
What it's like to eject out of a military jet - drtillberg
https://www.popsci.com/what-aircraft-ejection-is-like/
======
inetsee
The article only mentioned in passing NPP Zvezda, which is a Russian ejection
seat manufacturer. I remember reading years ago how much trouble the company
was having getting the US Defense Department to even consider using their
ejection seats.

At the time I vaguely remember seeing a couple of Youtube videos showing
Russian ejection seats in action. In one, a Russian fighter jet suffered a
complete engine failure in a two engine plane. The remaining engine spun the
plane around and pointed it straight at the ground. The pilot ejected just a
few hundred feet about the ground, and survived with minor injuries.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4Lz-
ssypaw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4Lz-ssypaw)

In the second one, two MIGs collided, slicing the nose off one of the MIGs.
Both pilots ejected safely, and also only suffered minor injuries.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4Lz-
ssypaw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4Lz-ssypaw)

~~~
peteretep
> I remember reading years ago how much trouble the company was having getting
> the US Defense Department to even consider using their ejection seats

The US counter-intelligence chief who approved a Russian supplier in US
military jets would need firing from a large cannon, largely because the
Russian intelligence chief who didn't use it as an opportunity for all sorts
of mischief would also need firing from a large cannon for gross incompetence.

~~~
jacquesm
Of course you could also simply do incoming QA.

~~~
cm2187
You don’t really want to rely on suppliers with who you have regular beefs for
critical infrastructures.

~~~
jacquesm
Check out who makes your rocket engines.

~~~
cm2187
Well right now the whole rocket. The US has no other way to send men to the
ISS than to ask the russians nicely.

But I don't think they are thrilled about that.

------
tony
I would not want to be in the position of ejecting. The stories I hear about
bones breaking and even fatalities caused by the system seems like a risk in
itself.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCORwUxlNQo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCORwUxlNQo)
\- XB-70 mid-air collision ejection story

> ...Today, the ejectee will "only" suffer from 18 Gs...

Related: I'd like to extend this to also include atmospheric re-entry:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCxNIaBC_r8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCxNIaBC_r8)
(bonus
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_bkY7-9c8s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_bkY7-9c8s)
for channeling Rocky and Bullwinkle)

Diagram of re-entry window:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmospheric_entry#Notable_atmo...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmospheric_entry#Notable_atmospheric_entry_accidents)

There used to be ejection seats in early space shuttles
([https://youtu.be/CwLx4L5NRU0?t=419](https://youtu.be/CwLx4L5NRU0?t=419)).
After the mishaps with SS there was discussion about reintegrating ejection
mechanisms, but it'd add weight, cost a lot to redesign, etc. This documentary
talks about:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ja4ZlswGvpE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ja4ZlswGvpE)

~~~
wmij
I was at an Air Show at the old Willow Grove NAS in Pennsylvania when I was a
kid and there was a Navy S3 Viking Jet set as a ground display. They were
allowing people time where you could get into the cockpit. A 7 year old kid
was in one of the front seats and activated the ejection mechanism and was
killed after being ejected and landing on the nearby tarmac.

As I remember, the other people in the plane at the time were injured due to
burns and other debris but survived. We were about 150 feet away from the
planes on display and I remember hearing how loud and sudden the explosion
was. Not sure what happened my Dad said looks like an ejection seat just went
off.

I sometimes think back to that day and always do whenever I hear about or come
across stories ejecting from an aircraft and how terrifying it must have been
to that kid.

~~~
pm90
[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2199&dat=19800707&id=...](https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2199&dat=19800707&id=HpcyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=gucFAAAAIBAJ&pg=4108,1220581&hl=en)

~~~
PhasmaFelis
Thanks for that.

It's weird, I haven't been able to find any other information about it. It's
not even listed in
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_air_show_accidents_and...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_air_show_accidents_and_incidents_in_the_20th_century).

------
bangonkeyboard
What it's like to eject into a thunderstorm:
[https://www.damninteresting.com/rider-on-the-
storm/](https://www.damninteresting.com/rider-on-the-storm/)

~~~
orbital-decay
What it's like to be ejected involuntarily, at 3.2M and 78000ft/23.8km
altitude: [http://www.chuckyeager.org/news/sr-71-disintegrated-pilot-
fr...](http://www.chuckyeager.org/news/sr-71-disintegrated-pilot-free-fell-
space-lived-tell/)

~~~
xtiansimon
Nice. Has that feel of Tom Wolfe’s ‘the Right Stuff’

------
CaliforniaKarl
The web page on the Ejection Tie Club, with member stories: [http://martin-
baker.com/ejection-tie-club/](http://martin-baker.com/ejection-tie-club/)

~~~
everybodyknows
>I was drifting backwards into the power lines and could only see each power
line as it appeared from behind me ...

>I was given a physical examination at the Air Force hospital and told that I
must be under observation by medical personnel for 24 hours. I told the doctor
that I was going to the officers’ club for a drink, if he wanted to observe me
there.

Ejectee #2176

------
cbanek
I also think it's interesting to think about when you might need to eject on
the ground without moving (zero-zero). It's harder than you think, since you
have to gain enough altitude to get time for the chute to open.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ejection_seat#Zero-
zero_ejecti...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ejection_seat#Zero-
zero_ejection_seat)

Fascinating engineering.

------
dymk
> Pilots hesitate to pull the ejection seat handle because “we know that we
> are condemning a multi-million dollar piece of equipment, paid for with
> taxpayers' money,” Matthew adds.

I wonder why planes as expensive as these don't have some sort of a remote-
pilot feature that could kick in in case of emergencies like this - once the
in-seat pilot has ejected, at least a best effort attempt at landing the plane
could take place.

