"3 Russians killed in ejection seat mishap" Topic

I always thought ejection seats were set off individually. Was this just a huge malfunction, or can multiple seats be ejected with a single activation?

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It is common with multi-crew aircraft to have one crew member start the ejection process to allow the egress of all personnel. What surprises me about this is that lack of what is called zero-zero ejection seats. All modern US aircraft have these … they allow safe ejection from zero altitude and zero airspeed.

Mark

This bomber is equipped with a forced evacuation system, which is activated by the ship commander. All crew members leave the plane at intervals of a few seconds. Details are not yet known, but the accident occurred on the ground, in the parking lot.
Forced evacuation requires several manipulations, so there is a high probability of deliberate actions by the crew commander. It is impossible to say anything more yet.

Yes, it is on this plane that it is impossible to safely eject in the parking lot. But in any case, only the crew commander was fastened with seat belts. The rest would have suffered anyway.

Sad event anyhow. My sympathy goes to the friends and relatives of the victims.

It is sad. Need to always explain it to newbies. Words you don't want to hear… What does this button do?

Reference John Wayne in "Jet Pilot" for the consequences of a 0- 0 ejection.

The Northrop T-38 Talon has ejection seats which can only be activated by the individual pilot. Two pilots sit in tandem; front and back. The idea in a "controlled" (aircraft still in some control) ejection was to allow the back seater to eject first, then a second or two later the front seater would eject. This would prevent the back seater from eating the front seats rocket blast or impacting the blown canopy. Of course in an "uncontrolled" aircraft situation it was every man for himself.

The ejection seats had a safety pin with a long red streamer which read "remove before flight". This pin prevented an accidental ejection when entering or leaving the cockpit. It was possible to accidentally put your foot in the handle and engage an ejection which would probably kill you. The seat was rated at 0-60, which meant you could engage the ejection at zero altitude but need at least 60 knots of speed to get at least one swing in the chute. Very glad I never had to eject, but liked the fact I had the option if things went really bad.

It's been about 30 years since flying the T-38. I do vaguely remember hearing about ejection systems were one crew member could initiate an ejection which would also eject other crew members. I think the idea was the other crew member could be injured or unconscious so couldn't pull the handgrips himself.

I remember an orientation ride when the pilot told me if I heard "eject, eject…" that I wouldn't hear it a third time. Said this when I was holding the said mentioned pin. Big frown crossed my face after he said this

Sad for those involved.

But, on ejection systems, an RAF ground crew once related an incident, back in the 80s… I think, witnessed.
An experienced pilot, took up an aircraft which lost power on take off. His 'conditioned reflex' training made him roll inverted to eject, Tragically, he was not in his usual jet.

I think his normal 'ride' could have been the F111 ?… or, something different… I thought, back then, that it was something which ejected through the underside… (Not sure whether the F111 did this?).. I could have 'gotten it wrong' and it was a LONG time ago. RIP.

F-104s originally had an ejection seat that ejected down through the bottom of the fuselage in order to avoid the pilot hitting the stabilizers on top of the tail. After a number of fatalities where pilots were ejected onto the runways that was corrected I believe.

F-111s seats ejected upward.

jdginaz, Thanks… I've had the wrong impression for 40 yrs! F-104 'could' have been the one, as I think the incident recounted was in Germany and the pilot non-Brit… but, (having looked it up!), by the 80s, I would have thought that most Starfighters would have upward ejection. Possibly, the relater had been told of historical ejection fatalities on the pilot's 'usual' aircraft… and the roll was incidental. Not around to ask, now.

I think that some RAF 'V Bombers'cockpits dropped out downwards… but I cannot imagine a pilot in a 'fast jet' getting confused with one of those!