Grim
23-04-2004, 09:23
boys toys today - ejection seats
The Martin-Baker MK-14 is made of over 1300 parts
An Ejection Seat from an SR-71 is believed to be being used as a throne by the ruler of a small island in the Pacific
An ejection system was tested in late 1912, at Issy-les-Moulineaux near Paris by Baron d'Odkolek. A parachuted dummy was extracted by a small cannon launched parachute from an aircraft in flight. The system also included a rudimentary skirt spreader gun to rapidly expand the parachute to full open. (Skirt spreaders are in use on some seats today, including the Stencel S-III-S used in the AV-8A and AV-8B Harriers.)
The Germans during World War II used ejection seats some 60 times.
Ejection Seats have been used over 12000 times to date.
The most common reason for unsuccessful Ejection is delayed Ejection Decision.
The Martin-Baker MK 14 seat is microprocessor controlled, with thermal batteries for power. (Not unique to Martin-Baker designs. The ACES II seat also uses thermal batteries and an analog control unit)
When inspected, all functions of an Ejection Seat must function within 1/10 of a second (for a mechanical/pyrotechnic seat). Electrical controlled seats use tolerances in the millisecond (.001) range and must test out accordingly).
Some Ejection Seats can weigh almost 200 lbs, especially the Russian K-36D. A Martin-Baker MK. J5D weighs about 150 lbs. (Most are lighter, including the ACES II which weighs in at around 130lbs.)
A Zero-Zero ejection seat will launch a normal sized pilot to a height of over 200 ft and give him a full chute in around three seconds.
The Harrier jet (used by the USMC and the RAF in various versions) uses an explosive to shatter the canopy inches above the pilots helmet. The canopy can not be jettisoned, so if the explosive doesn't work, the ejection seat will punch through it anyway. Canopy breakers are installed on the headrest to facilitate the effect
At least one woman pilot has successfully ejected using an ACES II ejection seat. The exact number of female ejectees is changing as more women are involved in military aviation. Women are known to have ejected from a T-45A using a Mk. 14 NACES seat
The Gemini Astronauts flew into space riding on ejection seats. In space, the ejection seat handles were stowed in a covered compartment in the base of the seat. Early Russian Cosmonauts returned from space, and ejected from their capsules and decended under personal parachutes. The Gemini system was never used.
Live testing of ejection systems over the years has included humans, chimpanzees and even bears. The chimpanzee and bear ejections were in the Stanley Supersonic Capsule during its extensive test program. The Stanley capsule was test fired with humans as well prior to its installation in the B-58 Hustler.
The A-1D Skyraider used the YANKEE tractor rocket system to pull the pilot out of the seat and open the parachute.
The Ka-50 and Ka-52 attack helicoptors are equipped with the Zvezda K-37 egress system. It uses a tractor rocket like the YANKEE to extract the crew after explosive bolts jettison the rotors.
The F-111 series of aircraft used Escapac ejection seats in the very early ones. Later production aircraft utilized a crew module which ejected the entire cockpit and both its occupants to decend intact.
Most egress systems are designed to separate from the crew and allow them to decend under a normal parachute.
Nose capsules (jettisoning the entire front of the airplane just aft of the cockpit)were explored for such aircraft as the F-104 and F-8. This was the method used by the Germans for the first fielded system.
Highest Bailout: 102,000 feet - Captain Joseph Kittinger bailed out of a baloon wearing a MC-3 partial pressure suit and heated socks and gloves along with a parka for an experimental project (Project Excelsior) to see the physiological effects of extreme high altitude air/space craft egress. His first attempt was nearly fatal due to the rapid spin he developed during his three minute freefall. His chute had prematurely deployed and wrapped around his neck. He found himself close to blacking out from the g-forces generated by the centripital force of his spin. Amazingly enough, when it was determined that more information was required, he volunteered to do it again! His later jumps were much more stable, and with a functioning 6 foot drogue, he achieved a terminal velocity of 702 MPH! He is still the holder of several world records, including longest (4.5 minutes) and highest freefall (81,000 feet) as well as highest bailout.
