# Rafale passenger accidentally ejects!



## The Basket (Apr 9, 2020)

This story is mind boggling.

Read and weep!

Report Released on French Rafale Passenger’s Accidental Ejection Reveals Both Human And Technical Failures

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## rochie (Apr 9, 2020)

The Basket said:


> This story is mind boggling.
> 
> Read and weep!
> 
> Report Released on French Rafale Passenger’s Accidental Ejection Reveals Both Human And Technical Failures


Unbelievable


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## The Basket (Apr 9, 2020)

This actually happened! Really happened!

Shows what goes on and I doubt this is a French thing either 😳

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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Apr 9, 2020)

Insane...


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## fubar57 (Apr 9, 2020)

Jaysus.....


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## Peter Gunn (Apr 9, 2020)

Wow...

Just a guess mind you, but I'll wager at least one (passenger) of these fellows may have soiled themselves.


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## Dana Bell (Apr 9, 2020)

Why does the Rafale not give the pilot total control over the ejection option? I'm not pilot, but I've had several bucket rides over the years. The briefings for everything I've every ridden in noted that the pilot could select an option that allowed the back seat to eject independently or eject both crew members. (If the pilot chose to eject, the back seat always first ejected automatically.) So why would the Rafale pilot not have the option to set the after seat for independent ejection?

Cheers,



Dana


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## Crimea_River (Apr 9, 2020)

Maybe he did have the option but it was yet another failure in the chain of events. A crazy example of a cavalier attitude to safety that could have turned out much worse.


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Apr 9, 2020)

Dana Bell said:


> Why does the Rafale not give the pilot total control over the ejection option? I'm not pilot, but I've had several bucket rides over the years. The briefings for everything I've every ridden in noted that the pilot could select an option that allowed the back seat to eject independently or eject both crew members. (If the pilot chose to eject, the back seat always first ejected automatically.) So why would the Rafale pilot not have the option to set the after seat for independent ejection?
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> ...



Maybe they do not have that option in this particular aircraft?

Also maybe it is a protocol? What if the pilot becomes incapacitated, and then the passenger is stuck in the aircraft. Using that scenario, where the pilot is the only one who can start an ejection sequence that would be a possibility.


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## vikingBerserker (Apr 9, 2020)

Holy fricken gees......................


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## Dana Bell (Apr 9, 2020)

DerAdlerIstGelandet said:


> Maybe they do not have that option in this particular aircraft?
> 
> Also maybe it is a protocol? What if the pilot becomes incapacitated, and then the passenger is stuck in the aircraft. Using that scenario, where the pilot is the only one who can start an ejection sequence that would be a possibility.




The back seat always has the option to eject - the option is whether he takes the pilot with him or not, and (IIRC) that was usually determined on the ground before the flight. If the pilot choses to eject, the back seat is always ejected first - no choice there. (Otherwise the pilot's seat rockets roast the backseater.) I was just surprised that the article suggested that the Rafale system didn't offer the choice - otherwise it would have been noted as another safety violation.

Of course, if I read French the answer might have been in the original report...

Cheers,



Dana


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## The Basket (Apr 9, 2020)

From what is suggested both seats should have gone.

But the pilot's seat malfunctioned and didn't go. So he landed the cabriolet on a live fired malfunctioning seat!

This is why accidents happen. Not one thing but a catalogue of nonsense. Mind boggles.


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## Gnomey (Apr 9, 2020)

Madness!


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## rochie (Apr 10, 2020)

The Basket said:


> This actually happened! Really happened!
> 
> Shows what goes on and I doubt this is a French thing either 😳


i totally agree.

the death of the footballer Emiliiano Sala and his pilot when they crashed near Guernsey shone a light on the murky world of private pilots and charter flights.
some dodgy stuff going on there as well


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## The Basket (Apr 10, 2020)

From what I read....

Pilot was unaware the passenger was not cool with the flight. So he didn't do 9g but did pull 4g on take off and -0.6 on levelling out. About same as a roller coaster. So passenger who wasn't strapped in properly was been thrown about.

Helmet and mask were not strapped and flew off during ejection.

Not noted if passenger had any cockpit familiarisation.

Both seats eject on the Rafale at same time so both pilot and rear seater can fire because it would make sense. If pilot was incapacitated or vice versa. No point firing one and not the other since any reason to do so will probably not be beneficial to stay in the cockpit.

Ejection happened during take off so jet was not high or fast.

Pilot seat should have banged but it didn't and so the pilot was able to land jet safely. The dingy on the passenger ejection seat didn't inflate.

So in a nut shell, someone in the French Air Force needs a good old fashioned beating with an iron bar.

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## Pedropete (Sep 9, 2020)

*Greece* to *Buy* 10 Rafale *Jets*, Receive 8 More as 'Donation' from. France and *Greece* have reached an agreement for the latter to acquire 18 Rafale fighter *jets* of which 10 will be sold and the remaining 8 will given away as 'donation , Interesting times ahead.


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