EJECT! EJECT! EJECT!

[actaeon277]

Yes. I was surprised the chute was large enough to arrest his momentum in time, since he bailed from 0 feet.

I think the 35 uses the us16e ejection seat, which I think is a ZERO ZERO seat.

Ejection seat - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Zero-zero ejection seat​

K-36DM Ejection seat used on MiG-29, Su-30
A zero-zero ejection seat is designed to safely extract upward and land its occupant from a grounded stationary position (i.e., zero altitude and zero airspeed), specifically from aircraft cockpits. The zero-zero capability was developed to help aircrews escape upward from unrecoverable emergencies during low-altitude and/or low-speed flight, as well as ground mishaps. Parachutes require a minimum altitude for opening, to give time for deceleration to a safe landing speed. Thus, prior to the introduction of zero-zero capability, ejections could only be performed above minimum altitudes and airspeeds. If the seat was to work from zero (aircraft) altitude, the seat would have to lift itself to a sufficient altitude.

These early seats were fired from the aircraft with a cannon, providing the high impulse needed over the very short length on the cannon barrel within the seat. This limited the total energy, and thus the additional height possible, as otherwise the high forces needed would crush the pilot.

Modern zero-zero technology use small rockets to propel the seat upward to an adequate altitude and a small explosive charge to open the parachute canopy quickly for a successful parachute descent, so that proper deployment of the parachute no longer relies on airspeed and altitude. The seat cannon clears the seat from the aircraft, then the under-seat rocket pack fires to lift the seat to altitude. As the rockets fire for longer than the cannon, they do not require the same high forces. Zero-zero rocket seats also reduced forces on the pilot during any ejection, reducing injuries and spinal compression.

 

[indykid]

I thought 0/0 seats have been standard for quite some time now…

They are but not all have been as good as they should be.

As for why the pilot ejected, I am going to guess, repeat this is just my guess but after being 120% intent on the test flight at hand, when the stuff hit the fan and all the alarms in the aircraft were going of, the pilot felt the chance of fire or worse was a possibility and time to see if the yellow handles work.

 

[Mgderf]

I just had a chance to watch the video and it's obvious to me that there was a serious mechanical issue.
He descended just fine, albeit too hard, and he bounced.
When he came back down the nose of the aircraft dived to the ground.
The nose gear comes apart upon impact.
Hard telling what caused the nose dive.
I guess it could have been pilot error, but that a dramatic shift in position.
I think the pilot did exactly what he should have done.

 

[jwamplerusa]

The ol boy who crashed into the Ramada/Indy 35 years ago ejected also. This is video of my cousin about a year before the Ramada incident. They say both planes had the aerodynamics of a brick after losing power. My cousin did an "S' maneuver and landed. I think someone was looking out for Chicago that day.

That young man in the F16 is a rocket man of a pilot. Straight up Superman stuff!

 

[patience0830]

I have had a few dates that ended somewhat like that.

Nose down, sliding in a circle?

 

[jwamplerusa]

From a failure analysis standpoint on the video, my guess would be fan shaft, fan clutch, or fan gearbox failure. Of the two, the fan shaft and fan clutch are the most likely.

The f-35 is a two post design. The front fan behind the pilot and the exhaust turning down through the articulating exhaust duct create two posts of downward Force which support the aircraft. Roll and directional control is provided by thruster outlets at the wingtips.

In the two post design if either the exhaust nozzle or the fan have an issue it is an immediate catastrophic failure.

The amount of power extracted from the engine through the fan shaft and fan clutch to the front fan is quite frankly astonishing.

The harrier was functionally a four-post design. In the harrier's case however all supportive Air Flow came from engine flow path air. The f-35 adds an extra dimension of potential failure with the introduction of the fan shaft and fan clutch to power the front fan.

In the harrier if the engine quits you punch. There will be an immediate loss of supportive thrust and the airplane will simply fall. In the F35 the potential exists for support thrust to be lost from both posts or from each one individually. The video is a good example of what likely happens during a front thrust post failure.

Hopefully the pilot was uninjured in the aircraft will be repairable.

 

[Doug28450]

I thought 0/0 seats have been standard for quite some time now…

This is true.

When I was flying P-3's we had an O-4 who had flown A-7's previously. He ejected once from the A-7 and seriously injured his spine. That injury restricted him from flying ejection seat aircraft and he transitioned to the P-3. He often commented that his back hurting or was sore.

 

[Ark]

That legit emergency zero-zero ejection is pretty awesome, as much as it sucks for the guy. I mean that is a real deal, no notice, no preparation emergency use of that system and it worked perfectly.

 

[SnoopLoggyDog]

From watching the video, looks like there was a possibility of the forward lift fan coming apart and sending broken fan blades through the aft cockpit bulkhead.
Jet engines have containment rings to capture failed blades. When anything breaks on a running jet engine, it is a pretty violent incident.

 

[Leadeye]

Planes can crash, stop moving, even sit for a bit and then catch on fire. This was probably on the pilot's mind.

 

[femurphy77]

May have been updating his status on Facebook and punched out for "Likes".

 

[nonobaddog]

"Hey, I wonder what this does.... "

 

[Twangbanger]

Nice to see that he/she got "one swing of the cord," just like it's supposed to. The pilot stayed with it a really long time. It looks like the throttles were still up, and I guess inability to get them down was what eventually prompted the pilot to punch. Not an easy decision to make when you're thinking about the throttles still being up, and those intakes being somewhere below you. These things have some automated flight modes, and I wonder if something in the software was preventing the pilot from throttling down?

I cannot think of a scarier machine to be in, than a fan-landed plane with zero altitude, no airspeed, can't auto-rotate like a helo, throttles stuck up, nozzles potentially flipping you ever which way...and the whole thing controlled by software. Basically a turbine-powered mechanical bull, controlled by a computer you may not be able to override.

 

[jwamplerusa]

Nice to see that he/she got "one swing of the cord," just like it's supposed to. The pilot stayed with it a really long time. It looks like the throttles were still up, and I guess inability to get them down was what eventually prompted the pilot to punch. Not an easy decision to make when you're thinking about the throttles still being up, and those intakes being somewhere below you. These things have some automated flight modes, and I wonder if something in the software was preventing the pilot from throttling down?

I cannot think of a scarier machine to be in, than a fan-landed plane with zero altitude, no airspeed, can't auto-rotate like a helo, throttles stuck up, nozzles potentially flipping you ever which way...and the whole thing controlled by software. Basically a turbine-powered mechanical bull, controlled by a computer you may not be able to override.

Well when you describe it like that...

 

[Shadow01]

Someone on another forum site said that this version of the 35 has a computer controlled VTOL landing and that the ejection is also computer controlled during the landing. Might account for the late ejection

 

[actaeon277]

 

[PGRChaplain]

Yes. I was surprised the chute was large enough to arrest his momentum in time, since he bailed from 0 feet.

Those "E" Seats are designed to get high enough from the Aircraft on the ground to get the Chute open and Save the Pilot.

 

[nonobaddog]

Those "E" Seats are designed to get high enough from the Aircraft on the ground to get the Chute open and Save the Pilot.

Is that like in "E-Ticket"?

(For the older crowd.)

 

[actaeon277]

But, they won't save you if you drift into the flames

 

[Mij]

Hero pilot, jmo, should get a set of jump wings if he doesn’t have’em. And jump pay for the month. Glad he made it.