Lowest Altitude Ejection: Submerged 10-20 feet - A British navy flyer, LT. Bruce Mackfarlane had an engine failure on takeoff, leading to an immediate ditching off the carrier HMS Albion. Surprisingly, he survived the water impact and was coherent enough to clearly recall seeing the water close over the canopy, and begin to darken as the aircraft began to decend into the depths. His training instincts took over and he yanked the canopy jetison handle with his left hand, and immediatly fired the seat with his right. At this point, his memory becomes understandibly blurred, but he recalls tumbling free of the seat, still underwater. He had the presence of mind to release his chute and activate his life vest. (He surfaced aft of the carrier, almost directly under the 'Angel' rescue helo, which had moved into a hover over the disturbance in the water from his aircraft splash. The helo crew reported seeing his aircraft pass in two pieces along either side of the hull of the carrier. This indicates that if the pilot had delayed his attempt to escape a few seconds, he would likely have been killed when the bow of the ship sliced his bird in half.
Oddest Proposed Ejection System: The Gyro Copter Ejection Seat - aka SAVER (Stowable Aircrew Vehicle Escape Rotoseat) During the Vietnam War, many pilots were forced to eject over enemy territory, even with safe areas in sight. This led to a large number of POWs, and a great effort to find a safe method of allowing pilots a chance to reach safe landing areas. One of these attempts that was pursued was an ejection seat that deployed a set of non-powered rotors overhead and a small gas powered engine on the back for forward propulsion. As the seat moved forward the relative motion would cause the rotors to spin and produce lift. This ungainly contraption would hopefully allow a pilot to fly to an area that would allow for safe retrieval. Note 3
Most Spectacular Ejection at an Airshow: Tie: The two most spectacular ejections at airshows were both Russian K36 seats being demonstrated first at the 1989 Paris International Airshow when a Mig 29 lost an engine during a low altitude knife edge pass. The pilot ejected at an altitude of less than 200 feet with his aircraft in a vertical nosedive. His parachute fully opened at about the same time his feet hit the dirt.
Several years later, a pair of MIG-29s collided at the International Air Tattoo, Fairford, 1993. Both pilots ejected safely, including the fastest reaction time I've ever seen. The planes were executing an opposing loop when at the bottom of the loop they collided. In the rapidly expanding debris cloud from the collision you can just make out the shape of the seated pilot.
Most Miraculous Ejection: This one goes to an Israeli pilot flying an A4 Skyhawk at low level approx. 350 kts. The pilot reports he was flying straight and level, then he was lying on his back on the valley floor with a massive headache. Israeli analysis of his damaged helmet and the debris of the aircraft detected traces of bird blood and a single feather as well as fragments of HUD glass in his face. Apparently he was the victim of a bird strike directly to the front wind screen. The bird continued thru the canopy, demolished the HUD and smashed the visor on the pilots helmet, knocking him unconcious. How did he eject? Answer: enough of the birds corpse deflected upward off his helmet to strike the upper ejection handles and fire the seat!!!
Most Tragic, Successful Ejection: A British Harrier Pilot was executing a hover demonstration at an airshow when he was asked by the control tower if he was aware that the aircraft was on fire. Replying in the negative, he elected to decend to a safe landing. Upon setting down on the field, he determined that the fire had spread too rapidly for a normal exit. Activating the handles he ejected cleanly, getting a good chute. His landing was uneventful, albeit unfortunatly the seats landing was not. A spectator in the crowd was hit and killed by the decending seat.
Coolest Ejection seat This catagory could go many ways, but since I've seen both pictures and video of this one (and I have a link to a picture...) It goes to the Verticle Seeking Seat tested at China Lake Naval Weapons testing area. The seat was capable of righting itself from a bank angle of 180 degrees at 50 feet of altitude!
