64-year-old man accidentally ejected himself from a fighter jet at 2,500 feet

The Aviation week article really brings up some issues. Seems like they did not get his strap in his helmet, one leg on his g suit, strap him down all the way so he moved around and grabbed the first handle he saw. He was given a med check before
Flight that recommended no maneuver over 3g. Due to a systems failure that did not reach them. They did a 4.5 g pull.


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Oh yeah the helmet came off on the departure. Oh and the incident exposed a flaw in the seat system


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I’m surprised it hasn’t happened with the Tbirds or Blues in their orientation flights. I know it’s happened at least once in an A-7 and an F-14 before.
 
AETC stopped giving orientation rides to civilians when one pulled the canopy jettison handle on the ground in the back of a T-38 after landing.The HUD tape audio is classic Homer Simpson stuff. D'oh!
 
Might have missed some of the preflight briefing,or nobody thought to explain the ejection seat.
 
frfly172 said:
Might have missed some of the preflight briefing,or nobody thought to explain the ejection seat.
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If he was that stressed on the ground before the flight unlikely he would have remembered much of what was said
 
Velocity173 said:
I’m surprised it hasn’t happened with the Tbirds or Blues in their orientation flights. I know it’s happened at least once in an A-7 and an F-14 before.
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The guy flying that Tomcat was later a skipper of a squadron in an old airwing of mine. Talk about a VIP ride gone wrong.......or perhaps maxed out the fun factor :) Heard the guy who ejected was the DESRON Commodore, i.e. the O-6/Captain in charge of all the surface ships in the CSG.
 
Recycled CNN story re-published as if this was new.
 
Ejection seats not the first or last to eject by mistake. Willow Grove NAS in Pennsylvania Navy S3 Viking Jet set as a ground display. A 7 year old kid was in one of the front seats and activated the ejection mechanism and was killed after being ejected and landing on the nearby tarmac.
 
Another possibility :D

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Yeah, what’s the bill for that?
 
The ejection seat aircraft I flew in the Navy had a “Command Ejection” selector. This function permitted either occupant to eject both, as opposed to each seat ejecting independently. It could have been worse if he ejected the pilot as well. The result would have been an unguided missile.
 
It was in Command mode. A DTA line ruptured and did not transmit the firing impulse to the seat initiator for the front seat. The DTA was between the front canopy and the front seat. Pilot landed with a hot seat and unknown damage within the cockpit.
 
Holy cow! If monsieur pic didn’t soil his flight suit during the evolution he prob did when he got on the ground and they told him. The guy should get the air medal.
 
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Craig said:
It was in Command mode. A DTA line ruptured and did not transmit the firing impulse to the seat initiator for the front seat. The DTA was between the front canopy and the front seat. Pilot landed with a hot seat and unknown damage within the cockpit.
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Yeah this seems to be the weirdest part of the story. Not sure what their community briefs, but in the FA18, if you are flying an unqualified backseat rider/VIP, you brief the mode selector knob to be in "NORM" which would just eject the aft seat and canopy. With a qualified WSO in the back, 2 seat jets fly around in "AFT INITIATE" where back seat handle pull would send them out followed by pilot. Sounds like this was the case for this scenario, albeit thwarted by the mechanical malfunction. In the F-16 we would brief the backseater to be in the equivalent of "AFT INITIATE" (can't remember, think it was called the same in the ACESII) because if they went, the whole canopy went and pilot would be without a windscreen. In the F/A-18 (as with the Rafale), you would still be left with the front windscreen clamshell even if the aft seater ejected themselves and the canopy.
 
I don't remember the wording either, but it was one of my checklist items when loading a pilot solo in a two seater, along with tieing the rear seat harnesses for security. Right upper console, three position T handle...Used to review the handle selection with the back seater when loading him/her. Been 14 years since I loaded an F-16 crew, and about 12 years since I did a preflight or postflight....All F-35 since AF-3 came off the line.
 
edslau33 said:
The Aviation week article really brings up some issues. Seems like they did not get his strap in his helmet, one leg on his g suit, strap him down all the way so he moved around and grabbed the first handle he saw. He was given a med check before
Flight that recommended no maneuver over 3g. Due to a systems failure that did not reach them. They did a 4.5 g pull.


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Zeldman said:
This is just social distancing carried a little too far....
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Zeldman said:
This is just social distancing carried a little too far....
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Made me laugh out loud, "Social Distancing". I wonder how long it took the pilot to realize his current SA? A few seconds to realize what happened and longer to believe it! At least he didn't end up like GOOSE. Speaking of Top Gun the movie I heard the Corona Virus delayed the opening of Top Gun...MAVERICK until December around Christmas. Will it be a disappointment, I hope not.
 
brien23 said:
Ejection seats not the first or last to eject by mistake. Willow Grove NAS in Pennsylvania Navy S3 Viking Jet set as a ground display. A 7 year old kid was in one of the front seats and activated the ejection mechanism and was killed after being ejected and landing on the nearby tarmac.
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Is there no WOW-Switch on the aircraft to prevent activation on the ground?
 
Dr. Stephen Spies said:
Is there no WOW-Switch on the aircraft to prevent activation on the ground?
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Well, pilots still need to be able to eject on the ground. 0/0 seat. Of course they have safety mechanisms on the seat to prevent an inadvertent ejection.
 
Dr. Stephen Spies said:
Is there no WOW-Switch on the aircraft to prevent activation on the ground?
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No...there are times where your best option on the ground is to eject. If you're on the ground and headed towards something large and immovable, or if you're likely to roll over (in flames for style points :) ) even at moderate speed or any of a number of other ground-based events chances are you're better leaving the airplane than trying to ride it out.

Nauga,
and instant altitude
 
Dr. Stephen Spies said:
Is there no WOW-Switch on the aircraft to prevent activation on the ground?
Click to expand...

The ACES2 and the USM-16 seats, along with others, carry a 0/0 rating, in that they need zero airspeed and zero height above ground to extract the occupant and put them on a good chute, with survivable landing criteria.
 
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