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From: henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Re: Can the backseater in f-18's bring it home?
Message-ID: <1991May1.030329.19993@amd.com>
Date: 30 Apr 91 17:04:21 GMT
References: <1991Apr19.071041.14331@amd.com> <1991Apr23.054150.24804@amd.com> <1991Apr29.052824.6574@amd.com>
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From: henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer)


>From: A.G.Poole@newcastle.ac.uk (Ford (Alex Poole))
>[pilot] dragged clear, as happened with a Harrier a few years back (in
>that case, widely reported at the time, the 'plane kept going over the
>sea, and there were some nifty pictures taken (somehow) of the plane
>flying with no canopy or pilot).

When air traffic control couldn't raise the pilot, they asked a nearby
aircraft on a similar course -- I think it was a C-5A -- to take a look.
Presumably someone aboard had a camera.

(To head off another query, the most probable cause of the accident was
a cockpit map light falling down under the ejection seat and getting
caught under an actuating rod when the pilot lowered the seat.  The
purpose of the flight was equipment testing -- I forget the details --
and since the aircraft was heading more or less into a low sun, it's
plausible that after reaching altitude and setting course the pilot
would have lowered the seat for a better view of the instruments.
Had a small hard object, say the map light, been in the wrong place
under the seat, it could have bent the actuating rod enough to fire
the parachute-deployment system.  A guard was added over the rod.)
-- 
And the bean-counter replied,           | Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
"beans are more important".             |  henry@zoo.toronto.edu  utzoo!henry