You'll note there is no source cited for this story. Very cool if true, but a simple search found this story occurring in some form or another on several different dates, all the way back to 1983.....

Thu, 9 Aug 2001 09:01:17 EDT

A simulated dogfight training took place between two F-15D's and four A-4N Skyhawks over the skies of the Negev, Israel...

"At some point I collided with one of the Skyhawks, at first I didn't realize it. I felt a big strike, and I thought we passed through the jet stream of one of the other aircraft. Before I could react, I saw the big fire ball created by the explosion of the Skyhawk.

The radio started to deliver calls saying that the Skyhawk pilot has ejected, and I understood that the fireball was the Skyhawk that exploded, and the pilot was ejected automatically.

There was a tremendous fuel stream going out of my wing, and I understood it was badly damaged. The aircraft flew without control in a strange spiral. I reconnected the electric control to the control surfaces, and slowly gained control of the aircraft until I was straight and level again. It was clear to me that I had to eject. When I gained control I said : "Hey, wait, don't eject yet!" No warning light was on and the navigation computer worked as usual; (I just needed a warning light in my panel to indicate that I missed a wing...)." My instructor pilot ordered me to eject.

The wing is a fuel tank, and the fuel indicator showed 0.000 so I assumed that the jet stream sucked all the fuel out of the other tanks. However, I remembered that the valves operate only in one direction, so that I might have enough fuel to get to the nearest airfield and land. I worked like a machine, wasn't scared and didn't worry. All I knew was as long as the sucker flies, I'm gonna stay inside. I started to decrease the airspeed, but at that point one wing was not enough. So I went into a spin down and to the right. A second before I decided to eject, I pushed the throttle and lit the afterburner. I gained speed and thus got control of the aircraft again.

Next thing I did was lower the arresting hook. A few seconds later I touched the runway at 260 knots, about twice the recommended speed, and called the tower to erect the emergency recovery net. The hook was torn away from the fuselage because of the high speed, but I managed to stop
10 meters before the net. I turned back to shake the hand of my instructor, who had urged me to eject, and then I saw it for the first time - no wing!

Damn I did not think that could be done, I would have thought that the jet would have flipped over.

A wing AND a prayer...

curious....never knew that F-15's had tailhooks.

yep they do. we have them here at my base and somtimes they have to take a barrier

interesting...learned something new today! 260 kt landing...no wonder the tailhook departed the airframe.
That pilot should have ejected when his instructor called for it. He was just frigging lucky this time. The instructor saw there was a wing missing and make the correct and logical call.

Staying with an aircraft in that condition is nothing but stupid. Wonder what has to happen to that pilot that WILL get him to eject?