Powerful Accident
December 7th,1992, Nellis AFB. F-4G 68-561
Myself and a fellow QA inspector were performing a pre-flight inspection of an F-4G prior to a Functional Check Flight (FCF). A crew chief and his partner were changing a battery on another F-4 only two jets away from us. Now for those of you who remember the F-4 days, you know that a battery change on an F-4 is no easy task, requiring that the seat be in the lowest position, the rudder pedal being folded forward and the #7 circuit breaker panel being removed ( I know that this was not the case in the earlier versions of the F-4, when the rocket motor initiator was located under the seat, attached to a lanyard to the floor of the acft and required that the seat be removed. On the later versions of the seat, a TCTO moved the initiator to the left side of the seat, and the peso did not require removal from the cockpit) Anyway, the battery was inadvertently drained through the night, and the seat was in the up position. As you old timers will know, the F-4 will not accept external power with a dead battery. Egress was called to remove the peso, and the crew chief and his partner pressed on with the battery change. With some time and patience, the battery was R2'd and the crew chief wanted to now lower the seat to make the rest of the battery install go easier. Now for those of you who have not worked the "G" model F-4, the wiring harness to the #7 c/b panel was longer than usual due to the sex change from from "E" to "G" configuration. This allowed the #7 circuit breaker panel to be set on the floor of the acft, while still attached to the cannon plugs attached to it. While sitting in the seat, he had his assistant apply power to the jet with a -60 power unit and lower the seat . Little did he know that he was pinning the c/b panel between the bottom of the seat and the floor. The scene now is that he is sitting on a seat that is on top of a live panel, which then proceeds to torch a hole in the rocket motor package. Needless to say the seat fired after a hole was burned through the rocket motor. When this thing went it scared the wholly living shit out me and my partner. The first thing that we thought was that maybe EOD was blowing up some stuff somewhere on base ( that was a pretty common occurrence at Nellis ). We both looked up to see an ejection seat in the air with the drogue chute just starting to deploy. I thought to myself that I hoped to Christ that no one was in it. The seat was at least as high as the flood lights that light up the flightline of most Air Force bases, at least 100 ft. high. The seat and occupant both came down very rapidly, with the seat landing on the wing of the next acft, and the crew chief on the ground. I and my partner were the first ones on the scene, and after declaring a ground emergency to maintenance control, we realized that there was nothing to do except cordon off the area and wait for the ambulance to arrive. As we all know, almost all ejection seat accidents are always fatal, and this was no exception. The crew chief was killed in this accident. Then entire rear canopy was taken out and broken into several pieces. Once the area was cleared,and egress technicians were on the scene, we had realized what had happened. Prior to this, myself and my QA buddy along with other mechanics, were trying to figure out what had happened. The seat landed on the wing of the next acft. lying on its' side, partially covered by the drogue chute. We counted all of the safety pins and the "D" ring guard was in the up "safe" position. How the hell did this thing go off? Anyway, the investigation had revealed that it was in fact the #7 circuit breaker panel that had burned a hole into the rocket motor pack that caused the seat to fire. I had always heard about ejection seat accidents, but never thought that I would be witness to one. It has really given me a new sense of respect for the ejection system, a system that most of us maintainers take for granted these days. I always do my "seat safe for cockpit entry" prior to getting into the cockpit of any acft.
Inadvertant Ejection : VA-195 NAS Lemoore CA Circa 1970-1971
The pilot had selected attitude hold on the auto-pilot of his A-7E so that he could raise the radiation thermal shield that had been lowered to simulate instrument conditions. As he attempted to raise the fiberglass shield following laydown release of the mk-106 at 10,000', his elbow inadvertently hit the end of the 6" long canopy release lever and unseated the canopy.
At about 300kts IAS, the wind immediately took the canopy off and the thermal shield impacted his helmet, knocking him unconscious and apparently striking the upper ejection handle. Ejected from the aircraft, he came to just prior to impacting the ground a few miles north of the target at NAS Fallon NEV. The LTjg pilot was shaken but physically unharmed by his adventure.
Unfortunately, his chase safety observer was so busy attempting to spot the bomb hit for scoring purposes that he lost site of the mishap aircraft and missed the whole thing. In the meantime, the aircraft continued northbound with enough fuel on board to make it into Canada and create and international incident.
The a/c was tracked by Oakland Center until it was lost in the shadow of a mountain around Provo Utah. Everyone "assumed" it crashed on the snow-covered mountain. Local skiers and campers in the area all said they heard the aircraft at tree-top level and knew the crash site had to be near by.
Well, weeks went by, then months and the squadron left on an extended combat deployment to SouthEast Asia aboard the USS Kitty Hawk. Over a year later, after they returned from Vietnam, the Aircraft was finally located. It had not crashed into the mountain after all; rather, it had managed to skirt the back side of the mountian and was not reacquired by the radar operator as it continued in attitude hold on a southeasterly course until it ran out of JP and made a relatively soft gear-up, out-of-fuel landing in a remote area in Utah.
