There are of course inherent dangers.
The pilot of an Air Force F-16 was trying to urinate in a cockpit device when the $20-million plane went out of control at 28,000 feet and crashed at Palmdale Regional Airport in December, an Air Force report said Friday.
The report describes the events leading up to the Dec. 1 accident, but it does not assign blame for the crash. It does not mention any evidence of pilot error or equipment malfunction, nor does it say if the pilot's attempt to urinate while flying on automatic pilot was a contributing factor.
The pilot, Capt. Craig Fisher, 29, was about 48 minutes into a flight from Luke Air Force Base in Arizona with two other planes to the Miramar Naval Air Station near San Diego when he attempted to use the so-called "piddle pack" and the aircraft went out of control, the report said.
According to the released report, Fisher put his jet on autopilot about 40 minutes into the flight, took the piddle pack from his flight suit pocket, unlatched his lap belt, "and began to raise himself up and forward in the ejection seat."
"He used his feet on the rudder pedals to help with this upward motion," the report said. Then, the jet began a "very aggressive and rapid" roll to the right and down. Fisher unsuccessfully fought to regain control of the falling jet, including turning off the autopilot, before ejecting, the report said.
Report