Urban75 Home About Offline BrixtonBuzz Contact

Exec accidentally ejects himself from fighter jet during surprise flight

A former colleague of mine had been a pilot in the RAF and ejected twice. Apparently it is not a pleasant experience.
 
Trivial in comparison, but about 40 years ago I foolishly rode my recently-acquired Norton Commando all the way to Aviemore where my ex-flatmate ran a gliding school - I was taken up in a new glider they were testing and the canopy flipped open mid-flight.
Luckily we managed to grab it and close it again - in my naivete I have no idea how risky that was. I think I was wearing a parachute but we probably weren't far enough off the ground to use it.

As it happens almost certainly my last ever flight in any kind of aircraft.

I got back to Bristol, parked the bike and come the Monday the thing wouldn't start and I spent the next month completely rebuilding it. (probably the safest way to own a large motorcycle with comedy brakes.)
 
i wouldn't be surprised if he evacuated as he left the jet
Bit surprised to read that it was only due to a mechanical fault that the 64 yr old passenger didn't eject both himself and the pilot as well? That suggests that he could have pulled the lever and stayed where he was whilst ejecting the pilot.Safe bet that, in that eventuality, he would have definitely shat himself!!
 
Bit surprised to read that it was only due to a mechanical fault that the 64 yr old passenger didn't eject both himself and the pilot as well? That suggests that he could have pulled the lever and stayed where he was whilst ejecting the pilot.Safe bet that, in that eventuality, he would have definitely shat himself!!
In many jets, there's a selector switch that controls what happens when the rear seat ejector handle is pulled, whether it ejects both seats in sequence or just the rear. I know the article claims there was a malfunction but it may not necessarily be true.
 
Apparently (BEA report) the rear ejection sequence led to an accidental rupturing of the casing of the sequence selector which would otherwise have immediately initiated the forward ejection seat sequence (the Rafale default is for any one seat to trigger the other so both crew always punch out together). The overhead pyros blitzed the entire canopy so the pilot, who still had full control authority, quickly dumped fuel and performed an emergency landing. Reportedly, and not unsurprisingly, they hopped out sharpish as their seat was obviously still armed and should have started the sequence.
 
Last edited:
Doesn't the canopy have to detach first, to avoid what happened to Goose in Top Gun?

In the film the jet is in a flat spin. So the procedure in the F-14 is to manually jettison the canopy first as it may not separate correctly in a spin. Then the RIO should command eject both crew. Goose did not jettison the canopy first so that's why died and why it wasn't Maverick's fault.

I fucking hate that film.
 
Bit surprised to read that it was only due to a mechanical fault that the 64 yr old passenger didn't eject both himself and the pilot as well? That suggests that he could have pulled the lever and stayed where he was whilst ejecting the pilot.Safe bet that, in that eventuality, he would have definitely shat himself!!
In many jets, there's a selector switch that controls what happens when the rear seat ejector handle is pulled, whether it ejects both seats in sequence or just the rear. I know the article claims there was a malfunction but it may not necessarily be true.
I've read the BEA report now. This switch exists, and was set to eject both, but didn't work. It seems like not only a fuckup that it mechanically/electronically failed, but that it was set this way in the first place such that an untrained civilian could eject both seats.
 
I've read the BEA report now. This switch exists, and was set to eject both, but didn't work. It seems like not only a fuckup that it mechanically/electronically failed, but that it was set this way in the first place such that an untrained civilian could eject both seats.
I was wondering earlier why would any fighter jet frame that was being used for commercial purposes with civilians not have been modified to ensure such accidents did not happen, in particular with any components that the passenger had direct access to.

Good job the jet was (presumably) not armed. According to Wiki the Rafale is actually part of the French nuclear deterrent force, and nuclear tipped missiles are part of its available ordnance. This poor geezer could have inadvertently obliterated millions if the sloppiness of the French Air Force had stretched a bit further and he’d accidentally leaned on the wrong button :D
 
Last edited:
Back
Top Bottom