T-6 Instructor Pilot Dies After Ejection Seat Goes Off on the Ground

www.airandspaceforces.com ^ | May 14, 2024 | David Roza

[OldGoatCPO]

Ejecting on the ground can be deadly as the pilot is launched from the aircraft strapped to his seat. Imagine the force needed to launch a pilot clear of an aircraft in flight. Imagine that same force launching a pilot out of an aircraft on the ground without resistance. If the sequence for firing was off instead of going in the air, he could be blown into the flight line. I'm not sure about the Texan, but most fighters have zero/zero ejection seats and can safely eject on the ground. By safely, I mean they have a good chance of survival. Lots of variables are involved, and the sequence of firing is important.

I did not work on Seats but had to attend classes because I worked in the cockpit. You are sitting on an explosive seat; on the flight line, they are fully armed, and a series of wire pins are the only thing between you and a bad day. The seat and LOX system were the only things that made me nervous working around jets. Lots of gruesome videos to watch in training.

[PLMerite]

Oh. I thought they meant this T-6 Texan:

My father flew one of these 75 years ago, and it definitely did not have an ejection seat.

[joe fonebone]

I was a plane captain in the navy.
The last thing you do before the pilot gets into the aircraft, is unpin the seat.
The first thing you do when the pilot exits the aircraft is pin the seat.
This goes for back seaters too.
If the seat is pinned it cannot be manually activated.
This means a failure of the seat itself.

[SkyDancer]

Why wasn’t the safety pin installed, or was it removed during the pre-flight?

[SkyDancer]

Not if the canopy was closed.

[joe fonebone]

I worked the EA-6B...
7 pins in that ejection seat

[mabarker1]

I don’t know details but it should be a top priority to the Investigation. There’s usually multiple Safety Lockouts.

[Fiji Hill]

A squadron of those flies over the Santa Ana Cemetery in Santa Ana, Calif. each Memorial Day as part of a ceremony to honor our veterans.

[gundog]

The system that I worked around would blow the canopy away, first. That’s problematic on the ground, as there’s no air rushing past to assist in getting clear of it. People have been blown through canopies. There are pins installed when the plane was on the ground. They would prevent the seat from ejecting, but in case of a rocket activation, you had a bad fire situation on your hands, made worse if the canopy was closed.

Ejection is designed to get you far enough from the plane to be safe. It has to be powerful enough to get aircrew over the tail that may be coming at you at mach speed, plus.

I heard stories of a suicide by ejection seat, inside a hangar. Even a low altitude ejection can be injurious if the seat’s parachute doesn’t have time to properly deploy. Ejection is a best-option in a worst case scenario.

[SkyDancer]

True. I think there are three pins that have to be pulled. Not knowing the full story but I think the pins were pulled and ready to roll out ... waiting for the results.

[moovova]

Oh man. Prayers for the pilot and his/her family.

[gundog]

The streamers are attention-getting indicators that interdiction pins are installed. With the pins in place, the seat can’t launch. In a mishap, it could still ignite.

[Vaduz]

Someone must have removed the NOT A SEAT ADJUSTING LEVER tag.

[Mark17]

Thanks. Since my son flew the T-6 in pilot training, I will also ask his opinion. I am sure they heard about it rather quickly.

[Red Badger]

There you go again....assuming pronouns. That’ll get ya 5 years in Canada................

[pfflier]

One would think that by now these ejection seats would be designed as failsafe.

They are. They are safed on the ground with pins the pilot removes during preflight prep (using a checklist). Most incidents like this occur when something snags the seat ejection handle.

Another scenario is that the pilot wasn't strapped in and accidently activated the handle. The parachute is integrated into the seat and the pilots straps it on upon entry and flight prep. He goes with the seat but is separated after ejection.

Incidents like this have happened before.

The other possibility is seat or chute failure to achieve safe deployment. We just won't know until the accident investigation.

[T.B. Yoits]

Yes, it’s highly likely that the pilot wasn’t strapped in.

[guest7]

"The T-6 is equipped with a Zero-Zero ejection seat."

Could an open canopy, or, not having seat belts on be the problem?

Notice, as soon as the seat clears the canopy, the "Pilot Chute" is deployed instantly. It should have worked.

[Robert A Cook PE]

“Minor backup” is FOUR YEARS AFTER COMMISSIONING!

He’ll. WWII was over before today’s Air Force can commission and train a pilot.

[Jamestown1630]

I’ve read that the process of ‘ejecting’ is very dangerous even under the best circumstances.