Originally Posted by
Ugly Jet Captain
Looking at the data it makes me question a failed ejection. Here is what the manufacturer's page says about the ejection system.
The aircraft has a through the canopy ejection system with a Martin Baker Mark US16LA zero/zero ejection seat. When the pilot pulls the ejection handle, they will always eject; if the redundant canopy fracturing system fails, they will eject through the canopy without injury.
In other words, the canopy glass has a charge in it that fractures the glass and if it fails the seat is designed to power through it. This is different than most designs where the canopy comes off the rails when ejecting and the glass is shed intact. I don't know enough about the seats to pass judgement but wonder if the seats were fired and the ejection sequence failed and incapacitated the crew.
Canopy shattering with secondary breakers on the seats is fairly common in FJ types, this isn't unusual. Harrier, Hawk, Tucano (slightly different) all do the same thing.