[ThePythonicCow]

only 50 feet above the desert he decided to eject

Just so long as you're rotated more up than down, you can eject from most any fighter at any altitude, including zero altitude, zero velocity.

Now, if you're rotated upside down, then it's one of the quickest forms of suicide there is. Or if you're the Nav in a something like a B-47 Stratojet, then you'd better have a little altitude.

[Stonewall Jackson]

The ejection seat is one of the greatest inventions for pilot safety. How many World War Two pilots and crewmen would have survived if they'd been able to punch out after their fighter or bomber was hit?

Major Richard Bong, America's Ace of Aces, was killed while test flying an early jet fighter in August 1945. His engine flamed out at 200 feet and he bailed out, but his parachute didn't have time to fully open before he hit the ground. If his plane had been equipped with an ejection seat, it would have thrown him a good distance higher and there is a better than even chance that he would have survived.