F15 ejection at supersonic speed

[Fast Freddy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HecyxhXDepU

:eek

 

[djs]

Pretty moving stuff.

 

[Mullet]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HecyxhXDepU

:eek

I wonder what the DA was?

 

[roketman]

speechless.........

 

[SteveA]

Gut wrenching.....tough to watch.

 

[GTJack]

That was draining..... My brother in law flew F15s for years and my wife and I got chances to see and sit in them. HUGE! And their power was amazing. He was disappointed when he got promoted to a desk job.

 

[CH53Driver]

As a former aviation safety officer in the Marines, one of the most moving guest speakers I ever heard was a gentleman who came to talk to us at one of our quarterly safety standdowns. The first thing I noticed about this gentleman as he approached the stage was that he walked with a terrible limp. This gentleman had been a Naval test pilot instructor out of NAS Patuxent River back when they were still flying the T-2 jets. On one mission, he was going up with a student test pilot for a training exercise out over the Atlantic ocean very similar to this story. Once they were established in the working area they started to go through their flight profile when out of nowhere, another military fighter jet "bounced" them. It later turned out that the other pilot was a known "rogue" pilot who had infractions in the past for "jumping" other military aircraft when they were out flying in the working areas. The instructor proceeded to execute "un-briefed Aerial Combat Maneuvering (ACM)" to try and throw off the would be aggressor. Unfortunately, the aggressor over maneuvered and sliced through the T-2 that this gentleman was piloting. He said that when he felt a "thud" in the aircraft "feeling like he had been hit by a freight train" he looked over his shoulder and saw the entire aft section of his aircraft gone and a major fire erupting behind the cockpit. Without time to think, he acted and pulled the ejection seat handle. He said the last thing he remembers is a loud bang in the cockpit and a flash before he went unconscious. When he came to, he was floating towards the ocean. At this time he realized he had "immense throbbing and burning sensations" coming from his mid section. He landed in the ocean and almost drowned from his parachute pulling him under. As luck would have it, a fisherman in his boat had seen his parachute coming down to earth and he had sped in the direction of the downward floating chute. The fisherman was able to get the pilot safely on his boat before he was pulled under by his chute. The instructor pilot was the only one of the 3 pilots to survive the midair. He later learned that he had ejected outside the ejection envelope at over 20,000 feet. When he entered the slip stream and was separated from his seat, both of his legs got ripped above his head in opposite directions. It snapped his pelvis like you would snap a turkey wishbone and had proceeded to eviscerate him. He also had numerous other injuries and he stated the only thing that saved his life was that lone fisherman who witnessed the whole event and just happened to be close enough to get to him before he drowned. Sadly I don't remember his name but I don't think there was one peep from the audience when he was telling his story.

 

[33Bravo]

Holy crap. Holy crap.

 

[FENZO]

I spent four years at Shady J (Seymour Johnson AFB) as an F-15E engine mech, I got there a year or so after this incident. We had ~90 brand new beautiful Eagles, which all lined up on the flight line is a sight to behold. Of course only two people really know what happened to that plane, and one of them is dead, but F-15s don't just fall apart. Our pilots were notorious for taking the taxpayer's $100M (today's money) aircraft out over the ocean and pushing them past their flight envelopes. The little black boxes do not lie. We lost another one in Saudi when I was there when a pilot decided he could fly 'map of the earth' with a Tornado. He couldn't.

Mechanics have been criminally charged for making mistakes that cost lives, whereas these (few) pilots are revered for treating their very sophisticated, very expensive aircraft like a rental car.

 

[Nafod]

Train like you fight. Survival is not guaranteed. Aviation can be very unforgiving.

Nighttime engaged maneuvering over water is dangerous at best.

A supersonic ejection was always deemed unsurvivable. My understand was that Martin Baker classified a successful ejection as, the seat leaving the aircraft intact, the survival of the occupant was not consider.
Our target was to eject below 450 KIAS; Injuries where expected at higher speeds.

In a 2 seat tandem aircraft the rear seat goes first. So the guy in back took the brunt of the supersonic airflow.. Chance are the aircraft had slowed some when the front guy went.

Most guys I knew respected the aircraft flight envelope...but would operate against the limit.

While I dont agree with mechanics being charged for mistakes, most pilots pay for their mistakes with their (and other's) lives.
Pilot error is one of the higher factors in most accidents. That is why the F22 and F35 will probably be some of last manned fighters.

 

[Waldo]

Sadly I don't remember his name but I don't think there was one peep from the audience when he was telling his story.

Mr. Beard flew AV-8s before he went to Pax River. I've heard him speak a few times, and his talks are very moving. His son is a friend, flies AV-8Bs, and was a former student of mine.

The T-2 ejection seat was not very friendly.

Semper Fi,