B-1Bs grounded
 

Apparently all B-1Bs are grounded following an emergency landing at Midland airport in Texas. The grounding was due to the fact that the ejection seats did not function, so the crew landed the airplane with no damage (?). An engine may have trashed itself as the initial problem. A side photo shows that at least one of the rear hatches had left the airplane. Incident was May 1.

They were sitting on hot seats all the way down? Wow!:eek:

Apparently there is an ejection sequence or it can be done individually. When one of the backseater's seat didn't fire the crew elected to remain with the airplane so as not to abandon him. Hats off to the crew. Glad they were able to save the aircraft and all walk away.

:confused: the seats are always “hot” while you’re airborne and until you safe them. Just pull the handles and you go. If you mean because one guy pulled and it failed they all were in danger of going at any moment if the sequence continued, that’s not how it works.
They were each doing a manual ejection. Pull and you go - only you. Then the next guy and so on. First guy that tried stayed, so they decide to go to plan B rather than leave him to die.

Can you imagine being the poor SOB in the seat, hatch gone, wondering if / when the seat might go?!?

I think it's a zero/zero seat? Presumably he just stayed in the posture until the techs safed it on the ramp. That's what I would have done.

Always figured it was the B-2 that would be the aircraft to deny a crews ejection attempt and tell them to try harder...

My first thought was how did they land the plane after they decided to eject? Ejection is for if we don’t get out we die. But then again I can imagine that they could have dead sticked it in when checklist says to eject. Good on them!

Sounds like a motor came apart, maybe they couldn't put the fire out initially? Or at all...

I misunderstood, I thought they all started the sequence with no results. They need to shoot a few to get the troop's faith back.