irishrigger 31 #1 Posted April 14, 2020 Just saw the below on the news feed. :) :) given a surprise joy ride in a Military aircraft! quick briefing, then accidentally ejects himself trying to make himself comfortable because Straps were not tight enough. you could not make stuff up like that and i am sure heads will roll over this :) https://news.sky.com/story/man-64-accidentally-ejects-himself-from-fighter-jet-at-2-500ft-during-surprise-flight-11973070 Rodger Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kong 0 #3 April 14, 2020 This was probably kind of expensive. Who buys? The passenger for being stupid, or the pilot for poor training? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gowlerk 1,911 #4 April 14, 2020 (edited) 27 minutes ago, Kong said: Who buys? The passenger for being stupid, or the pilot for poor training? It was a military aircraft. The French government paid I suspect. Some officers will have had their careers damaged as well. This actually happened over a year ago and it was all over social media and the news then. A report was issued last week and it's like it is news again! Edited April 14, 2020 by gowlerk Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
riggerrob 558 #5 April 15, 2020 What a comedy of errors! This story does not faithfully follow the official accident report. The official report started with colleagues planning a surprise retirement ride for the executive. His medical exam was barely 4 hours before the flight. The doctor recommended no negative Gs (outside maneuvers), but no one passed the message to the pilot. The passenger hastily dressed himself and strapped himself into the rear cockpit, leaving a few straps loose. Fighter cockpits are so cramped that most air forces assign a ground crew member (usually a mechanic) to assist air crew by tightening shoulder straps. After take-off and climb, the pilot gently nosed over to level flight. Gentle - by fighter pilot standards - was -0.6 Gs. As the passenger floated upwards towards the clear canopy, he grabbed for support and accidentally pulled the ejection handle between his thighs. His ejection seat functioned properly and he landed under a fully-inflated parachute with only minor injuries. The accident also revealed a defect in the pilot's ejection seat. Normally, ejection seats are linked so that the second seat ejects a second or two later, but in this accident, a flawed connector failed to fire the pilot's ejection seat, so he remained on board and landed the Dassault Rafale fighter on a runway. I understand these procedures because I used to assist Canadian Air Force pilots strap into CT-133 trainers and CF-18 supersonic fighters. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites