites\\/4\\/2026\\/05\\/sr71-blackbird-bill-weaver-breakup.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\/\\/migflug.com\\/jetflights\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/sites\\/4\\/2026\\/05\\/sr71-blackbird-bill-weaver-breakup.jpg\",\"width\":960,\"height\":752},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/the-pilot-who-fell-from-mach-3-and-lived\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Startseite\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Pilot Who Fell From Mach 3 \u2014 and Lived\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/\",\"name\":\"MiGFlug.com Blog\",\"description\":\"for those interested in flying military jets and aviation related  topics\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a3b0f1b2c017dca146d1474d88a7f2db\",\"name\":\"Tamika Johnson\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/0aec3158aff3d47ac0cba1da9c62fe9994a454e4e6a14b6260de35a598abdb4d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/0aec3158aff3d47ac0cba1da9c62fe9994a454e4e6a14b6260de35a598abdb4d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/0aec3158aff3d47ac0cba1da9c62fe9994a454e4e6a14b6260de35a598abdb4d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Tamika Johnson\"},\"description\":\"Tamika finds the human story behind every headline. A political science graduate with a passion for aviation history, she writes about the people who shaped the skies \u2014 from the Night Witches to modern-day female fighter pilots. Her pieces read like narrative journalism: vivid, emotional, and impossible to put down.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/author\\\/tamikajohnson\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Pilot Who Fell From Mach 3 \u2014 and Lived | MiGFlug.com Blog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/the-pilot-who-fell-from-mach-3-and-lived\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Pilot Who Fell From Mach 3 \u2014 and Lived | MiGFlug.com Blog","og_description":"On January 25, 1966, test pilot Bill Weaver was flying an SR-71 Blackbird at 78,000 feet over New Mexico at Mach 3.18. Behind him sat reconnaissance systems officer Jim Zwayer. They were testing a new navigation system when the aircraft&#8217;s right engine suffered a catastrophic inlet unstart \u2014 and in the thin air at the [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/the-pilot-who-fell-from-mach-3-and-lived\/","og_site_name":"MiGFlug.com Blog","article_published_time":"2026-05-10T10:00:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":960,"height":752,"url":"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:960\/h:752\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/05\/sr71-blackbird-bill-weaver-breakup.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Tamika Johnson","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Tamika Johnson","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/the-pilot-who-fell-from-mach-3-and-lived\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/the-pilot-who-fell-from-mach-3-and-lived\/"},"author":{"name":"Tamika Johnson","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/#\/schema\/person\/a3b0f1b2c017dca146d1474d88a7f2db"},"headline":"The Pilot Who Fell From Mach 3 \u2014 and Lived","datePublished":"2026-05-10T10:00:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/the-pilot-who-fell-from-mach-3-and-lived\/"},"wordCount":584,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/the-pilot-who-fell-from-mach-3-and-lived\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/05\/sr71-blackbird-bill-weaver-breakup.jpg","articleSection":["History &amp; Legends","Military Aviation"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/the-pilot-who-fell-from-mach-3-and-lived\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/the-pilot-who-fell-from-mach-3-and-lived\/","url":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/the-pilot-who-fell-from-mach-3-and-lived\/","name":"The Pilot Who Fell From Mach 3 \u2014 and Lived | MiGFlug.com Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/the-pilot-who-fell-from-mach-3-and-lived\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/the-pilot-who-fell-from-mach-3-and-lived\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/05\/sr71-blackbird-bill-weaver-breakup.jpg","datePublished":"2026-05-10T10:00:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/#\/schema\/person\/a3b0f1b2c017dca146d1474d88a7f2db"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/the-pilot-who-fell-from-mach-3-and-lived\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/the-pilot-who-fell-from-mach-3-and-lived\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/the-pilot-who-fell-from-mach-3-and-lived\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/05\/sr71-blackbird-bill-weaver-breakup.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/05\/sr71-blackbird-bill-weaver-breakup.jpg","width":960,"height":752},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/the-pilot-who-fell-from-mach-3-and-lived\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Startseite","item":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Pilot Who Fell From Mach 3 \u2014 and Lived"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/#website","url":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/","name":"MiGFlug.com Blog","description":"for those interested in flying military jets and aviation related  topics","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/#\/schema\/person\/a3b0f1b2c017dca146d1474d88a7f2db","name":"Tamika Johnson","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0aec3158aff3d47ac0cba1da9c62fe9994a454e4e6a14b6260de35a598abdb4d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0aec3158aff3d47ac0cba1da9c62fe9994a454e4e6a14b6260de35a598abdb4d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0aec3158aff3d47ac0cba1da9c62fe9994a454e4e6a14b6260de35a598abdb4d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Tamika Johnson"},"description":"Tamika finds the human story behind every headline. A political science graduate with a passion for aviation history, she writes about the people who shaped the skies \u2014 from the Night Witches to modern-day female fighter pilots. Her pieces read like narrative journalism: vivid, emotional, and impossible to put down.","url":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/author\/tamikajohnson\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/657945","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=657945"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/657945\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":658079,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/657945\/revisions\/658079"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/657941"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=657945"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=657945"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=657945"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}