If the ROD is too excessive, no amount of pulling or airframe strength will save you.
The Thunderbirds team F16 accident showed how even a late ejection can save a pilot
There are no hard rules about which is better, but as a guide, if the aircraft speed is high / can be pulled "hard", the the aircraft is the better bet.
Re the Thunderbirds
He initiated ejection with his left hand at 140ft of altitude, with a descent rate of about 8400 feet per minute. His airspeed was about 225kts which is about 260 miles per hour. Technically this was probably an out of envelope ejection due to the high descent rate and low altitude.
he is well out of the 1/10th RoD guidelines, but survived. Points:
- 225K is pretty slow for an F16, and the available 'g' therefore limited.
- Just watch the in cockpit video, and you will see the swept wing, low IAS, "sinking" aspect that shows the aircraft has not got the "performance" to avoid the ground
- He ejected in essentially a level pitch attiude, so the ejection vector was all in his favour
- I would guess (but do not know) the F16 seat is higher performance than the Tucano one in view of the arcraft type
All of the above factors are "different" for the Tucano accident - and without getting into detail relying on facts we do largely do not have, I still stand by the principle that in
this accident, I doubt that at any point would an ejection have been a "safer" option than using the aircraft to avoid the ground (of course assuming the aircraft was 100% serviceable).
NoD