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First Lt. David Schmitz, an F-16 pilot at South Carolina’s Shaw Air Force Base, died 30 June 2020, when his ejection seat malfunctioned as he tried to punch-out during a failed nighttime landing. He was 32. An Air Force investigation of the incident revealed that key components of the ejection seat may have been counterfeit

Three years ago, a navigator in the rear seat of a British Tornado jet fighter died when he fell out of the aircraft. Details of the accident are only now being made public. At the time, the aircraft had just undergone some updates and was undergoing a flight check. Some of the maintenance work involved the ejection seats. But the work on the rear ejection seat left a small (5 cm/two inch) metal part installed incorrectly. This allowed the ejection seat to come lose when the aircraft was momentarily upside down. Part of the ejection system worked, and the canopy...

German airforce grounds Eurofighters over glitch (Reuters) - Germany's air force has grounded all its Eurofighter combat aircraft due to problems with their ejector seats, a Defence Ministry spokesman said on Thursday. Experts from the air force, or Luftwaffe, were working with manufacturers to sort out the issue after it was discovered that the seats' operation could not be guaranteed under certain conditions, the spokesman added. The Luftwaffe has 55 Eurofighters, built by European aerospace group EADS. The ministry said it was not clear when they would return to active service. U.S.-built Phantom jets had been mobilised to ensure monitoring...

See that man in the top left of this photo? That's Captain Brian Bews and he's lucky to be alive. The skilled pilot barely managed to eject before his CF-18 fighter jet crashed to the ground during a practice flight. The practice flight took place at Lethbridge County Airport and was apparently in preparation for the weekend airshow in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada. There are no details as to exactly why the jet fighter went down. We do know that Captain Bews was taken to the hospital for injury treatment. [MSNBC—Thanks, Wilson!]

The T-38 Talon is receiving an upgrade that officials said will improve aircrews’ safety and comfort. Representatives from Martin-Baker Aircraft Co. Inc. are in the early stages of installing their new escape systems in all T-38Cs at Randolph AFB after completing the same project at Laughlin AFB, Texas, the first of five Air Education and Training Command installations scheduled for the upgrade. One of the greatest advantages of the new seat, called the Mk US16T, is that it functions well in the situation that accounts for most ejections, said Rick French, an AETC T-38 program manager. “The old ejection seat...

Rust is not something the average person thinks much about when it comes to designing high-tech weapons. But several years ago I reported on a major missile test defense test that was ruined because a part rusted that helped hold the missile in place before liftoff. And in February the entire F-22 fleet was grounded “due to poorly designed drainage in the cockpit.” The affected parts were ejection seat rods. Congress is worried that similar problems could afflict the Joint Strike Fighter and has requested a report about lessons learned from the F-22’s experience. Regardless of how lowly rust might...