One of the most important things a pilot of an aircraft equipped with an ejection seat must do is safe the ejection seat prior to exiting the aircraft. All ejection seats have some form of safety device, usually backed up by a safety pin and flag. On the Martin-Baker seats this is a lever or flap that physically prevents the handle from moving. If the handle is dislodged even slightly, the seat is considered 'Hot' and special care must be taken to disarm it.
An A-4 Skyhawk was respotted to the hanger deck before the seat was found to be hot. The A/C was roped off and personel were warned to stay clear. A team of Aviation Mechanics (AMEs) was dispatched to render the seat safe. The most experienced AME cautiously entered the cockpit and began removing the intiators while a pair of AMEs assisted by handing him tools from either side of the cockpit. What happened next is unknown, but the seat fired. The AME on the seat was hurtled up into the hanger deck ceiling denting it and killing him. The rocket blast killed the other two technicians.
Inadvertant Ejection : Mogadishu, Somalia 1990
A young Somali boy was poking around a Somali Air Force hangar shortly after the military had abandoned its base at Mogadishu. Chaos was running rampant in the area, as feuding rebel warlords were fighting for control, starvation was prominent and the UN peacekeeping force had not yet arrived. The curious Somali teenager hopped up into the cockpit of one of the abandoned Mig 15s in the hangar and undoubtably proceeded to fulfill his fantasies as an aspiring fighter pilot. Unfortunately, he encountered more realism than he desired when he pulled the ejection handles and immediately found out that the seat was one item in the dysfunctional aircraft that still worked. He proceeded to get the ride of his life as the seat fired, and a few milliseconds later he was airborne and rapidly heading toward the wild blue yonder. Unfortunately, there was a hangar roof between him and the sky, and he never took the opportunity to strap into the seat as he was playing aspiring fighter pilot. As he approached the hangar roof, his body gradually drifted apart from the seat and achieved sufficient lateral separation to avoid coming to a rapid halt as the seat impacted an overhead 12" steel girder support beam, putting a serious deformation in it. Our flying Somali superboy fared only slightly better, as his body was undoubtably bashed and shredded as it punched a hole through the sheet roof and landed on the tarmac outside the hangar.
The Martin-Baker MK-14 is made of over 1300 parts
An Ejection Seat from an SR-71 is believed to be being used as a throne by the ruler of a small island in the Pacific
An ejection system was tested in late 1912, at Issy-les-Moulineaux near Paris by Baron d'Odkolek. A parachuted dummy was extracted by a small cannon launched parachute from an aircraft in flight. The system also included a rudimentary skirt spreader gun to rapidly expand the parachute to full open. (Skirt spreaders are in use on some seats today, including the Stencel S-III-S used in the AV-8A and AV-8B Harriers.)
The Germans during World War II used ejection seats some 60 times.
Ejection Seats have been used over 12000 times to date.
The most common reason for unsuccessful Ejection is delayed Ejection Decision.
The Martin-Baker MK 14 seat is microprocessor controlled, with thermal batteries for power. (Not unique to Martin-Baker designs. The ACES II seat also uses thermal batteries and an analog control unit)
When inspected, all functions of an Ejection Seat must function within 1/10 of a second (for a mechanical/pyrotechnic seat). Electrical controlled seats use tolerances in the millisecond (.001) range and must test out accordingly).
Some Ejection Seats can weigh almost 200 lbs, especially the Russian K-36D. A Martin-Baker MK. J5D weighs about 150 lbs. (Most are lighter, including the ACES II which weighs in at around 130lbs.)
A Zero-Zero ejection seat will launch a normal sized pilot to a height of over 200 ft and give him a full chute in around three seconds.
The Harrier jet (used by the USMC and the RAF in various versions) uses an explosive to shatter the canopy inches above the pilots helmet. The canopy can not be jettisoned, so if the explosive doesn't work, the ejection seat will punch through it anyway. Canopy breakers are installed on the headrest to facilitate the effect
At least one woman pilot has successfully ejected using an ACES II ejection seat. The exact number of female ejectees is changing as more women are involved in military aviation. Women are known to have ejected from a T-45A using a Mk. 14 NACES seat
The Gemini Astronauts flew into space riding on ejection seats. In space, the ejection seat handles were stowed in a covered compartment in the base of the seat. Early Russian Cosmonauts returned from space, and ejected from their capsules and decended under personal parachutes. The Gemini system was never used.
