 McCain 's plane went into a vertical inverted spin . McCain bailed out upside down at high speed ; the force of the ejection fractured his right arm in three places , his left arm , and his right leg at the knee , and knocked him unconscious . McCain nearly drowned after parachuting into <unk> Bạch Lake in Hanoi ; the weight of his equipment was pulling him down , and as he regained consciousness , he could not use his arms . Eventually , he was able to inflate his life vest using his teeth . Several Vietnamese , possibly led by Department of Industry clerk Mai Van On , pulled him ashore . A mob gathered around , spat on him , kicked him , and stripped him of his clothes ; his left shoulder was crushed with the butt of a rifle and he was bayoneted in his left foot and abdominal area . He was then transported to Hanoi 's main Hỏa Lò Prison , nicknamed the " Hanoi Hilton " by American POWs . 
