Strelnikov
4th Level Red Feather
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from "Inside The Ring"
By Bill Gertz and Rowan Scarborough
Washington Times, November 22, 2002
VIP ejected
The military routinely puts VIPs in the back seats of supersonic jet fighters. It's good public relations. But what happened over the Nevada desert last week was anything but typical.
An F-14D Tomcat took off from Fallon Naval Air Station with a VIP in the back seat - a naval officer from the cruiser Anzio who was on what the military calls a "FAM Hop," or familiarization ride.
In flight, when the pilot pulled a "negative 1g," the gravity force moved the officer nearly off his seat. He reached down to reposition himself and accidentally pulled the ejection lever. The cockpit canopy flew off and out went the VIP.
"Imagine the reaction of the poor pilot lieutenant when he lost his VIP," said our source.
A Navy official at the Pentagon confirmed the incident. He said the ejection system automatically opened the VIP's parachute. He landed safely in the Nevada desert and waited for his rescue.
"He'll have a great story to tell sailors back on the Anzio," the source said.
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Additional note from Strel: It's a good thing for that pilot lieutenant and his passenger that the F-14D lacks a feature called "command ejection" - i.e., if one crew member ejects, the other one punches out automatically. Its purpose is to enable either crew member to punch his buddy out in case the other guy is unconscious, etc. If this aircraft had been so equipped, the officer from the cruiser would have punched both of them out, leaving a multi-million dollar aircraft to crash. Wouldn't that have been hard to explain?
Strelnikov
By Bill Gertz and Rowan Scarborough
Washington Times, November 22, 2002
VIP ejected
The military routinely puts VIPs in the back seats of supersonic jet fighters. It's good public relations. But what happened over the Nevada desert last week was anything but typical.
An F-14D Tomcat took off from Fallon Naval Air Station with a VIP in the back seat - a naval officer from the cruiser Anzio who was on what the military calls a "FAM Hop," or familiarization ride.
In flight, when the pilot pulled a "negative 1g," the gravity force moved the officer nearly off his seat. He reached down to reposition himself and accidentally pulled the ejection lever. The cockpit canopy flew off and out went the VIP.
"Imagine the reaction of the poor pilot lieutenant when he lost his VIP," said our source.
A Navy official at the Pentagon confirmed the incident. He said the ejection system automatically opened the VIP's parachute. He landed safely in the Nevada desert and waited for his rescue.
"He'll have a great story to tell sailors back on the Anzio," the source said.
****************
Additional note from Strel: It's a good thing for that pilot lieutenant and his passenger that the F-14D lacks a feature called "command ejection" - i.e., if one crew member ejects, the other one punches out automatically. Its purpose is to enable either crew member to punch his buddy out in case the other guy is unconscious, etc. If this aircraft had been so equipped, the officer from the cruiser would have punched both of them out, leaving a multi-million dollar aircraft to crash. Wouldn't that have been hard to explain?
Strelnikov
Thanks, Strel! Love that headline "VIP ejected." 
