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Graham
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Gill (pronounced Jill) "Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful" William Morris 1834 - 1896
Extract of what the coroner's report said..
"Flt Lt Cunningham's parachute should have saved his life, but the main chute failed to deploy because a nut and bolt had been fastened too tightly, the inquest heard."
So as far as I am aware, the sensors worked OK.
No matter what, it's a life lost unnecessarily.
Graham
Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, it is about learning to dance in the rain.
I'm well aware of what is fitted to the Hawk - I've worked on them.
The reason the parachute fault is irrelevant in this case is that if the seat had not fired the chute would not have been needed.
I don't dispute that both faults existed. I do dispute that the groundcrew are culpable but that the pilot himself is not. He was responsible for checking the seat before he got in. If he could not see the handle was unsafe then why should others? He would have fitted that safety pin, incorrectly, at the end of the last flight (unless there was a seat change in the interim - which is not indicated). From the images I have seen illustrating the issue you would have to virtually stand on your head in the cockpit to see it.
Last edited by astral276; 30th January 2014 at 11:28 PM.
As an ex armourer myself I find it all a bit fishy. The aircraft was taxying so the pin should not have been fitted anyway, they are removed on engine start. I can't believe that every single member of ground crew that entered that cockpit including the armourer who did the flight servicing did not A: notice the fault or B: didn't touch the handle and eject themselves. Fighter cockpits are very confined spaces and it would be virtually impossible to climb in and out without knocking it in some way.
I would have thought that an overtightened bolt would have been very obvious to any competent technician who actually knows how the thing is supposed to work. Martin Baker seats are VERY simple mechanisms They are designed that way so that there is less to go wrong in an emergency situation.
As I said I'm not convinced they called this at all right.
Last edited by offdoc2; 31st January 2014 at 03:07 PM. Reason: Rubbish composition (mine)
Thank you all for a great discussion. It made a change to voice an opinion without being bombarded with the usual insults - for want of a better word.
Gill (pronounced Jill) "Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful" William Morris 1834 - 1896
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