Twelve Mach 3 SR-71 Blackbirds Were Lost in Accidents and None to Enemy Fire. 'Rapid Rabbit' Nearly Became the Exception Over Hanoi. A Typhoon Did.

SR-71 Blackbird 61-7978, nicknamed “Rapid Rabbit” and marked with white bunny logos, nearly became the one case of a lost Blackbird attributed to enemy fire during the Vietnam War—but the actual cause was mechanical failure. On May 15, 1972, both 60-kVA generators failed, fuel flow stopped and inlet spikes moved forward, dropping Majors Tom Pugh and Ronnie Rice from Mach 3.18 to Mach 1.1. They crossed directly over Hanoi’s SAM belt without being shot down. Later, on July 20, 1972, another SR-71 was lost during a typhoon-related landing accident at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa.