Why didn’t Cougar’s copilot land the jet?
They all have a copilot in each jet. When Cougar had his panic attack, Maverick had to “fly him in.” What’s the point of having a copilot if they couldn’t land the jet?
shareThey were RIO's (Radar Intercept Officers), not copilots.
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Yes, and just to add if anyone else is wondering is that only the front seat of the F-14 has flight controls, so even a pilot acting as RIO could do nothing but eject if the pilot is killed or otherwise incapacitated.