We trained in AT-11 twin engine aircraft. Early one Sunday morning I was assigned to a cross-country navigation hop. These were always a challenge because there weren't many ground checkpoints to refer to. Midland, Texas was in panhandle and surrounded by level country. About all you could see was sand. The pilot was a 2nd Lieutenant who had partied the night before and wasn't very happy about his assignment. We took off and had been in the air about fifteen minutes when both engines stopped. I strapped on my parachute and was ready to respond to the bail out bell. Looking through the rudder pedals I witnessed the pilot's frantic efforts to solve the problem. I think he had been sleeping because the aircraft was on auto pilot and I was controlling the direction with the bombsight. He put the aircraft in a dive and got one engine started. He was successful in starting the second engine the same way. We completed the mission without further incident. After landing the pilot said " Cadet, I hope you won't tell anyone about the problem we had ". I said I wouldn't and I didn't. I did inquire as to what really happened and he said he took off on wing fuel tanks and forgot to switch to the main tanks. This proved to be a testy incident for both of us.
