Yes, a 177.   McSpadden was an awesome guy, unfortunately he was also far from the first guy with tons of high-performance experience to get in trouble with a light airplane that the throttle lever couldn't get out of.

That said, just a few weeks ago Thunderbird 5 punched out of an F-16 that apparently had engine problems.   Fortunately she's okay.   But even the mighty Block 52 Viper in clean polished demo configuration can't get back to the pavement when it quits making thrust.