Live testing of ejection systems over the years has included humans, chimpanzees and even bears. The chimpanzee and bear ejections were in the Stanley Supersonic Capsule during its extensive test program. The Stanley capsule was test fired with humans as well prior to its installation in the B-58 Hustler.
The A-1D Skyraider used the YANKEE tractor rocket system to pull the pilot out of the seat and open the parachute.
The Ka-50 and Ka-52 attack helicoptors are equipped with the Zvezda K-37 egress system. It uses a tractor rocket like the YANKEE to extract the crew after explosive bolts jettison the rotors.
The F-111 series of aircraft used Escapac ejection seats in the very early ones. Later production aircraft utilized a crew module which ejected the entire cockpit and both its occupants to decend intact.
Most egress systems are designed to separate from the crew and allow them to decend under a normal parachute.
Nose capsules (jettisoning the entire front of the airplane just aft of the cockpit)were explored for such aircraft as the F-104 and F-8. This was the method used by the Germans for the first fielded system.
Highest Bailout: 102,000 feet - Captain Joseph Kittinger bailed out of a baloon wearing a MC-3 partial pressure suit and heated socks and gloves along with a parka for an experimental project (Project Excelsior) to see the physiological effects of extreme high altitude air/space craft egress. His first attempt was nearly fatal due to the rapid spin he developed during his three minute freefall. His chute had prematurely deployed and wrapped around his neck. He found himself close to blacking out from the g-forces generated by the centripital force of his spin. Amazingly enough, when it was determined that more information was required, he volunteered to do it again! His later jumps were much more stable, and with a functioning 6 foot drogue, he achieved a terminal velocity of 702 MPH! He is still the holder of several world records, including longest (4.5 minutes) and highest freefall (81,000 feet) as well as highest bailout.
Lowest Altitude Ejection: Submerged 10-20 feet - A British navy flyer, LT. Bruce Mackfarlane had an engine failure on takeoff, leading to an immediate ditching off the carrier HMS Albion. Surprisingly, he survived the water impact and was coherent enough to clearly recall seeing the water close over the canopy, and begin to darken as the aircraft began to decend into the depths. His training instincts took over and he yanked the canopy jetison handle with his left hand, and immediatly fired the seat with his right. At this point, his memory becomes understandibly blurred, but he recalls tumbling free of the seat, still underwater. He had the presence of mind to release his chute and activate his life vest. (He surfaced aft of the carrier, almost directly under the 'Angel' rescue helo, which had moved into a hover over the disturbance in the water from his aircraft splash. The helo crew reported seeing his aircraft pass in two pieces along either side of the hull of the carrier. This indicates that if the pilot had delayed his attempt to escape a few seconds, he would likely have been killed when the bow of the ship sliced his bird in half.
Oddest Proposed Ejection System: The Gyro Copter Ejection Seat - aka SAVER (Stowable Aircrew Vehicle Escape Rotoseat) During the Vietnam War, many pilots were forced to eject over enemy territory, even with safe areas in sight. This led to a large number of POWs, and a great effort to find a safe method of allowing pilots a chance to reach safe landing areas. One of these attempts that was pursued was an ejection seat that deployed a set of non-powered rotors overhead and a small gas powered engine on the back for forward propulsion. As the seat moved forward the relative motion would cause the rotors to spin and produce lift. This ungainly contraption would hopefully allow a pilot to fly to an area that would allow for safe retrieval. Note 3
Most Spectacular Ejection at an Airshow: Tie: The two most spectacular ejections at airshows were both Russian K36 seats being demonstrated first at the 1989 Paris International Airshow when a Mig 29 lost an engine during a low altitude knife edge pass. The pilot ejected at an altitude of less than 200 feet with his aircraft in a vertical nosedive. His parachute fully opened at about the same time his feet hit the dirt.
Several years later, a pair of MIG-29s collided at the International Air Tattoo, Fairford, 1993. Both pilots ejected safely, including the fastest reaction time I've ever seen. The planes were executing an opposing loop when at the bottom of the loop they collided. In the rapidly expanding debris cloud from the collision you can just make out the shape of the seated pilot.
