A series of flows when emergency escape at a fighter injection seat is like this

For military aircraft such as fighter aircraft and bombers, when an explosion in the air or a crash is inevitable, an occupant escapes outside the machineInjection seatIt is equipped. Although it is a device for striking a pilot to a sufficient distance from the aircraft in an instant using a rocket motor etc., in actual use complicated operation is required.

Everything You Need to Know About Ejecting From a Fighter Jet
http://www.popularmechanics.com/military/aviation/a26193/how-pilots-eject-from-fighter-jet/

A military aircraft that is subject to taxes of billions of yen to tens of billions of yen per aircraft can not be destroyed as soon as an emergency situation occurs. However, if recovery can not be expected due to uncontrollable etc., a mechanism to protect soldiers' lives is incorporated even if the aircraft is lost by escaping the pilot outside the machine.

An example where an injection device was actually used is this picture. The American Air Force's acrobatic teamThunderbirdsAt the moment the F - 16 fighter of the F - 16 fighter crashed accident, the transparent canopy that was blown away by the explosive and the pilot that was shot out by the gas injection of the injection device are shown next.

ByPublic Domain

Other miscellaneous escape moments are stored in the camera, and in both cases the state that the device is activated under the worst situation can be clearly seen.

Pilots Eject From Fighter Jets at Last Moment - YouTube


In the past, gunpowder was used to inject pilots, but now rocket motors, which are also called small rockets, are used. The rocket motor which produces thrust over a longer period of time than the explosive with the momentary force has the characteristic that the burden on the pilot is reduced, but still a strong acceleration of 10 to 15 G is applied to the pilot. Therefore, when escaping, the posture for defending the body is defined, and if you carelessly extend your arms and legs, or if your neck is at an angle other than what you expect, you will get injured, such as bone fracture or spinal damage, with an acceleration shock It can happen enough to bear.

Also, the speed at injection greatly affects safety. In many cases, escape is expected at a subsonic speed (Mach 0.3 - 0.8) lower than the speed of sound, but there are not many examples, but escape at a speed exceeding Mach 1 was performed Also. In 1989, there was an accident that pilots and buddies who had been engaged in battle training on F - 15 fighter aircraft experienced injection at about Mach 600 of about 600 knots (about 1000 km / h). The pilot who was thrown out of the machine at super high speed wind pressure damaged the blood vessel of his face, the face was swollen to the size of basketball and the lip swelled to the size of cucumber. The pilot who landed in the sea seems to have broken one arm and one leg to prepare for death, but somehow climbed the lifeboat and tried to find a life. The buddies at this time unfortunately lost their lives.

F 15 Ejection at Supersonic speed - YouTube


When escaping, when you pull out the escape lever that is placed next to the seat, the canopy covering the cockpit is destroyed / removed with the explosive first. Next, pilots are struck out of each seat, but at this time, in the case of a two-row seat, it will be fired from the rear seat first. The reason for this is that the pilot of the rear seat will be burnt burns at the same time or when it is injected from the front seat due to the flame of the rocket motor.

When escape is successfully carried out, the seat automatically falls off from the pilot and falls, so that if the altitude is less than 14,000 feet (about 4,300 meters) the parachute on which the pilot carries is deployed automatically It is said that it is becoming. The reason is that if the altitude is higher than this, the air temperature is too low and the pilot may die because the air pressure is too low to obtain enough oxygen.

As soon as the injection is done, the pilot needs to check its own situation. I will confirm whether it is on the ocean, on the land, and most important, if the altitude is sufficient. Modern injection equipment has performance capable of "zero / zero injection" capable of landing safely by deploying a parachute by launching the pilot to a sufficient height even from zero altitude and zero speed condition, To alleviate the impact on the body even in such a case, the pilot takes a shock handling attitude to attract the limbs to the body.

Normally, the parachute is automatically expanded by the disengagement of the device attached to the fuselage side at the time of injection, but if it does not open automatically, pull the wire yourself It is necessary to operate the parachute. As stated above, although the deployment of the parachute is stipulated to be not more than 14,000 feet in height, there is no way to know the altitude in the pilot who was launched outside the machine. Therefore, the pilot's instructor teaches that "If the ground comes closer and closer and it seems bigger, you will develop a parachute."

If there is not much altitude left to the land, there are not many pilots can do. First, confirm that the parachute is deployed normally, check the time to landing by looking at the ground. And when landing, you first put one side's foot on the ground and take the position to land in the thigh, the butt, the side of the body, and the shoulder in turn. This is to disperse the impact force of the landing, and when descending from the heel in an upright state, it is impossible to avoid injuries such as bone fractures and bruises no matter how much you wear a parachute.

If the altitude is adequately retained, check the check items memorized by training in the training. Whether the parachute is deploying normally, whether the helmet visor is raised, the mask has been removed, the seat kit, the life-saving unit is normal, or the device for "4-line jettison" to advance the parachute in the forward direction is normal , The direction is headed for windward, etc. If the parachute line is twisted or twisted at this time, it will be solved by operating like the following movie, but in some cases it may be possible to cut the line. The flight suit worn by the pilot is equipped with a knife with a hook that is only used for this purpose.

Parachuting is'nt a joke! - Lines Twist - YouTube


If you can confirm that everything is working normally, you get the force to advance the parachute forward by doing a 4-line jettison. When pulling the steering handle down to the waist position, four lines are cut per side, the shape of the canopy (cloth of the parachute) is changed, and the force to advance in the forward direction at the speed of 5 knots (about 9 km / h) Is born. When the 4-line jettison is completed, next, adjust the orientation so as to move the wind direction by operating the steering wheel. And when landing, do not get injured by shockPLF(Parachute Landing Fall) 's posture. This is to bend the knees with both legs aligned, landing from the side of the body with the jaw pulled, absorbing shock using the whole body by rolling on its own. It is the same as the movement when parking from a high place with Parkour.

By82nd Sustainment Brigade

After landing, how to survive until being rescued is the most important task. If it is an accident that occurred during training, it seems that the military rescue unit will come soon, but if it is an actual battle it is normal that it will not be rescued so easily, life-saving Treat treatments possible with the first aid kit included in the unit, and overcome hunger with water and food. Basically, rafts (small boats) will be deployed automatically when you arrive at the sea, but if you do not operate, pull the lever yourself to inflate the raft and get in. And when a rescue comes, I will inform you of where I am by launching smoke from a smoke cylinder or a flare that shines brightly.

At this time it is said that it often takes some trauma and broken bones. Also, there is no one pilot who wants to escape emergency anyone, one extraordinarily expensive fighter aircraft will be lost, but still there is nothing to replace the lives of one soldier saved I can say In the case of the United States, even if it is an experiential flight of a civilian, escape training using a parachute is essential, so it is said that the case that you can experience is very unusual, but in Russia where this provision does not exist If it is, it seems that you can get a chance relatively easily.