Inadvertent ejection.
On the one occasion I was given a flight in a JP5, I remember the ejector seat briefing mentioned that the ground crew were trained not to grab anything if they slipped while taking out the last safety pins before flight. This was especially so if the seat was the 0/90 variety, I seem to remember.
Have there been any instances of ground crew accidentaly firing the ejector seat under these circumstances?
Have there been any instances of ground crew accidentaly firing the ejector seat under these circumstances?
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Here are brief details of 3 I remember:
1. RN Sea Harrier pilot steps out of jet following flying display having forgotton seat pin (?); puts foot on handle which comes out of housing and fires him and seat into the air. Unbraked landing fatal.
2. Tornado pilot takes avoiding action at low level without telling nav. Nav thinks they're going to die and command ejects pilot and himself.
3. Instructor in PC-9 at end of basic exercise half-rolls prior to pulling to lose height quickly. Student stapped in 'loose and comfy' moves in seat under negative g and grabs nearest handle for support - bang! Instructor loses about 8000 ft regaining control and flys home with big hole in front canopy. Student retrieved by helicopter.
1. RN Sea Harrier pilot steps out of jet following flying display having forgotton seat pin (?); puts foot on handle which comes out of housing and fires him and seat into the air. Unbraked landing fatal.
2. Tornado pilot takes avoiding action at low level without telling nav. Nav thinks they're going to die and command ejects pilot and himself.
3. Instructor in PC-9 at end of basic exercise half-rolls prior to pulling to lose height quickly. Student stapped in 'loose and comfy' moves in seat under negative g and grabs nearest handle for support - bang! Instructor loses about 8000 ft regaining control and flys home with big hole in front canopy. Student retrieved by helicopter.
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Originally Posted by engineer(retard)
Pulse
Not exactly the same but a seat was fired at Boscombe in the hangar during maintenance.
Not exactly the same but a seat was fired at Boscombe in the hangar during maintenance.
Privately owned JP5 out of Norht Weald. Owner flying with brother, who isn't a pilot. Rolls upside down, unfortunately top latch is not engaed properly but owner doesn't know this as he hasn't been doing the seat checks prior to flight as the seats were made 'Safe' on transfer to the civil register. The seat moves enough to trip the drouge bolt gun which despite the seat being made 'safe', as it still has it's cartridge installed. Drouge bolt fires, punches hole in canopy, hapless brother now dragged though hole into the slipstream.
Luckily, the incompetant who made the seat safe also didn't de-activate the barostat, so the rest of the sequence works as advertised. Unfortunately though, the brother hadn't done his harness up correctly - no leg loops. So he slips through the harness until the QRB is jammed below his chin which is all that's stopping him fall out altogether. Before he is asphyxiated, he lands on a car in a supermarket car park which breaks his fall, but also his ankle.
Luckily, this was his only serious injury. A very lucky chap indeed.
Luckily, the incompetant who made the seat safe also didn't de-activate the barostat, so the rest of the sequence works as advertised. Unfortunately though, the brother hadn't done his harness up correctly - no leg loops. So he slips through the harness until the QRB is jammed below his chin which is all that's stopping him fall out altogether. Before he is asphyxiated, he lands on a car in a supermarket car park which breaks his fall, but also his ankle.
Luckily, this was his only serious injury. A very lucky chap indeed.
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Subsequent tests showed that there was no way that the fitter could get himself into the space available....but he did!
I was at the airport once and heard a T6 (Harvard) join the pattern. I watched it briefly, then returned to polishing the paint on a 172. Next I heard a sort of racing engine sound and an unmistakable thud. Well it might have been mistakable for exactly what it was, but it was unmistakably bad.
It turned out he was wearing a new parachute, tried to flare, couldn't do it properly as he was a big fat bas... erm, a cheerful rotund sort of fellow and had lost control. He'd gone careening over the grass and ended up inverted and I missed it
I was like the little kid at the seaside in the harrier ditching film whose not looking out to sea until after the a/c has disappeared
)Anyway, I legged it over there - fook I was knackered, I'm just glad German soldiers werent' chasing me. When I got there I saw the canopy was slightly crushed but the bloke was ok. Everything seemed under control until I noticed a big flame come out of the exhaust stack. "Oh look at that" I remarked "It's on fire"
I grabbed a cushion and held it over the opening, and glanced up to see the filler cap directly above my head
I made a quick calculation of exactly how long I was going to stay there and decided the cut of point would be just before the cap failed and I got doused in fuel.Anyway, being informed that his aircraft was on fire sort of galvanized the pilot. He started to wriggle out of one of the side windows, ut his rig got caught up on something. I have to hand it to him, rather than start panicing. he went back in, took the shoulder straps off and then squeezed through the broken window. It was like watching a cartoon.
