Red Arrows ejection incident from 2011
Discussion
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-...
Two separate faults? Sounds a dubious theory to me.
Two separate faults? Sounds a dubious theory to me.
Why dubious? In any air accident, because of the high intrinsic level of safety, it takes what could otherwise be called "freak" occurances to er, occur, for these accidents to actually happen!
Considering how many lives ejector seats have saved in general i think we can agree they are worthwhile devices?
Considering how many lives ejector seats have saved in general i think we can agree they are worthwhile devices?
I`ve fitted mk10 seats to hawks and tornados and there is no design flaw in the firing handle. I`ve carried out pull off checks time and time again with no issues. The one theory I have heard is that the pilot had a bag under the seat and lowered the seat onto it, the firing sear was pushed out causing the seat to egress. If indeed there is a fault then a modification will be issued to rectify the problem, I`m not holding my breath on that at all.
Max_Torque said:
Why dubious? In any air accident, because of the high intrinsic level of safety, it takes what could otherwise be called "freak" occurances to er, occur, for these accidents to actually happen!
Considering how many lives ejector seats have saved in general i think we can agree they are worthwhile devices?
They are worthwhile because they are generally reliable. How many cases have their been of 'uncommanded' ejections? And how many of parachutes failing to open after ejection?Considering how many lives ejector seats have saved in general i think we can agree they are worthwhile devices?
Both on the same seat for unconnected reasons does seem a big coincidence.
Ginetta G15 Girl said:
About the square root of f
k all. The only one I can think of was the Harrier GR5 test a/c from Dunsfold in 1987.
I had thought it was later than you suggested but Google proves me wrong. Wasn't that accident due in part to moving the manual separation lever from one side of the seat to the other between marques?k all. The only one I can think of was the Harrier GR5 test a/c from Dunsfold in 1987.Edited by ndtman on Friday 23 August 00:05
22 Oct 1987. Harrier GR5 pre-production a/c ZD325:
http://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=55...
http://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=55...
Ginetta G15 Girl said:
The theory was that something (FOD?) tripped the Drogue Gun trip rod as the pilot motored the seat up to a higher setting.
A big deal about wander lamp placement after that one.....I think a display pilot managed to eject himself after a display once before, GR1 or 3?
Ginetta G15 Girl said:
The theory was that something (FOD?) tripped the Drogue Gun trip rod as the pilot motored the seat up to a higher setting.
This action would not cause the seat pan firing handle sear to come out , or even the primary firing unit on the top of the ejection gun. FOD would not set off the drogue on the way up, the trip rod is telescopic and well within the range of the seat pan adjustment. I and a lot of former and serving armourers smell a rat and a cover up 
Ginetta G15 Girl said:
The theory was that something (FOD?) tripped the Drogue Gun trip rod as the pilot motored the seat up to a higher setting.
This action would not cause the seat pan firing handle sear to come out , or even the primary firing unit on the top of the ejection gun. FOD would not set off the drogue on the way up, the trip rod is telescopic and well within the range of the seat pan adjustment. I and a lot of former and serving armourers smell a rat and a cover up steve j said:
This action would not cause the seat pan firing handle sear to come out , or even the primary firing unit on the top of the ejection gun. FOD would not set off the drogue on the way up, the trip rod is telescopic and well within the range of the seat pan adjustment. I and a lot of former and serving armourers smell a rat and a cover up
I was referring to the GR5 incident in 1987 (which I believe was a Mk9 seat) where the pilot was dragged out of the a/c apparently because the drogue gun fired (and the scissor shackle opened), not the Reds incident. I'm fully aware of how the Mk10 seat in the Hawk works. In the Reds case, I agree it smells fishy that the seat could fire for no apparent reason and then the scissor shackle fail (which would indicate a possible failure of the BTRU to operate).
Having said that, a dit I have heard going around the bazaars is that there may have been a problem with the routing of the attachment lines through the scissor shackle. Not being an armourer I can not say although this would still require there to have been two separate failures.
Mojocvh said:
A big deal about wander lamp placement after that one.....
I think a display pilot managed to eject himself after a display once before, GR1 or 3?
GR1 (I think) Yeovilton 1976, happened right in front of me. Not nice. I took a photo of the Harrier a few moments beforehand.I think a display pilot managed to eject himself after a display once before, GR1 or 3?
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