The Alraigo Incident occurred on 6th June 1983, when a lost British Royal Navy Sea Harrier fighter aircraft landed on the deck of a Spanish container ship.
Its pilot, Sub-lieutenant Ian Watson, was a junior Royal Navy Pilot undertaking his first NATO exercise from HMS Illustrious, which was operating off the coast of Portugal.
Watson was launched in a pair of aircraft tasked with locating a French aircraft carrier under combat conditions including radio silence and radar switched off.
After completing the search, Watson attempted to return to the Illustrious but was unable to locate it.
Running low on fuel, and with his radio stopped working, Watson headed towards a nearby shipping lane, where he made visual contact with the container ship Alraigo.
He initially planned to eject in sight of the vessel but noticed that its cargo provided a flat landing surface.
The ship was carrying a base plate for a telescope being delivered to the 𝗜𝘀𝗮𝗮𝗰 𝗡𝗲𝘄𝘁𝗼𝗻 𝗧𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘀𝗰𝗼𝗽𝗲 in the Canary Islands.
Four days later, the Alraigo arrived at Santa Cruz de Tenerife with the Sea Harrier still perched on its container. The event received widespread media coverage.
The aircraft was salvageable, and the ship's crew and owners were awarded £570,000 compensation.
On 5 May 1953, Squadron Commander Christopher Draper DSC, English World War I flying ace, nicknamed "the Mad Major.” , was fed up with the government's treatment of veterans. In a show of protest, The Mad Major preceded to fly an Auster monoplane under 15 of the 18 Thames bridges in London. The bridge arches averaged 40 to 50 feet high; with ships providing additional obstacles.
Draper was arrested after landing, charged, and fined. He retained his pilots licence.
"I did it for the publicity," Draper told the press; "For 14 months I have been out of a job, and I'm broke. I wanted to prove that I am still fit, useful and worth employing....They tell me I can be jailed, possibly for six months.....It was my last-ever flight- I meant it as a spectacular swansong.”
Once there was an old man who lived in a tree. No rent no bill and content as could be.