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| Europe | |
| Swedish Gripen Fighter Cratered; Pilot's G-Suit Blamed | |
| 2007-04-25 | |
| A crash last week involving a Swedish Air Force fighter plane was probably caused by the pilot's G-suit, an investigation has shown. In the crash, which happened last Wednesday in a sparsely populated area of the northern Swedish county of Norrbotten, a pilot ejected from his Gripen plane, which then smashed into the ground below. Following the findings, a flight ban on Swedish Gripen planes has been lifted, although planes in C/D class, similar to that involved in the crash, are forbidden from exceeding 3g. "This means that they may not undertake advanced flying, such as interception. For the older classes, A and B, there are no restrictions," said Mats Helgesson, head of flight at the Swedish Armed Forces central command. The armed forces wrote in a statement that according to evidence so far gathered by investigators, it was "very likely" that the pilot's G-suit had caused the crash. The pilot said immediately after the crash that he had not activated the ejector seat himself. "When subjected to large forces the suit fills with air. This is thought to have affected the ejector switch," Helgesson said.
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| Posted by:mrp |
| #9 Mike: I agree, that the gsuit theory is right out there with the second gunman on the grassy knoll; there is more to this than meets the eye and methinks they want to pilot to be blamed. PAX River lost a Hornet to an 'impossible' design flaw in the 91-94 time frame; had to do with a stretched wire (due to airframe flex) that caused a computer to shut down a hydraulic system that was operating; the only one as it turned out since the other failed. |
| Posted by: Ghost of BudnLou 2007-04-25 18:19 |
| #8 USN, I've seen the official investigation pics of that - one of the items I helped care for and feed during my time was ejection seat catapults and all the other associated explosives. That is one of the more unbelievable explosives accidents I've ever seen. Now - went to the Martin-Baker site (the world's premier manufacturer of ejection seats and builder of the seats for the Gripen). The page for the seat has a pic that clearly shows a PULL handle on the seat pan between the pilot's legs: http://www.martin-baker.com/eject_mk10l.html# Now how the heck was that activated by an inflating G-suit? Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2007-04-25 16:05 |
| #7 seems a bit of a reach to me also; the connecting tube for the g suit goes typically to a connector on a side console, well away from any e-linkage or handles so any movement would be very unlikely to cause the ejection. Many years ago, in a trusty Intruder, the B/N (bombadier / naviguesser) partially ejected; one of the fittings on the Martin Baker corroded and failed, allowing the seat to ride up the rails about 6 or 7 inches. the strikers on top broke the canopy and the BN was exposed to the windstream from the neck up. the wind ripped the drogue chute from the pack and it wrapped around the horizontal stabilizer. Pilot did a superb job recovering back on the boat and not allowing his partner to get shredded by the sharp plexiglass edges on the leading edge of the hole in the canopy. perhaps the seat on this aircraft suffered a mechanical failure some sort and triggered the ejection sequence. the A-6 seat, was estimated to be only about one inch away from rocket motor actuation. (for the doubters: google up VA -95, bn ejection) |
| Posted by: USN, Ret. 2007-04-25 15:28 |
| #6 Yeah, like looking at Isabel Lestapier Winqvist in the FHM magazine he stuffed into his leg pocket. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2007-04-25 12:50 |
| #5 Maybe the guy was having some fun and pulled the wrong lever. |
| Posted by: Pee Wee 2007-04-25 11:51 |
| #4 Don't they make pills for premature ejection? |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2007-04-25 11:00 |
| #3 Kinda makes me wonder what is the pull length of the handle if an inflating bladder can set it off. |
| Posted by: ed 2007-04-25 09:33 |
| #2 The later model Martin-Baker ejection seats have the ejection handle at the pilot's crotch. Guess it's easier to reach than the ones at the calf or head if the pilot is injured or in a violent spin. |
| Posted by: ed 2007-04-25 09:31 |
| #1 ...I want to see the ejection seat that is positioned just right and is so sensitive that an inflating G-suit will trigger it. EVERY e-seat I've ever seen has a handle either on the front of the seat between the pilot's calves, in the armrests, or above his head. These handles require a pulling motion to activate them, not a pushing or turning, for the simple reason that it is just way to easy to activate the seats in that fashion. Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2007-04-25 08:54 |