Total Ejections a Pilot can make?

[MartinBakerFan]

I was just curious about how many ejections a pilot can make in his career? My OSO was telling me that a pilot gets 3 ejections and his flying career is over, at least from combat aircraft with ejections seats. He said this was because of the amount of pressure from the punchout, and that it actually causes a pilot to lose half an inch each time, and that after 3 ejections the body has received too much damage (pressure) to safely do it again. Can anyoneprovide any more information on this subject?? I am just curious, thank you!

 

[skidkid]

Not a jet guy but I am guessing it depends on how much damage you sustain on an ejection. I have a back injury that required a waiver, my waiver states no ejection seat A/C so no JPATS errr T-6s for me. Im guessing after 3 ejections you might want to take a break for a while.

 

[HeyJoe]

Odds are you won't eject, period. And if you, that you won't do it a second time. Mishap rate is way down. That said, it does do things to your body like compressing the spine or worses depending on what the ejection parameters were and how the body was positioned. I believe there are a few folks out there with more then one ejection and maybe a very small number with three. Not sure that took them off flight status unless Flight Surgeon decided enough was enough. Naval Safety Center keeps up with ejection stats and has a Flight Surgeon and Physiologist on staff: http://www.safetycenter.navy.mil/default.htm

 

[SteveG75]

Well, after three ejections, I wouldn't want to fly anyway.

I know quite a few people who have survived an ejection or other class 'A' mishap ('A' is loss of aircraft, $1mil damage or death).

I am one of the few people I know with two 'A's on their record.

#1 was an A-6E midair that resulted in the loss of two aircraft with four successful ejections.
#2 was a fire on the flight deck (in tension on the cat, tailpipe failed) and the aircraft was struck as a complete loss afterwards.

 

[Brett327]

Well, after three ejections, I wouldn't want to fly anyway.

I know quite a few people who have survived an ejection or other class 'A' mishap ('A' is loss of aircraft, $1mil damage or death).

I am one of the few people I know with two 'A's on their record.

#1 was an A-6E midair that resulted in the loss of two aircraft with four successful ejections.
#2 was a fire on the flight deck (in tension on the cat, tailpipe failed) and the aircraft was struck as a complete loss afterwards.

Hey Meat, I don't recall anyone from our community with > 1 ejection. Out of curiosity, do you? I do, however, recall one particular individual with an ejection and an unplanned landing in France - probably just as bad.

Brett

 

[Fly Navy]

I think after 3 ejections, I would never ever fly again. Your 4th bad-day, I don't think you're gonna survive. Three strikes and you're out.

 

[HeyJoe]

There's an old saying - "I'd rather be lucky than good"

If you have had 3 ejections and counting, then you are either not very lucky, or not very good. Either way, you ought to seek a nonflying career transition or a community sans ejection seats.

 

[skidkid]

There's an old saying - "I'd rather be lucky than good"

If you have had 3 ejections and counting, then you are either not very lucky, or not very good. Either way, you ought to seek a nonflying career transition or a community sans ejection seats.

Yeah because riding it in for your fourth sounds so much better

 

[Brett327]

Think of the odds though of having 4 ejections. God would surly be smiling upon you after that. I heard some safety center guy say that the odds of ejecting in an average 20 year career are something like 1 in 7. Food for thought.

Brett

 

[skidkid]

Think of the odds though of having 4 ejections. God would surly be smiling upon you after that. I heard some safety center guy say that the odds of ejecting in an average 20 year career are something like 1 in 7. Food for thought.

Brett

Harrier guys or other platforms?

 

[joeyF-18]

I know that for the air force you can make more than four. But you got to think about it. The 12 G's you pull compresses your spine 1/4''.

 

[bunk22]

Yeah because riding it in for your fourth sounds so much better

 

[Brett327]

I know that for the air force you can make more than four. But you got to think about it. The 12 G's you pull compresses your spine 1/4''.

I'll say this, an ejection seat ride is a whole lot more than 12 Gs - more like 30. All this talk of a 3 ejection limit is nothing but mythology. Every individual is going to be evaluated by appropriate medical personnel and pronounced up or down based on their own particular situation an circumstances.

@ Skid: That's a Navy average, but I don't know the details.

Brett

 

[SteveG75]

I know that for the air force you can make more than four. But you got to think about it. The 12 G's you pull compresses your spine 1/4''.

Well, I was 6'2" before I ejected and 6'2" after I ejected.

Also, Brett is right, it is a lot more than 12G's. The spine can take about 12G's sustained in the vertical axis but can take a lot more for short (milliseconds) periods of time.

 

[HeyJoe]

That's correct. Every day your spine absorbs high-G impact loads. Think of the shock your spine would absorb if you jumped off an 8-foot wall onto a concrete sidewalk. Appx. 90 pounds of weight (hips to head - lower body is supported by the legs) decelerating from ~20 ft/sec to 0 ft/sec almost instantaneously. Not sure about the G load, but it's gotta be fairly high. And yet you could probably do that all day without seriously screwing up your back.

And where does this "ejection will shorten you by 1/4-1/2 inch" come from?

On a related note, one of biggest problems facing SPECWAR community is shock mitigation. NAVAIR and NAVSEA are working together in virtual fashion to provide the decades of expertise of loads (as mentioned above) to help SPECWAR with this problem. Last year a NAVAIR "crash test dummy" was placed aboard a MkV high speed watercraft and taken out for a spin. The data collected indicated that the slamming of the hull against the waves at top speed in even moderate sea states were equivalent to an ejection event, but over and over (as many as 16 ejection level events an hour). No wonder so many of them are med down to injuries (ejection type in nature) and eventually are medically disabled by the time they retire of leave the service.

PS I'll check with NAVAIR folks in the Human Systems Dept on the shortening of height...I've heard it from ejectees but not from a white lab coat type who tracks this type of data.