Parachutes
I'm grateful to both ANONYSTUDE and WHOLIGAN for taking the trouble to respond.
It would appear from the report that :-
1.None of the four people in the two aircraft was injured in the actual mid-air collision.
2. Neither cadet made any attempt to bale out and both remained strapped in their seats - even though both wore parachutes and had just viewed an instructional video on bale-out procedure
3. Although both pilots had released their straps neither of them baled out .
4. The emergency canopy jettison handle was not activated in either aircraft
The emergency procedure for cadet flights is given in ACP34 as follows:-
"Action in an Emergency
18. Emergencies in a Tutor or any other Royal Air Force aircraft are rare.
However, even with the best-laid plans, things can go wrong. If an emergency
does arise the most important things to remember are:
* DO NOT PANIC
* DO AS YOU ARE TOLD
19. Having said that, an emergency is not the time or place for a captain to
explain what you must do in response to his orders. You must know what to do! If
the captain decides that the aircraft must be abandoned, he will give the warning
order "Check parachutes". Depending upon the time available, the captain will
already have jettisoned the canopy, or will jettison it shortly after giving the warning
order. It may be possible for you to help in jettisoning the canopy, and this will have
been explained at the pre-flight briefing. Having given the warning order, and when
it is certain that the aircraft must be abandoned, the captain will give the executive
order "Jump Jump"
20. As soon as the captain has ordered "Jump Jump", you should release the
aircraft safety harness (not your parachute harness!), stand up in the cockpit and
dive head first over the side of the aircraft, aiming to clear the trailing edge of the
wing. It is vital that you do this immediately the captain has ordered "Jump Jump".
21. Having fallen well clear of the aircraft, all you have to do is to pull the metal
handle (or "D" ring) which is attached to the rip-cord. The handle is on the right
shoulder of the parachute harness. It is large and not difficult to locate, although
you may have to look for it, rather than just feel! As the handle comes out quite a
long way, it must be held firmly and given a good pull to its fullest extent (Fig 3-4).
This releases the parachute from the pack and completes the essential part of the
bale-out procedure. A parachute landing is roughly comparable to jumping off a
wall about 3-4 metres high."
Last edited by korrol; 10th Jan 2010 at 19:58.