Failed ejections
My attempted ejection was out of a MiG-19 (F-6), Pakistan Air Force,in 1971. In a training Air Combat, 1 vs 1, i entered an inadvertent spin at about 23,000 ft. Recovery attempts were unsuccessful, so i tried to eject. I felt the wind blast and then nothing! I frantically pulled on the handle again with no joy. Got hold of the controls again and recovered!! The typical recovery in a steep dive had the plane clearing terra firma with less than a few hundred feet to spare! Made a smooth landing at home base that would make a corporate pilot's eyes water!The Mig-19 had soviet design,chinese built seat,that had pneumatic thrusters on both sides of the canopy sill, that would lift the canopy into the air stream and thus blow off,pulling the wire attached to a firing mechanism that would trigger the rocket motor under the seat! One thruster failed to fire, and the canopy got derailed and sat offset, with the right side open!
P.A.F modified all Migs with Martin Baker seats after that,which i put to test with much happier results !!