That was not Pardo's way. The thought never occurred to me. He would stay as long as Aman's fuel lasted, then think of some way to get the two men to safety. Pardo didn't have long to think about it. While they were still over North Vietnam, Aman flamed out.
Desperate situations demand desperate measures.
Pardo decided to do something that, to his knowledge, had not been done before. He would push Aman's F-4 to Laos. With delicate touch, Pardo brought the nose of his damaged aircraft into contact with Aman's F-4, now plunging toward the Laotian jungle at 250 knots. He soon found that the pointed nose of an F-4 was not designed for pushing anything more solid than air. After several failed attempts, Bob Pardo came up with a brilliant idea.