Eject II.

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Conclusion!

Some random thoughts regarding the tragic deaths of Russian airmen prematurely ejected from the Tu-22 Backfire bomber. Aircraft in pre-flight mode, still on the tarmac, not having taken off!

1. Tu-22 Blinder.

Original Tu-22 [NATO code name Blinder] ejection seats downward trajectory. My instantaneous thought was that the more modern Tu-22 [NATO code name Backfire] had the same ejection system. No further elaboration necessary as to why crew perished if that was the case.

This is not so! Backfire ejects crew upwards than downwards. 

As to the Blinder warplane:

"three crew: a navigator in the nose, a pilot in the cockpit, and a gunner / radio operator behind the pilot. All three sat on K-22 downward-firing ejection seats, with a minimum safe ejection altitude of 250 meters (820 feet)."

2. Zero-zero. 

Backfire ejection seats evidently not what is called zero-zero. 

"A zero-zero ejection seat is designed to safely extract upward and land its occupant from a grounded stationary position (zero altitude and zero airspeed):

American naval aviation warplane with zero-zero ejection system saving the life an aviator as an out-of-control A-7 Corsair plunges over the side of the ship. Pilot in great peril yet manages to escape thanks to zero-zero. Note the reaction of the scattering crew.

3. Crusty. Tu-134.

Recall previous blog entries the Soviet era commercial airliner Tu-134 [NATO code name Crusty] used for training Backfire pilots. Cockpit of Crusty and Backfire nearly identical the aircraft too their handling quite similar.

Controls and cockpit switches of Crusty and Backfire very similar but probably not exactly the same. Crusty minus the switch[s] for ejection seat activation.

Pilot of the Backfire in this instance just accidentally hit the wrong switch at the wrong time. Nothing more than that?

4. G-force.

Even with a zero-zero ejection seat and a successful escape from a damaged warplane injuries potentially of a life-altering nature possible:

"1960s–70s era Soviet technology often goes up to 20–22 g (with SM-1 and KM-1 gunbarrel-type ejection seats). Compression fractures of vertebrae are a recurrent side effect of ejection."

HEY, you did say you wanted to fly  airplanes, didn't you!

coolbert.