You know any story that contains the words “accidentally pulled the black & yellow lever between his legs” and “the ejection sequence activated two rockets attached to the back of his chair” is going to be awesome...
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Plane passenger accidentally activates ejector seat - and survives
A civilian passenger in an air force display plane accidentally activated the ejector seat while reaching for something to steady himself during a mid-air manoeuvre.
The novice flier instantly shot through the jet's perspex canopy and was blasted 100 metres into the sky by the rocket-powered emergency chair.
Experts said the man was lucky to escape unharmed following the bizarre incident, which happened on Wednesday in South Africa. It is thought he activated the ejector seat after lurching forward during an aerobatic manoeuvre and accidentally pulling on the black and yellow emergency handle between his legs.
The lever is fitted as standard in the Pilatus PC-7 Mk II jets to allow pilots and their passengers to eject from the aircraft in the event of an emergency.
As soon as it was activated, the ejection sequence activated two rockets attached to the back of his chair.
The man, who has not been named, later floated back down to Earth on a parachute which opened automatically. South African Airforce bosses scrambled a helicopter to pick up the passenger after the blunder near Langebaanweg airfield, 80 miles north of Cape Town.
The incident happened shortly after he took off for a joyride with an experienced pilot from South Africa's Silver Falcons air display team.
Plane Passenger Accidentally Ejects Himself
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