... looks like two broken hip sockets. Wonder if the poor fellow ever walks again: Now that we have a clearer picture? Doesn't look as though the fellow initiated ejection. Looks as though the Maxwell Smart secret agent 86 automatic AI algorithm decided for itself, "... time to toggle the James Bond secret ejector seat!" When trickle down technology one day finds its way into our wonderful George Jetson hovering cars? Hapless motorists flung on their daily commute will inevitably soon become a daily occurrence, for our amusement and merriment - Samuel, '04 Ruthiemobile
OUCH! - and they think AIRBAGS are dangerous! There's a sequence to a pilot-initiated rocket-assisted departure from an aircraft: * Elbows in * Knees touching * Sphincter contracted. * Adrenaline in 'max output" * Attempt at saying something non-shhellant like "Alpha-Mike-Foxtrot" for the recorder. * Pull the lanyards. An un-initiated ejection would seem to require a new flight suit and undergarments. AFTER you get out of the hospital. Much like air-bags.....it's better to HAVE one and not need it rather than the other way around.
Engine, singular. The aircraft is the Bravo variant of the F35 that I initially thought was being driven by a Marine or an out-of-town purchaser, but a news article indicated (perhaps accurately, perhaps not) that it was a USAF Major. It's really REALLY hard to tell but it sotra looks like the pilot screwed the pooch or suffered a mechanical on the initial approach, and then yanked the handles. Getting out of an airplane takes a few seconds, even when you have a quarter-million dollar Martin-Baker seat to help you out. Three Mississippi's is a little bit longer than many people appreciate when they're looking at the game from the cheap seats. The aircraft ended up with all 3 tires sorta touching the runway in the end, HOWEVER, (comma!) I don't fault the driver for wanting to get away from the fuel tanks when he or she left. The aircraft was in a nearly static state and on the runway, and no humans were in danger. Win-win. Everything else is just a paper-drill and some bondo-work at an intermediate maintenance facility/