Most Miraculous Ejection: This one goes to an Israeli pilot flying an A4 Skyhawk at low level approx. 350 kts. The pilot reports he was flying straight and level, then he was lying on his back on the valley floor with a massive headache. Israeli analysis of his damaged helmet and the debris of the aircraft detected traces of bird blood and a single feather as well as fragments of HUD glass in his face. Apparently he was the victim of a bird strike directly to the front wind screen. The bird continued thru the canopy, demolished the HUD and smashed the visor on the pilots helmet, knocking him unconcious. How did he eject? Answer: enough of the birds corpse deflected upward off his helmet to strike the upper ejection handles and fire the seat!!!
Most Tragic, Successful Ejection: A British Harrier Pilot was executing a hover demonstration at an airshow when he was asked by the control tower if he was aware that the aircraft was on fire. Replying in the negative, he elected to decend to a safe landing. Upon setting down on the field, he determined that the fire had spread too rapidly for a normal exit. Activating the handles he ejected cleanly, getting a good chute. His landing was uneventful, albeit unfortunatly the seats landing was not. A spectator in the crowd was hit and killed by the decending seat.
Coolest Ejection seat This catagory could go many ways, but since I've seen both pictures and video of this one (and I have a link to a picture...) It goes to the Verticle Seeking Seat tested at China Lake Naval Weapons testing area. The seat was capable of righting itself from a bank angle of 180 degrees at 50 feet of altitude!
Powerful Accident
December 7th,1992, Nellis AFB. F-4G 68-561
Myself and a fellow QA inspector were performing a pre-flight inspection of an F-4G prior to a Functional Check Flight (FCF). A crew chief and his partner were changing a battery on another F-4 only two jets away from us. Now for those of you who remember the F-4 days, you know that a battery change on an F-4 is no easy task, requiring that the seat be in the lowest position, the rudder pedal being folded forward and the #7 circuit breaker panel being removed ( I know that this was not the case in the earlier versions of the F-4, when the rocket motor initiator was located under the seat, attached to a lanyard to the floor of the acft and required that the seat be removed. On the later versions of the seat, a TCTO moved the initiator to the left side of the seat, and the peso did not require removal from the cockpit) Anyway, the battery was inadvertently drained through the night, and the seat was in the up position. As you old timers will know, the F-4 will not accept external power with a dead battery. Egress was called to remove the peso, and the crew chief and his partner pressed on with the battery change. With some time and patience, the battery was R2'd and the crew chief wanted to now lower the seat to make the rest of the battery install go easier. Now for those of you who have not worked the "G" model F-4, the wiring harness to the #7 c/b panel was longer than usual due to the sex change from from "E" to "G" configuration. This allowed the #7 circuit breaker panel to be set on the floor of the acft, while still attached to the cannon plugs attached to it. While sitting in the seat, he had his assistant apply power to the jet with a -60 power unit and lower the seat . Little did he know that he was pinning the c/b panel between the bottom of the seat and the floor. The scene now is that he is sitting on a seat that is on top of a live panel, which then proceeds to torch a hole in the rocket motor package. Needless to say the seat fired after a hole was burned through the rocket motor. When this thing went it scared the wholly living shit out me and my partner. The first thing that we thought was that maybe EOD was blowing up some stuff somewhere on base ( that was a pretty common occurrence at Nellis ). We both looked up to see an ejection seat in the air with the drogue chute just starting to deploy. I thought to myself that I hoped to Christ that no one was in it. The seat was at least as high as the flood lights that light up the flightline of most Air Force bases, at least 100 ft. high. The seat and occupant both came down very rapidly, with the seat landing on the wing of the next acft, and the crew chief on the ground. I and my partner were the first ones on the scene, and after declaring a ground emergency to maintenance control, we realized that there was nothing to do except cordon off the area and wait for the ambulance to arrive. As we all know, almost all ejection seat accidents are always fatal, and this was no exception. The crew chief was killed in this accident. Then entire rear canopy was taken out and broken into several pieces. Once the area was cleared,and egress technicians were on the scene, we had realized what had happened. Prior to this, myself and my QA buddy along with other mechanics, were trying to figure out what had happened. The seat landed on the wing of the next acft. lying on its' side, partially covered by the drogue chute. We counted all of the safety pins and the "D" ring guard was in the up "safe" position. How the hell did this thing go off? Anyway, the investigation had revealed that it was in fact the #7 circuit breaker panel that had burned a hole into the rocket motor pack that caused the seat to fire. I had always heard about ejection seat accidents, but never thought that I would be witness to one. It has really given me a new sense of respect for the ejection system, a system that most of us maintainers take for granted these days. I always do my "seat safe for cockpit entry" prior to getting into the cockpit of any acft.
