Originally Posted by
N9373M
Credible eyewitness reports that one of the crew was still strapped in to his seat. Aren't those supposed to separate regardless of altitude/attitude? Reportedly, this crewmember only had facial lacerations.
No. The last thing you want to do in a high altitude ejection is to have your seat separate and your chute inflate way up there. Think dying from exposure as you float to earth
Low altitude - yes the seat should have separated right away.
I don't have my old NATOPS handy for reference so BGDER or Grumble (or the new user usmchornetpilot - welcome) will have to look it up for the specifics (and possibly prove that my memory if failing!)
rickair - whether it was warranted or not I'll leave for the AMB to figure out. I'll say in some scenarios it is a good idea. I once had a main fuel line in the gear well come apart shortly after takeoff from NAF El Centro and I'm sure it would have looked to 'credible eyewitnesses' like I was dumping (on purpose) except for the fact that it wasn't coming from the dump masts.
USMCFLYR