“Operational excellence that prioritizes preparation can transform desperate situations,” Barry “Butch” Wilmore, an ex-U.S. Navy F-18 pilot and retired NASA astronaut, told attendees this morning at the 2026 Citation Jet Pilots Association convention keynote session. Wilmore, a champion for aviation safety, knows desperate situations after losing seven of 12 thrusters on the Boeing Starliner during the crewed test flight while attempting to dock with the International Space Station (ISS).
“As a pilot, we aviate, navigate, and then communicate,” he said. “During the thruster failure, my focus was solely on aviating.” Fortunately, mission control was able to help him regain use of all but one thruster, permitting the space capsule to dock with the ISS. “The space station was our safe space,” given the malfunctioning thrusters, he added.
Because the cause of the failure was unknown at the time, the Starliner would not be used as intended to return him and crewmate Sunita Williams home three weeks later. Wilmore and Williams were stranded for another eight months on the ISS, finally returning to Earth aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule on March 18, 2025.
While the intense prelaunch preparation didn’t simulate such an extreme thruster-failure scenario, he said this training and his wide-ranging experience helped to guide him through the incident. “Superior aviators need to use their superior preparation and judgment to avoid having to use their superior skills,” he concluded.
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