So yes it's quite amazing what shapes and sizes we can make our bodies.
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Originally Posted by The Rocket
And there's a nice new patch of roof visible there IIRC, with a dayglo sticker detailing the event, placed there when the armourer involved left the unit.
I seem to recall that the ASF Hangar at Bruggen in the F-4 days was modified in the same way---not sure if the seat went through the roof though--or just clattered it's way round the girders.
JimGriff
Thanks for the reply and account of the Hunter incident
Suspicion breeds confidence
I vaguely recall a story of a Bucc returning to the UK from Germany where one of the ground crew had managed to "win" a ride in the back seat. He wasn't told that the sortie would be on the deck in particularly choppy conditions. After an extended period of less than reassuring banter, the said erk decided to pull the handle and leave the aircraft.
Only heard that second hand a long time ago, but from a very reliable source and it stuck with me.
Any other good ejection stories out there?
Regards,
Navaleye
Only heard that second hand a long time ago, but from a very reliable source and it stuck with me.
Any other good ejection stories out there?
Regards,
Navaleye
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[QUOTE=Stan Evil]Here are brief details of 3 I remember:
1. RN Sea Harrier pilot steps out of jet following flying display having forgotton seat pin (?); puts foot on handle which comes out of housing and fires him and seat into the air. Unbraked landing fatal.
I believe that, whilst this occured at Yeovilton, it was actually the RAF Harrier display pilot who had this fatal accident?
1. RN Sea Harrier pilot steps out of jet following flying display having forgotton seat pin (?); puts foot on handle which comes out of housing and fires him and seat into the air. Unbraked landing fatal.
I believe that, whilst this occured at Yeovilton, it was actually the RAF Harrier display pilot who had this fatal accident?
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i seem to recall being told all sorts of horror stories during training , one of which was a groundcrew chappie getting his forearm heavily modified by a F.4 drogue gun bullet and chute. apparently he was leaning on the drogue gun when it fired, the bullet went through his wrist, up his forearm , exiting at the elbow, it then pulled the drogue chute with it. not sure if it was just a scare story, or if it actually happened.
not so much as an inadvertant ejection, but more of an unnecessary one. student pilot from the senior service managed to get his hawk to do a wheels up landing at Mona (reserve landing ground), aircraft gracefully scrapes to a halt just off the runway on the grass with very little damage, young student type sits there with the engine idling for just over 30 seconds, and decides the easiest way to get out was to eject!..seems that to just shut down and step out was a bit complicated!
he got very bad MDC spatter, and was out of circulation for 18months, but came back and finished his training.
not so much as an inadvertant ejection, but more of an unnecessary one. student pilot from the senior service managed to get his hawk to do a wheels up landing at Mona (reserve landing ground), aircraft gracefully scrapes to a halt just off the runway on the grass with very little damage, young student type sits there with the engine idling for just over 30 seconds, and decides the easiest way to get out was to eject!..seems that to just shut down and step out was a bit complicated!
he got very bad MDC spatter, and was out of circulation for 18months, but came back and finished his training.
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I witnessed an ejection seat accident on a 208 Sqn Venom at RAF Eastleigh, [that'll rattle the memory cells!], when an armourer accidently triggered the drogue gun, the bolt of which penetrated his arm taking the cords with it! He survived with his arm more or less intact, but with some nasty scars.
I also witnessed a double ejection from a 64 Sqn Javelin at Tengah in 1966, where the aircraft in question turned onto finals [just about the Officers Mess] and, apparently, the throttle locks engaged and the aircraft was coming down like a lift! There followed the usual canopy departure and a double bang as the crew departed. You don't actually believe what you're watching for a split-second or so!
Funnily enough, the aircraft was largely intact in the area it came down.
I also witnessed a double ejection from a 64 Sqn Javelin at Tengah in 1966, where the aircraft in question turned onto finals [just about the Officers Mess] and, apparently, the throttle locks engaged and the aircraft was coming down like a lift! There followed the usual canopy departure and a double bang as the crew departed. You don't actually believe what you're watching for a split-second or so!
Funnily enough, the aircraft was largely intact in the area it came down.
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I have a couple of post-ejection photos of one of Milt's RAAF F111s if anyone cares to host them!
This aircraft ingested a serious amount of water on take-off and ended up, sans capsule, off the end of the runway.
This aircraft ingested a serious amount of water on take-off and ended up, sans capsule, off the end of the runway.
Avoid imitations
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"I believe that, whilst this occured at Yeovilton, it was actually the RAF Harrier display pilot who had this fatal accident?"
I concur, I think it was an RAF display pilot.
I concur, I think it was an RAF display pilot.