quote:

A passenger enjoying a civilian joyride accidentally cut the trip short when he ejected himself from the plane after grabbing the eject lever while trying to brace himself.

The passenger, who was flying in a Pilatus PC-7 Mk II with an air force pilot friend, The Daily Mail reported.

He was instantly blasted 320-feet into the sky by the rocket-powered chair, before floating to the ground with an automatic parachute, the paper reported.

Air Force officers quickly deployed a helicopter to retrieve the passenger after his fall 80 miles south of Cape Town, South Africa.

The pilot of the craft, Captain Gerhard Lourens, is a long-time member of the Silver Falcons air force air display team, according to The Daily Mail.

(...)

quote:

Originally posted by BPCR45_90:
Where I work we occasionally train both military and civilian personnel who are about to get a one time, back seat ride in a tactical jet. The training includes instruction on ejection seat operation, location of seat controls, etc. A few years ago we got a mishap report about a similar incident involving a civilian VIP who underwent training at another facility like ours. The pilot he was flying with inverted the plane at one point. Even though he was firmly strapped into the seat, the passenger's butt separated from it slightly, causing a sensation like he was falling. His instinctive reflex was to try to pull himself back up by the first thing he could grab, which just happened to be the ejection seat handle between his legs. Of course he was hardly in the optimal position for ejection at the time, so it's amazing he didn't sustain any significant injuries. There were no serious injuries, and he and the pilot got a ride they'll probably both be talking about for the rest of their lives. Then again, the VIP may be too embarrassed to recount the story.

quote:

Originally posted by fishnfanatic:
Curious to know if the passenger said, "Damn that was fun, lets do it again".

quote:

Originally posted by fishnfanatic:
Curious to know if the passenger said, "Damn that was fun, lets do it again".

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Originally posted by SUNLINER81:

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Originally posted by fishnfanatic:
Curious to know if the passenger said, "Damn that was fun, lets do it again".

For what it is worth, no pilot or crew member, that I have ever talked to, ever said, "That was fun, let's do it again!"...
The nicest thing that I have ever heard about the experience was, "It was like bending over at the waist, on the freeway and having a Greyhound bus ram you in the azz at sixty miles an hour!"...
Yeah, don't think many people want to have the "experience" twice...
LOL Respectfully, SUNLINER81

quote:

Sand_Flea
Member
Posted Tue 03 November 2009 06:47 AM Hide Post
Brown contrail?
Posts: 976 | Registered: Fri 16 February 2007

quote:

Originally posted by KJ1110:
The ride-along is just fortunate they weren't doing an inverted "low-n-slow;"

"Hey what's this lever for? Click, whoosh, thwack, splat!"

quote:

Originally posted by FlankerFlyer:

quote:

Originally posted by KJ1110:
The ride-along is just fortunate they weren't doing an inverted "low-n-slow;"

"Hey what's this lever for? Click, whoosh, thwack, splat!"

now im glad i have keyboards on inactive reserve.
now on my third one from just this website alone.
Seems diet coke is as damaging as coffee

I buy them in bulk!