James Skinner Collection - Fulton Skyhook System Live Recovery (1962)

Duration: 11:11

Year Published: 1962

Sound: sound

Description: This 1962 government film documents the retrieval of United States Army Captain James Skinner by a fixed-wing C-7 Caribou aircraft via the Fulton surface-to-air recovery system. Also known as Skyhook, the Fulton system is an aerial retrieval maneuver employed by the CIA and United States military through which an airborne aircraft recovers personnel on the ground via a self-inflating balloon attached to a lift line. It was developed by Robert Edison Fulton Jr. in the early 1950s for use by the CIA to extract officers out of hostile situations. The Army adapted the system for its Caribou fleet in 1962, installing an anchor on the aircraft nose and a modified winch system in the cargo compartment. This footage represents one of if not the first times the Army completed a live pickup using the Fulton system. The first successful recovery of Captain Skinner took place on October 12, 1962, with six more occurring in October and November of that year.