Inadvertant Ejection : VA-195 NAS Lemoore CA Circa 1970-1971
The pilot had selected attitude hold on the auto-pilot of his A-7E so that he could raise the radiation thermal shield that had been lowered to simulate instrument conditions. As he attempted to raise the fiberglass shield following laydown release of the mk-106 at 10,000', his elbow inadvertently hit the end of the 6" long canopy release lever and unseated the canopy.
At about 300kts IAS, the wind immediately took the canopy off and the thermal shield impacted his helmet, knocking him unconscious and apparently striking the upper ejection handle. Ejected from the aircraft, he came to just prior to impacting the ground a few miles north of the target at NAS Fallon NEV. The LTjg pilot was shaken but physically unharmed by his adventure.
Unfortunately, his chase safety observer was so busy attempting to spot the bomb hit for scoring purposes that he lost site of the mishap aircraft and missed the whole thing. In the meantime, the aircraft continued northbound with enough fuel on board to make it into Canada and create and international incident.
The a/c was tracked by Oakland Center until it was lost in the shadow of a mountain around Provo Utah. Everyone "assumed" it crashed on the snow-covered mountain. Local skiers and campers in the area all said they heard the aircraft at tree-top level and knew the crash site had to be near by.
Well, weeks went by, then months and the squadron left on an extended combat deployment to SouthEast Asia aboard the USS Kitty Hawk. Over a year later, after they returned from Vietnam, the Aircraft was finally located. It had not crashed into the mountain after all; rather, it had managed to skirt the back side of the mountian and was not reacquired by the radar operator as it continued in attitude hold on a southeasterly course until it ran out of JP and made a relatively soft gear-up, out-of-fuel landing in a remote area in Utah.
One of the most important things a pilot of an aircraft equipped with an ejection seat must do is safe the ejection seat prior to exiting the aircraft. All ejection seats have some form of safety device, usually backed up by a safety pin and flag. On the Martin-Baker seats this is a lever or flap that physically prevents the handle from moving. If the handle is dislodged even slightly, the seat is considered 'Hot' and special care must be taken to disarm it.
An A-4 Skyhawk was respotted to the hanger deck before the seat was found to be hot. The A/C was roped off and personel were warned to stay clear. A team of Aviation Mechanics (AMEs) was dispatched to render the seat safe. The most experienced AME cautiously entered the cockpit and began removing the intiators while a pair of AMEs assisted by handing him tools from either side of the cockpit. What happened next is unknown, but the seat fired. The AME on the seat was hurtled up into the hanger deck ceiling denting it and killing him. The rocket blast killed the other two technicians.
Inadvertant Ejection : Mogadishu, Somalia 1990
A young Somali boy was poking around a Somali Air Force hangar shortly after the military had abandoned its base at Mogadishu. Chaos was running rampant in the area, as feuding rebel warlords were fighting for control, starvation was prominent and the UN peacekeeping force had not yet arrived. The curious Somali teenager hopped up into the cockpit of one of the abandoned Mig 15s in the hangar and undoubtably proceeded to fulfill his fantasies as an aspiring fighter pilot. Unfortunately, he encountered more realism than he desired when he pulled the ejection handles and immediately found out that the seat was one item in the dysfunctional aircraft that still worked. He proceeded to get the ride of his life as the seat fired, and a few milliseconds later he was airborne and rapidly heading toward the wild blue yonder. Unfortunately, there was a hangar roof between him and the sky, and he never took the opportunity to strap into the seat as he was playing aspiring fighter pilot. As he approached the hangar roof, his body gradually drifted apart from the seat and achieved sufficient lateral separation to avoid coming to a rapid halt as the seat impacted an overhead 12" steel girder support beam, putting a serious deformation in it. Our flying Somali superboy fared only slightly better, as his body was undoubtably bashed and shredded as it punched a hole through the sheet roof and landed on the tarmac outside the hangar.