“Among professional aviators, there’s a well-worn saying: Flying is simply hours of boredom punctuated by moments of stark terror.”
Bill Weaver was at 78,000 feet and Mach 3.2 when an engine inlet failed and the jet came apart in two or three seconds. He blacked out and came to falling, face plate iced over. He never pulled the ejection handle. His partner Jim Zwayer died of a broken neck in the breakup, on a test flight set up to make the plane less stable on purpose.