This story has everything. It’s almost too good that he’s French.
It’s like a sitcom plot.
“The man had never expressed any desire to fly in a fighter jet”
Also, poor guy, must have been crapping his dacks, not funny.
I’m more concerned about the “malfunction” that kept the pilot in the plane.
“Apres éjection” sounds very sophisticated.
I’m around that guy’s age. If I were half that then taking this flight would have seemed really cool. Now, like him, I’d be freaking out, on the verge of coding, and with my luck I doubt I would have landed safely in a field.
Also, why was the pilot trying to eject? Or was it supposed to 86 both of them? I think the locals are probably happy he stayed in the plane and landed it.
“Apres éjection” -by L’Oréal. Now with a leather survival kit during ‘gift days’ at MACY’s…
Most guys just roll over and go to sleep.
I’m surprised that before taking a civilian up in a fighter jet they don’t tell them “That’s the ejection handle. Do not touch it.”
They do, WildaBeast. But from what I can glean from the incident report through my barely rudimentary French, apparently someone should have noticed at some point that the individual was so overcome with anxiety that he may not be paying proper attention, but complacency had been allowed to set in about it. The picture in the Guardian report with the arrow, in the incident report is captioned to the effect that that upper shoulder harness was not buckled properly tight. (Plus apparently a preflight medical recommending against putting this passenger thru the type of g-change that is common *even in a routine takeoff *of this fighter was glossed over.)
Yeah, really. It’s supposed to sequentially send out rear-then-front (so the one doesn’t get their rocket blast in the other’s face) within fractions of a second. Although on the bright side, at least they are not down one whole airframe and would make it easier to inspect what failed there.
Now, the fellow employees who came up with the “treat”, I’m sure their next gathering was damn awkward.
Bigoted much?
Whoa …
Well, what does that comment mean?
“We should expect stupid behaviour like this from French people?”
“We should take special pleasure when a French person’s life is in danger?”
Why is it “almost too good that he’s French”?
AIUI, the doctor’s recommendation that the guest not exceed 3G acceleration was emailed to the squadron. Who naturally never got it, according to the squadron.
Guests of incentive flights like these are supposed to be briefed on what to expect, what this does, don’t touch that, etc… It sounds like his briefing was rudimentary at best. Guests are supposed to be buckled in by staff. The guest doesn’t know what strap goes where, or how tight it should be, etc… That was done poorly enough that the guest’s visor wasn’t lowered, his helmet wasn’t attached properly, his shoulder and leg straps were loose. God only knows if his oxygen mask was working.
Further, AIUI, for most incentive flights, a special plane and pilot are set aside for the purpose. In this case, the flight was going up as a regular training flight with three other aircraft.
From other articles I’ve read about this, normal takeoff for a training flight involves a 4.5 G pullups, and then presumably, rolling to the desired heading. The pilot does this. Due to the poorly secured straps, the guest partially slips out of his seat. Desperate for something to hang onto, the guest grabs a conveniently located handle and… I’m stunned he didn’t break his neck or back. I doubt very much he was in a proper pre-ejection position. Yay Martin-Baker. Oh, and because his helmet was improperly secured, it got ripped off his head by 200 MPH winds.
The ejection seat selector switch is by the pilot, and has 2 settings: 2, then 1; 1 only. The pilot had it set to 2, then 1. Obviously he didn’t go too, so he got to ride a bomb where the fuse had been lit, but hadn’t exploded. Thankfully, the pilot had more skill and composure than the ground crew, and got the aircraft back to the base safely.
The multitude of failed procedures and equipment is staggering to read. Then again, so was the Fitzgerald collision.
The bread stick simultaneously flying out from the basket on the front of the jet.