2015’s Biggest Military Boondoggles: Mistakes That Are Killing Our Confidence in the Armed Forces

10. It’s Like ‘Top Gun,’ But Disastrous

On a routine test run in April of last year, the Air Force’s new AC-130J Ghostrider (a.k.a, an absurdly big plane) attempted to execute a standard maneuver called a sideslip. A sideslip just involves a pilot dipping one wing of the plane in order to lose altitude quickly. This time around, though, the pilot dipped a little too low, the plane inverted and dropped 5,000 feet before the pilot (who must have brass ones) managed to recover the plane and get everyone home safe and sound. The catch is that now the plane isn’t considered airworthy (even though it still flies). I guess when you flip a plane that big over on it’s back, there’s no salvaging the $115 million you spent on it. Oh well!