Air Force instructor dies after ejection seat goes off while plane is on the ground

[gray eagle]

https://news.yahoo.com/air-force-instructor-dies-ejection-070118945.html


I would of thought the seat would of been pinned while on the ground.

 

[MrZippy]

https://news.yahoo.com/air-force-instructor-dies-ejection-070118945.html


I would of thought the seat would of been pinned while on the ground.

I have to suspect the plane was stationary and not taxiing or moving. I agree that the safety pin should have been in place!

 

[gray eagle]

I thought they had Zero - Zero seats in them, unless he went thru the canopy.

 

[Mike71]

He may have not been strapped in, perhapse getting in and for some reason the seat was not "safed". This has happened to maintenance personnel but rarely to aircrew in my experience.

 

[stansdds]

This is a strange accident, to say the least. My thoughts and prayers to his family and friends.

 

[falcon409]

I spent 20+ years as an Egress Tech with the majority of that time on the F-16 Aces II seat. Both the Martin-Baker in the Texan II and the Aces II are zero-zero capable. On the 16 prior to the pilot entering the cockpit all pins except the "seat safe" pin are pulled and stowed. That pin is left until he reaches the EOR area where some external pins are removed by the EOR crew on the ground. The pilot then removes the single seat pin and rotates the seat arming lever at which point the seat is armed. The "D" Ring on both seats is an area prone to catching on a toe, something sticking out of your pocket, a tool etc. simply because it's right out in the open but it is "safed" by the seat arming lever.

Seems to me the only way this could have been fatal was getting in or out of the seat. . . neither seat type can simply "go off" on it's own. Also consider where the airplane was parked (if he was strapped in and ready for engine start or taxiing). If he was out on an open ramp area that's one thing, but if he was under cover as many ramps now have. . .that's another (more things for the seat to strike as it leaves the aircraft.)
For sure the Safety folks will be looking at seat maintenance records both on the ramp maintenance and in-shop. The Egress folks will be questioning themselves and each other and providing answers to "Safety" in a effort to figure this out.

 

[falcon409]

One thing I read from a snippet in the Air Force Times was that there was a student pilot in the aircraft also and he was not injured. That tells me that the Instructor was in the backseat (which is normal I think). . . .otherwise the student would have been cooked by the rocket catapult blast as the seat left the aircraft.