A passenger accidentally ejected himself from a fighter jet during a surprise flight given to him as a gift by colleagues. The year-old, startled as the force of acceleration caused him to lift out of his seat, panicked and grabbed hold of the ejection handle just seconds after take-off, according to an investigation into the incident. An inquiry by the Accident Investigation Bureau for State Aviation Safety found there was a catalogue of errors leading up to the March incident near Saint-Dizier air base in northeastern France.
Investigators said the man passed a medical assessment just four hours before boarding the Dassault Rafale B jet which stated he should only fly with a load factor up to 3g. However the restriction was never communicated to the pilot, and experts believe the passenger may have felt insecure as the plane climbed from 3.
The civilian, who was a director at a defence company, had no experience of flying in a military plane and had allegedly never expressed any interest in doing so but felt he could not refuse in front of his colleagues. Luckily, his parachute deployed and he landed in a field before being taken to hospital with minor injuries. The year-old pilot managed to safely land the plane back on the runway despite the loss of his cockpit canopy and passenger. However, the pilot's seat should also have ejected β but failed to do so because of a malfunction.
He evacuates the plane without assistance. The pilot suffered from slight contusions on the face. His face shows traces left by pyrotechnic powder residue from the glass cutting cord. Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies. Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in Please refresh your browser to be logged in. Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.
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