This page is in Honor and Memory of Maj. Bruce “Phoid” Netardus
Maj. Bruce “Phoid”Netardus from El Campo, Texas, was a flight leader with the 57th Fighter Wing at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. He was killed when the F-15E Strike Eagle he was piloting crashed on August 10, 1992, on a training mission about 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas, Nevada.
Maj. Bruce “Phoid”Netardus was an instructor at the Air Force’s Fighter Weapons School. He was on a simulated combat exercise when his airplane went into a flat spin. Maj. Netardus worked to recover but was unable to save the airplane or eject in time. When they saw the terrain, the aircrew initiated ejection at an altitude of 41 feet AGL. The ejection was unsuccessful however.
It was later found that the relatively new E version of the F-15 was unstable in certain regimes of flight, and the accident led to updates in the aircraft. He was survived by his wife, Susan, and a son and a daughter.
While stationed at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, Maj. Netardus helped his wing win an unprecedented second consecutive title as best air-to-air combat team in the Air Force’s William Tell ’86 competition.
