If that were true, then one must ask why aircraft carrier pilots who are catapulted at night or in IMC or conduct go-arounds or "bolters," are not crashing in their thousands. The acceleration of after-burner take offs are ten times more powerful than a go-around or take off in an airliner.
Happens more often than one might think:
F/A-18C HORNET NIGHT CATAPULT LAUNCH
The Mishap Aircraft (MA) crashed into the water after night catapult launch. The Mishap Pilot (MP) was
well rested and mentally prepared for the Mishap Flight (MF). MP spent significant time troubleshooting
several discrepancies while on deck, all of which were satisfactorily resolved prior to MA launch. Weather
conditions were overcast at 600-1000 ft, creating an extremely dark night under the low overcast. MP
conducted a normal catapult shot with sufficient airspeed for flyaway. Almost immediately after launch, MP
grabbed the stick and easily countered a slight roll to the right due to MA asymmetric condition. MP
gradually applied forward stick during the climb out. After peaking in altitude at 224AGL, the MA
responded to the forward stick by accelerating and following a nose down flight path toward the water. Just
prior to water impact, MP realized he was in extremis and attempted to eject, but was already out of the
ejection envelope resulting in an unsuccessful attempt. MP lost at sea.
Official Cause Factor:
AIRCREW: MP applied improper forward stick inputs during climb out due to the effects of somatogravic
illusion.
...
The F/A-18 mishap presented in this report is not a rare type of mishap. For the past several years, NAMRL has
assisted on at least one case per year of somatogravic illusion in the "fast mover" communities (three such mishaps
in FY2001). Somatogravic illusion mishaps are not always associated with catapult launches, but may also occur in
high performance takeoffs, landings and bombing runs over land.
Somatogravic illusions and other spatial disorientation mishaps are a leading killer of military pilots worldwide.
Source:
www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADP013854