Fighter Plane Ejection Seat- How It Works?

Let's find out how fighter plane pilot get out of cockpit in an emergency.

The pilot cannot jump out of the cockpit by himself when it comes to abandoning a fighter plane in an emergency.

It is almost impossible to get out of a supersonic plane at a speed of 750 to 1000 miles per hour in the time when the plane is uncontrolled. 

At the time of abandoning the plane, the pilot can die instantly if he collides with a horizontal wing/tailplane. 

To avoid this risk, each fighter plane has an ejection seat that safely ejects the pilot out of the cockpit in the event of a disaster. This is actually the seat on which the pilot operates the aircraft.

The pilot, who wants to evacuate the crashed plane, first removes the canopy from its cockpit. 

This arrangement is automatic, so when the ejection button is pressed, the explosives are placed in a bolt filled with explosives blasts and it automatically detached the connection with the cockpit. 

Then, in half a second, the rocket below the ejection seat generates a strong upward thrust, raising the seat together and lifting the pilot to a height of 30 to 40 meters. 

This ascends the pilot at tremendous speeds, so there is no risk of colliding with the rear rudder or wings.

Of course, the few moments of ejection time prove to be a test for the pilot, as the sudden upward shock received by the rocket increases the effect of gravity on his body by 50 times and the pressure is unbearable. 

For many pilots in the past, it has also proven to be fatal.

It does not take more than 2 seconds for the pilot to get out of the cockpit, including his seat, after pressing the ejection button or pulling the lever. 

Depending on the weight of the pilot, the seat inflates to a certain level, so a small parachute with an average diameter of 1.5 m in the backrest opens and partially controls the pilot as well as the fall of the seat. 

After opening the canopy of a large parachute for a while, a small mechanical motor called a separator motor automatically releases the seat belt. 

The released weighted seat falls to the ground below and the pilot lands lightly based on his large parachute.


One thing to keep in mind is that the provision of the ejection seat in a fighter plane does not necessarily mean that the safety of the pilot is always maintained. 

If you look at the world average, the safety figure is about 90%. In the remaining 10 percent of cases, the pilots were killed while being ejected. 

There have also been cases of some of the crashed aircraft's ejection seats being blown up with a tremendous push and colliding with the cockpit's canopy as it does not open at all.