Summary and Key Points: Retired Capt. Dale "Snort" Snodgrass, an aviator celebrated for his low-level "banana pass" maneuver in a Grumman F-14 Tomcat, gained notoriety among aviation enthusiasts but exemplified the dangers of such daring stunts.
-Inspired by Snodgrass, the character Pete "Maverick" Mitchell from Top Gun reflects the inherent risks and hubris of pilots who push the limits.
-Tragically, Snodgrass died in 2021 due to pilot error, highlighting the thin line between skill and recklessness. While Snodgrass's feats are admired, they serve as a cautionary tale about the perils of overconfidence in aviation.
Aviation pioneer E. Hamilton Lee famously quipped, "Don't be a show-off. Never be too proud to turn back. There are old pilots and bold pilots, but no old, bolt pilots."
Lee was arguably a bold pilot, though, and he lived to the ripe old age of 102.
The same could almost be said of retired Capt. Dale "Snort" Snodgrass, who has gained infamy among aviation buffs for his low-level maneuver known as the banana pass. A now infamous 1988 photo shows Snodgrass in a Grumman F-14 Tomcat flying vertically next to the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS America (CV-66).
The veteran aviator, who reportedly served as the basis for Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, Tom Cruise's character in the 1986 film Top Gun, claimed the maneuver was "not risky at all with practice." That sort of hubris should be expected from those who eagerly climb into the cockpit of any military aircraft, given the inherent dangers. But buzzing past the flight deck of an aircraft carrier, as Snodgrass did, should not be lauded as a heroic accomplishment.
It was a dumb move.
The fictional Maverick was reprimanded repeatedly in the Hollywood blockbuster, and for good reason. Superiors and fellow aviators tell him that he's dangerous – and indeed his recklessness pretty much results in the death of his best friend.
Moreover, practice may get you to Carnegie Hall. Practice and training got some athletes to Paris in a few weeks for the Olympic Games. But those who have played at the famed concert hall and those who compete in world-class events will all tell you that mistakes happen.
Yet a musician's career won't be ruined if they hit the wrong note during a sold-out performance. An athlete’s mistake may cost them the podium. Rarely do their mistakes cost them their lives.
The same cannot be said of the banana roll and other "daring" aerial maneuvers.
As Maya Carlin wrote for The National Interest, "Beginning from behind the ship, Snort went to full afterburner and rolled up on a wing as he passed the stern of the ship for a dramatic moment," and added, "There are some definite dangers involved with this maneuver. When an aircraft banks, its lift vector – the imaginary line that represents the force of the wings keeping it aloft – is no longer pointing directly upward. If the pilot does nothing else, the plane will begin to sink. To counteract this effect, the pilot must pull back on the stick. The greater the angle of bank, the greater the back stick."
Snodgrass was named "Fighter Pilot of the Year" by the U.S. Navy in 1985 and "TopCat of the Year" by Grumman in 1986. Carlin further suggested, "Snodgrass knew his machine and its limits."
Except, maybe he didn't.
"Snort" was killed in a crash while piloting his Marchetti SM.109 in Lewiston, Idaho, in 2021. Pilot error was blamed for the crash.
Let's state that fact again to push the point home: Snort was killed due to pilot error.
The National Transportation Safety Board's report concluded, "The pilot's failure to remove the flight control lock before departure, which resulted in a loss of airplane control and impact with terrain. Contributing to the accident was his failure to perform an adequate preflight inspection and flight control check before takeoff."
We will never really know whether it was hubris that cost the pilot his life, or whether it was just a tragic mistake. Moreover, as Snodgrass was 72 at the time of his fatal accident, arguably he proved Lee's adage wrong. Snort was a pilot who was both bold and reasonably old.
Lee should also be remembered for his famed poem to aviators "Flying West," in which he offered these thoughts:
I hope there's a place, way up in the sky,
Where pilots can go, when they have to die-
A place where a guy can go and buy a cold beer
For a friend and comrade, whose memory is dear.
For aviation buffs, Snodgrass's banana roll in the F-14 Tomcat will always be a thrilling image. But we should remember that had anything gone wrong – anything at all – it wouldn't just be the pilot whose life could have been cut tragically short. And he wouldn't be toasted with a cold beer.
Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer. He has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers, and websites with over 3,200 published pieces over a twenty-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu. You can email the author: Editor@nationalinterest.org.
Image Credit: Creative Commons.
