F-16 Ejection (Confirmed to be authentic)

AvWeb ^ | 2/2/2004 | Staff Sgt. Bennie J. Davis III

[justlurking]

AVweb has confirmed that the image last Thursday posted to our Picture Of The Week section of Capt. Christopher Stricklin's Sept. 14, 2003, ejection from Thunderbirds jet number 6 -- roughly eight-tenths of a second before aircraft impact -- is in fact authentic. It was shot by Staff Sgt. Bennie J. Davis III, Still Photographer, U.S. Air Force, from the catwalk atop the tower at Mountain Home AFB, and was not officially released by the Air Force until last Friday afternoon.

For the photographically inclined, Staff Sgt. Davis said he shot images with a Nikon DX1 camera using a 300-mm lens with an aperture setting of 2.8 and shutter speeds of 1/1000 and 1/2000. For the now famous (and now official) shot, Davis "waited for the aircraft to level and clicked the shutter." And yes, he did experience some concern that the jet, which the Air Force says Stricklin turned away from the crowd, appeared instead to be directed at the tower. By his own account, the wreckage stopped just 100 feet shy of the tower's base. The nature of the lenses involved offer explanation for the automobiles so clearly visible in Davis' still image, but absent from the in-cockpit video. The picture and story have generated a great deal of material, rumors and interest. So we invite you to enjoy:

• a (2.7Mb) still image shot by Staff Sgt. Bennie J. Davis III, available here
  
• a new video (1.3Mb .wmv file, includes audio) shot from the air show line, here
  
• a collection of amateur photos showing the eject sequence. The first shows Capt. Stricklin's chute as it opens, the second shows a wide-angle shot of the crash, the third shows the wreckage as it approaches the tower -- it's possible SSgt. Davis may be visible on the tower's catwalk
  

• AVweb's previously posted in-cockpit video of the crash (4.1Mb .mpg file)
  
• AVweb's coverage of the Air Force crash report

[justlurking]

I started a thread last week with this image:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1067610/posts

At that time, the image was identified as being "Photoshopped". However, the photo was subsequently released by the Air Force as "official".

[GeronL]

Over 2mb for a picture!!!

any lower res, smaller pics??

[justlurking]

You could save the included in this thread.

Or try:

http://www.avweb.com/newspics/winner1005.jpg

[nerdwithamachinegun]

Note to self: pass it on to others, never get in one of these things for fun.

[Professional Engineer]

WOW!

[Fudd]

Note to self: never get in one of these things for fun.

A friend took me around the ANG base where he workds a few years ago. I sat in the mock cockpit they use for ejection training, and was given an overview of how it's done. In an F16, there are five ways to pop the canopy and fire the seat. Method #1 - pull the cord. Fortunately, this method has proven 100% reliable in practice, as methods #2-#5 involve placing one's arm under the canopy rail, which would probable remove the arm when the seat fires.

And I would get in one of these things for fun, if I ever had the chance.

[GeronL]

..dial-up... that picture wasn't there before... honest

[ecurbh]

Ping

[HairOfTheDog]

Ramius, check out the links to the video sequences.

I don't remember this crash.... must have happened soon ~after~ the airshow we went to last summer?

[HairOfTheDog]

The in air conversation is interesting on the video clip.... That "Knock it off" is their code for 'big problem! Abort! is interesting....

Anyone know the "rest of the story"? In a situation like this do they return to a different pre-planned airport somewhere else? Anyone know what became of the pilot?

[HairOfTheDog]

'not-so-general' aviation thread ping!

[r9etb]

That "Knock it off" is their code for 'big problem! Abort! is interesting....

Notice at the end they're calling in ... "one knock-it-off, two knock-it-off...."

Figuring out who's got the problem.

[El Gran Salseron]

The pilot received only minor injuries and is now sitting at a desk job in the Pentagon.....probably never to pilot an aircraft again.

[Professional Engineer]

I don't remember this crash...

I believe you may have distracted by SmoochMoot at the time.

[HairOfTheDog]

Is that so!

[dd5339]

For the Opps file....

Semper Fi

[Aeronaut]

Ping to the G.A. list.

General Aviation Ping list. FReep mail me if you want on or off this list.

[Old Professer]

I had to wait almost 20 minutes to load the wide-angle shot; what is remarkable is that none of the people on the ground seems to be looking up or running, yet there is clearly a line for the porta-potties.

[FreedomFlynnie]

I thought I heard he was flying air patrols around D.C.?

I just took a minute to check and I couldn't find the article I'd read before that said that, so I could be wrong. But IIRC he wasn't grounded, just moved to a "regular" pilot position.

[justlurking]

I had to wait almost 20 minutes to load the wide-angle shot; what is remarkable is that none of the people on the ground seems to be looking up or running, yet there is clearly a line for the porta-potties.

If you look at the video (the file is actually smaller than the high-resolution still photo), you'll see that it happened very quickly. The spectators didn't have time to even recognize the impending crash, much less react to it.

The pilot had just taken off from the runway and started his first maneuver. He was supposed to complete it at low level, but didn't climb high enough to do so. When he realized he was going to impact the ground, he reportedly turned the plane enough so the impact would be away from the crowd, then punched out.