~~~
mopsi
Ejections usually happen after the aircraft becomes unflyable. Birdstrike is a
common cause, see this example:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2zB7Z-b6Kc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2zB7Z-b6Kc)

The jet ingests a bird shortly after takeoff, causing engine damage and
shutdown. Pilots try to restart the engine, after unsuccessful attempts they
point the aircraft towards the nearest open field and eject. There wasn't much
else to do. At low altitude, low speed, and without engine power and a place
to land, the jet was going to crash one way or another.

~~~
ceejayoz
Not always, though!

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornfield_Bomber](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornfield_Bomber)

Poor pilot was likely gifted a new callsign after that one.

------
lordnacho
“It was inconvenient,” one ejectee says, dryly. He was in the backseat of a
plane when it collided with a bird in June 1999. “The overhead canopy was
smashed and there was blood and gore everywhere,” he recounts. “I didn't
realize it was the bird—I thought it was the pilot and when I looked in front
he wasn't there, so I ejected. I broke five vertebrae and so lost a few
centimeters,” he says wryly. In fact the pilot was there, just bent over
checking for damage, and later able to land the plane.

So it's possible one person ejects, but not the other? Also from the
description of the seat wouldn't you know if the guy in front of you had
ejected? The seat is really big. And what if you suspect the other person is
unconscious? How do you pull the chord on his behalf?

~~~
pirocks
I believe most ejection cable aircraft have a switch for changing between
"eject both of us", and "eject just me". The actual ejection is set off by a
rather large, difficult to use on accident, bar/lever. By default set to
"eject just me". IIRC the sr-71 even had an indicator light showing if the
other guy had ejected.

------
Implicated
Why are they breaking legs/vertebrae upon landing? I assume it's due to the
velocity in which they hit the ground - but having parachutes I'm not sure
why.

Anyone have insight?

~~~
jaclaz
AFAIK traditional (WWII) and most military type of "round" parachutes come
down "fast", much faster that what you may be used seeing in modern videos
with "sport" rectangular/directional parachutes, where they can "brake" and
practically land while practically at a standstill.

Paratroopers have some intensive training, and the standard is to land with a
sort of somersault, see this (British Army) video:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lu2f1u928xk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lu2f1u928xk)

exactly to minimise the risk of fractures, see also:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parachute_landing_fall](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parachute_landing_fall)

Probably pilots (that may have additional issues with the G suit and the seat)
cannot in many case do the same.

And also many "normal" users may fail at making a "good" landing:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parachuting#Most_common_injuri...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parachuting#Most_common_injuries)

~~~
KineticLensman
I was a civilian student sport parachutist in the late 80’s before square
canopies were in widespread use. We used Vietnam-vintage ejector-seat round
parachutes that were modified to include a ‘double-L’ hole on the rear panels
[0]. This created forward motion and gave some steerability, albeit at the
cost of increasing the sink rate. We always landed with a parachute landing
fall because the downward speed was a potential ankle-breaker. Basically you
kept your feet and legs together, and as you came in the inevitable lateral
motion automatically dragged you over sideways, and you could roll back on to
your feet. I landed about 70 jumps, and by the time I stopped I could achieve
good accuracy in low wind conditions (landing within a yard or two of a target
after deploying at 2500 feet).

[0]
[http://www.parachutehistory.com/round/combo.html](http://www.parachutehistory.com/round/combo.html)

------
jolmg
Does it happen to anyone else that the page loads, everything appears, then it
all disappears and you're left with a blank page?

EDIT: Given the upvotes, I guess it has happened to others. It seems to be
because of the adblocker. I run uBlock Origin. If I deactivate it, the page
doesn't go blank.

~~~
jve
It asked me to accept 50 marketing cookies + 10 statistics... Didnt bother to
proceed past that window.

------
orf
Can't seem to view this site without accepting 50 different marketing cookies.
No thanks.

~~~
TeMPOraL
> _To continue enjoying the free content made available to you on this
> website, you must indicate that you understand and accept Bonnier Corp.’s
> use of cookies by selecting the "Allow all cookies" button below._

What. This is not how GDPR popups are supposed to work...

~~~
supakeen
If only they had a button 'no marketing', the essential cookies all seem ok.

~~~
TeMPOraL
That's what I expected to find when I clicked on "Details". But no, the screen
only informs on the tracking being done. There's no option but to accept all
cookies wholesale.

~~~
tgsovlerkhgsel
Why do they even have the annoying screen at that point, if they're not going
to get valid consent anyways?

------
dana321
Site doesn't work.. Just redirects to a GDPR page, where you can't do
anything.

~~~
mirimir
Same experience for me.

Anyone have an archive link?

~~~
Snawoot
[http://web.archive.org/web/20190902014433/https://www.popsci...](http://web.archive.org/web/20190902014433/https://www.popsci.com/what-
aircraft-ejection-is-like/)

~~~
mirimir
Thanks. The archive works in Chrome, but not in Firefox.

~~~
Snawoot
It's weird, I use FF 68 and it works for me.

