Man, 64, accidentally ejects himself from fighter jet at 2,500ft
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
A 64-year-old man agreed to accept a gift from colleagues of a surprise flight in a military jet, only to accidentally eject himself from the aircraft as it hurtled through the sky at 2,500 feet.
The defence company executive was said to have screamed with fear during the ordeal but escaped injury after his colleagues arranged the flight despite the fact he had never expressed any desire to travel in a fighter jet.
According to an official accident report released by French investigators, the unidentified citizen triggered the ejector seat handle after he grabbed it to "steady himself" while the plane travelled at around 320 mph.
The need to keep the gift a surprise had "hugely risky consequences" for the flight in the Dassault Rafale B aircraft, which took off from Saint-Dizier airforce base in north-west France, because it gave the man little time to prepare, the report said.
"This situation generated a feeling of stress for the passenger, and this was felt especially during the ejector seat briefing where he had to assimilate a large amount of information in a very short time," the report stated.
It added that "the stress of surprise has been magnified by the complete lack of military aviation experience".
The man "said he had a complete lack of knowledge of the aeronautical environment and its constraints, having never flown on a military aircraft".
The report identified a catalogue of mistakes ahead of the accident.
Medical advice had suggested he should not have had to endure the 3.7g of force during the take-off, during which his loosely fitted seat straps allowed him to "float up" - causing him to involuntarily grab the ejector seat handle.
Investigators also noted the "right air bellows of (his) anti-G pants (were) not closed", indicating the special trousers he had been given had not been properly inflated as they should be.
But the man appeared to have been physically unharmed by the incident, having landed softly in a field near the German border after his parachute deployed. The plane also landed safely.
Investigations into the accident are reportedly ongoing.
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Personally I would have loved doing this, however I'm guessing the passenger was looking for a change of underwear after landing.
I don't know but I'm also guessing the pilot had an interesting time landing after the canopy and passenger disappeared.
I assume the pun (in you seeding this), was not intentional)?
lol
Lol there may have been a little intent.
he only wanted to roll down the window...
Well, that was the ride of a lifetime. damn good thing he was at 2500 feet and not 250 feet.
In the future newbies will not have access to the seat ejection handle...
Lol no kidding
Maybe but due to operational requirements I would doubt it, probably just a change in training requirements and access.
As a point..... modern ejection seats have a "Zero-Zero" ejection capability. Meaning that you can be sitting still on the ground and eject safely.
But yeah...… a change of under ware was most likely required after the rocket motors put about 15Gs on this guy.
When I got my T-38 ride for winning NCO of the year, I had to go through egress training. We were taught how to roll if we had to eject and how the ejection seat worked. We were also told DO. NOT. ANY. CIRCUMSTANCES. TOUCH. THE. HANDLE.
We were to listen to our pilot at all times and if he said eject THEN pull the handle. My pilot went thru the egress training again with the ejection seat. He said if for some odd reason he were to lose control of the aircraft and became unconscious then I was to pull the handle.
I listened carefully. I had a lot of fun and got to puke in my O2 mask. How many Bioenvironmental Staff Sgts get to puke in an O2 mask in a T-38?
That sounds like what people where I work have to go through (plus a medical screening) to get a ride
Lol while that does sound like a lot of fun it is also the reason I declined a flight when offered. Me and planes doing barrel rolls do not mix well
It wasn't the barrel roll that did it but it didn't help. It was that very quick wing dip that did me in
very quick wing dip that did me in
I concur! It happened to me a couple of times at night when I first started flying. And it was always just about the time to start making the turn off the inbound leg to the carrier when the carrier ATC calls: "...… begin your approach." The pilot not wanting to have to go around in the pattern again snapped the aircraft sideways nose down and we drop 5,000 feet in about 3 seconds to get to the 1200 foot approach altitude. If it isn't nailed down it is ending up on the starboard side of the cabin. Unfortunately, the tactical officer was to my right when my stomach didn't agree with the move! How many enlisted guys get to puke on an officer....?
Ah.... good times!
LOL! That would be worth every bit of puke that came up!
Story time. My son was a terror and pretty typical I suppose for his age. We lived on a base that had a mini air show for July 4th celebrations and they brought in fighters that we did not ordinarily see.
So he got to crawl around in a real F-16 one sunny day. I warned him explicitly not to touch anything. I thought the pilot was nuts but there is always an interservice rivalry at some level. The pilot signed the the brim of his cub scout hat which I still have somewhere with another signed by the Blue Angels.
Well the boy was all touchy touchy and the pilot yanked him straight out of the cockpit and rather than cry, the little Irishman dared him to trust him again and the pilot agreed. This time he was better behaved until we realized that he was bent completely forward and was looking backward at something under the seat with his fingers....
The pilot wasn't so polite this time. After my son landed on safely on the tarmac, I asked the pilot how complex the ejection seat arming was and he glared at me, apologized and had the stairs removed from the air frame. no more Cub Scout tours.
This was 2 years after "an incident" at our prior base where a 7 year old activated a rear seat in an A7. That seat went about 600 feet into he sky, Hard to guess, even from eye witnesses, how high the young man went but he landed about 35 feet away and sadly did not survive.
Priority one, listen to the pilots instructions. Especially about not touching anything.
...a 7 year old activated a rear seat in an A7.
Wow! I've got to go back and look for that accident report. All seats are to be pinned with flagged safety pins until the crew are harnessed in. If the kid activated the seat, he either managed to pull out the pin and then activate the seat, or worse.... the pins were not installed by the responsible persons!!!
The seats are hard enough on those strapped in when activated. They are almost always deadly when tripped by accident.
1980 Willow Grove NAS, One of several planned air shows that year.
I have heard that pilots cheat on the pins and other safety devices...in case reality calls.
Pretty sure the kid hit the glass first, wasn't strapped in.
Thinking back, it had to be a Viking or a Prowler to have back seats.
i recall that,
as i know you were from Philly, and i'm not too far from that base
Lee's Hoagies ! and lancer's Diner !!
Across from the south end of the runway !!!!!!!
Good thing he wasn't the pilot. At least it was an experience he'll never forget.
The seats are hard enough on physically fit young people, I'm sure he's hurting pretty good. Lucky he didn't break an arm or a leg in the process of being punched out which is common in 25% of ejections.
Ha. I bet being ejected freaked him out more than the ride.
Most likely he blacked out a few milliseconds after the rocket motor was activated.
Maybe not (though the below could be interpreted in different ways)