A fighter jet belonging to the Swiss Army crashed on Wednesday for reasons that were previously inexplicable. The pilot survived unharmed – thanks to the built-in ejection seat. Despite his good health, Rega brought the pilot to the hospital for a check-up, Army spokesman Stefan Hofer told Blick. Because: “Such an ejection seat has enormous forces on the human body,” he explains.
Blick asked the experienced fighter jet pilot Pierre de Goumoëns. He is also stationed in Payerne VD. “I spent between 3,000 and 4,000 hours in the Swiss Army’s fighter jet. It’s the best feeling to be on the road with my plane, ”he says with shining eyes. He himself never had to use the ejection seat out of necessity. “Fortunately,” as he notes.
Huge forces are at work
De Goumoëns tries to illustrate the enormous effectiveness: “If you were to trigger the ejection seat while the aircraft was on the ground, the pilot would be thrown up to 100 meters into the air.” The forces are enormous: “For one or two seconds the acceleration is 13 g, which is hard to survive.” But this is necessary because the parachute must be able to deploy in an emergency before the pilot reaches the ground. For comparison: the flight maneuvers of a normal passenger aircraft are designed in such a way that the load on the passengers does not exceed 1.5 g.
You can’t really practice falling from an ejection seat, explains de Goumoëns. However, the pilots know the process before and after the fall inside out: First, you have to trigger the fall by pulling a handle vigorously. After you have been catapulted out of the plane, you have to act within seconds: “You have to check whether the parachute has been deployed. Then remove the oxygen mask, activate and inflate the life jacket, activate the emergency transmitter and assume the landing position », says the fighter pilot. The latter is very important so that you don’t get injured when landing.
Despite the good preparation, injuries such as broken arms and legs keep coming back. Most of the time, the sling falls too close to the ground, at the very last second, notes de Goumoëns: “It is the last decision we make to save our lives. We then have no more choice. ” That is the case if the aircraft is uncontrollable or is about to crash.
“We are in love with our plane”
In principle, attempts are being made to save the machine. The reason for this: “We are so in love with our planes – that is why a pilot always tries to bring his plane home with him until the last moment.”
The cause of Wednesday’s crash is currently being investigated. Fighter pilot de Goumoëns emphasizes that there are investigations into almost every aircraft accident – civil and military. On the one hand, aspects of safety would be examined: “It is checked whether there were any problems on the plane itself.” On the other hand, the military judiciary examines whether there have been any wrongdoing. (ouch)