Saw someone discussing this on Weibo, so I looked up the original articles: Aircrew that landed a Growler while blind and freezing awarded for bravery Flying blind and freezing: Navy investigating terrifying EA-18G Growler flight It turns out it is indeed a case with significant reference value.

On January 29, a US Navy EA-18G fighter was cruising at 25,000 feet when the ECS (Environmental Control System) suddenly issued air conditioning and pressurization warnings. The temperature in the cockpit dropped to minus 30 degrees, water vapor fogged up, and ice formed on the glass and instrument panels, leaving the pilots with virtually zero visibility.

Under such harsh conditions, relying on heading and altitude information obtained from the Garmin smart watch on their wrists, and with flight guidance from ATC, they finally managed to return to the airport successfully, but both crew members (Lt. Jason Hirzel and Lt. Sean Noronha) suffered severe frostbite.

The ECS in question has reportedly been plagued by continuous faults; about 25% of crew members have experienced problems of varying magnitudes, but a failure as severe as this one was a first occurrence.

Generally, when similar failures occur, the crew would choose to eject and escape, but the two crew members in this incident were actually able to save an expensive fighter jet relying on a Garmin watch, which can be described as a miracle.

Without so much as a window to see out of or instruments to guide them, the crew used a Garmin watch to track their heading and altitude while a tremendous effort from Whidbey Island's ground control team guided the Growler safely back.

Recently, they were awarded the Air Medal for their brave actions.

The article did not mention the specific model of the watch, but in the comments, someone suggested it might be a fēnix 3. That it continued to function normally at an altitude of several thousand meters and in temperatures of minus 30 degrees is impressive performance. Of course, a Garmin watch cannot provide more precise flight data; I believe the pilots, by obtaining basic altitude and heading, followed ATC instructions to find the bearing back to the airport. Combined with lowering altitude, the ice and fog were likely able to melt; meanwhile, the pilots’ professional professionalism of remaining calm in the face of danger was also an important factor in the successful landing.

Although I haven’t used the fēnix 3 personally, after several months of using the D2 Charlie, I found that Garmin products are indeed rugged and reliable, offering great peace of mind when using them.

To make an analogy, using Canon’s DSLR cameras, the top-tier 1DX2 offers this kind of very reassuring sense of security. No matter the poor lighting conditions, you can always press the shutter immediately and get accurate focus. The 5D4 and 7D2 are also excellent pieces of gear aimed at professionals, but there is always a gap in that sense of security compared to the 1DX2.

End