U-2 down in CA
09-21-2016, 09:30 AM
#12
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Nov 2009
Posts: 5,192
Originally Posted by HuggyU2
Hacker is spot on.
Not counting today, I know two U-2 pilots that ejected, got a chute, but died.
Not counting today, I know two U-2 pilots that ejected, got a chute, but died.
Any idea what it is about the U-2 seat that makes it so dangerous?
09-21-2016, 11:24 PM
#13
Get me outta here...
Joined APC: Oct 2008
Position: Boeing right seat
Posts: 1,541
Each ejection was different.
In one, it was a high-altitude break up in extreme turbulence. He ejected somewhere along the way, and hit something (possibly the canopy) with his head.
In the second, jet came out of maintenance and was on an FCF flight. Little did the pilot know, but there was a high pressure hydro leak. The atomized hydro fluid was like a blow torch. During the stall series, the flight controls burned through. Plane went into a flat spin around FL220. At 5,000, he ejected... right as the fire exploded the wing fuel tanks. It blew the wing panels off, and he ejected into the frag pattern. A panel hit him and killed him instantly. In fact, it ripped the entire back of the seat off of the seat bottom. He still got a full chute. Had he ejected a second or two earlier... or maybe even later... he would have survived.
We will learn more on this one soon enough.
https://www.youcaring.com/ashley-eadie-654162
In one, it was a high-altitude break up in extreme turbulence. He ejected somewhere along the way, and hit something (possibly the canopy) with his head.
In the second, jet came out of maintenance and was on an FCF flight. Little did the pilot know, but there was a high pressure hydro leak. The atomized hydro fluid was like a blow torch. During the stall series, the flight controls burned through. Plane went into a flat spin around FL220. At 5,000, he ejected... right as the fire exploded the wing fuel tanks. It blew the wing panels off, and he ejected into the frag pattern. A panel hit him and killed him instantly. In fact, it ripped the entire back of the seat off of the seat bottom. He still got a full chute. Had he ejected a second or two earlier... or maybe even later... he would have survived.
We will learn more on this one soon enough.
https://www.youcaring.com/ashley-eadie-654162
