2009 Harrier crash landing in Kandahar - GIF

Royal Air Force Harrier pilot ejects at the last minute after guiding his bomb-laden plane away from other aircraft.

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Previously:

https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...517#post162416
https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...588#post107918
https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...3434#post99087
https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...543#post166688
https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...882#post156467

With a plane skidding on it's belly on the ground, what guidance does a pilot have? I really can't imagine the pilot "guiding this bomb laden plane away from other aircraft"....tell me where I'm wrong please.

The landing gear was down but it appears that maybe only the main gear survived the impact, the rest look to have been sheared off. That leaves the rudder as the only control surface that might be effective for directional control. The rudder was neutral before the impact and after the dust cloud obscured it enough that it is hard to tell if it was deflected. After you smack the ground that hard and you see something in your path it is likely he was trying to steer clear any way he could. It is also quite likely the pilot was trying to ride it out but that all changed when the flames came up over the canopy. That is when he decided to get out. All in all well done, but then again he is the guy that pooched the landing in the first place. Oopsie!

A normal landing for a Harrier is vertical. A conventional landing is for emergencies only. There was already a serious problem and this was his only option.