At precisely 16:14 local time somewhere at sea on 25 September, two flight deck crew members decided to cross an active runway. It was precisely at that moment a Boeing F/A-18E Super Hornet came in to land. With the aircraft nose tilted upward, the pilot appears to have no way of seeing these two flight deck strollers with cosmically bad timing. Someone on deck -- presumably the landing safety officer? -- must have alerted the pilot, who opens the throttle and goes around at the last moment. The crew members and pilot are safe, and the ship and the aircraft are no worse for the wear.
Question: With the arrival of the Northrop Grumman X-47B demonstrator on a carrier deck next year, do you think this scenario plays out any differently?
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