It may be true that the auto-eject system would take the pilot clear, but if it happened over the deck it would still be incredibly dangerous. Would you like to be on deck when when an F-35B did a back flip 50ft up?
I also wouldn't want to be on deck when a wire snaps or when an aircraft crashes by more conventional hook and wire methods (as they do on occasion) most dangerous 4 and 1/2 acres in the world on a CVN. naval aviation is inherently more dangerous and expensive and yet we retain naval aviation.
I don't think that anyone can sanely argue that a system with a failure mode that requires auto-eject is some great advance in flight safety.
by this logic I don't think that anyone can sanely argue that an aircraft with a failure mode that requires ejection seats (a pyrotechnically activated rocket chair) is some great advance in flight safety.
all aircraft with ejection seats require manual ejection with a system failure, depending on the circumstances of course, or even within certain envelopes. for example, 100ft off the deck is no time to try and restart the engine, however 10,000 ft might be a different story.
the difference here is that it would be done automatically. Not surprisingly the closer the aircraft is to the ground the more the manual advocates ejection. a vast amount of simulator time is dedicated to training pilots when to eject and why and ingraining the habits so they can make a split second decision with their life on the line.
personally I like the idea of an aircraft that would auto eject you in circumstances where no human could possibly assess and react to the situation in the time it would take to save a life or more than one:
Most ejection seats are loaded with "automatic features" throughout, for example the deployment of the parachute being automatic in case of blackout, the automatic restraint of joints and limbs, or even the automatic deployment of the survival vests flotation devices.
so is the problem really the auto eject? or the fact that a system failure could result in the need for ejection at all? I need to know what I should be manufacturing my discontent toward.
I second what Mach 2 has said (he beat me to the punch on this one)
One of the local yahoos wanted to buy a retired OV-1, but the insurance company shot him down because the procedure for an engine out during take off according to the manual was "eject"