In Iran this month, two American pilots were rescued after they ejected from their F-15Es. In the weeks since, a few publications have spoken with pilots who have been through that process about how dangerous and risky it is.
Pilots, in that situation, have to decide the right time to eject, to determine whether doing so is necessary, and also must think about where they’re landing, and whether it’s hostile territory.
U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor pilots assigned to 27th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron, Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia, conduct a capabilities brief at Rimba Air Force Base, Brunei Darussalam, on Aug. 7, 2024. This year marks the 40th anniversary since the United States established diplomatic relations with Brunei Darussalam. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Mitchell Corley)
And also, they go through this was the knowledge that it’s likely going to be painful.
Warplane Ejection: “One of the Most Violent Experiences a Body Can Go Through”
The New York Post, after the Iran rescue, talked to Matthew “Whiz” Buckley, who is a Top Gun graduate and president of the veteran suicide prevention charity the No Fallen Heroes Foundation. In Iraq, he flew F-18 Hornets in 44 combat missions.
Buckley told the Post that the pilots in Iran made “a pretty stark choice to either die or eject.”
“You’re always worried about the condition of the aviator and aircrew, if they had to eject, because ejecting is one of the most violent experiences a body can go through,” Buckley said, noting that those who eject from planes are subject to “instantaneous 10 to 20 Gs of force.”
Buckley also said that pilots receive less parachute training than you might think.
“A lot of people think that, oh yeah, if you’re a fighter pilot, you must do some parachute training. Zero,” he told the Post.
In March, after some pilots ejected after friendly-fire missions over Kuwait, Task & Purpose also talked to some Air Force fliers about what it was like for them to eject.
“An ejection is about 70 unrelated miracles that happen in about seven seconds,” said Gen. David Goldfein, whose ejection over Serbia in 1999 has become a well-known story. Goldfein went on to serve as Chief of Staff of the Air Force.
Retired Maj. Gen. Ronald Bath told T&P that his training came in handy when it came time to eject.
“You’re trained from the day you get into pilot training when you’re flying in an airplane with an ejection seat. You go through this training over and over and over and over, and it’s just second nature,” Bath told the publication, of the time he ejected in 1988.
Capt. Ryosuke Sugimoto, a Japanese Air Self-Defense Force F-35 Lightning II pilot, sits in an ejection seat wearing his new pilot gear after completing the 1,000th fitting in the pilot fit facility at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, May 22, 2024. This milestone fitting underscores the strong international partnership and commitment to pilot readiness and safety. (U.S. Air Force photo by 1st Lt. Jymil Licorish)
Task & Purpose also spoke to retired Gen. CQ Brown, who rose all the way up to chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Indeed, several airmen who have ejected from planes have reached high places in the military chain of command.
“It’s not something you wanna do, but when you do it, you’re glad all the stuff works,” Brown said. “My hats off to the life support personnel who pack all those chutes, and the maintainers that actually maintain the seat. They’re real specialist. That’s one of the things we want to do when we first get back on the ground. We go back and thank those junior service members, who are often in their early 20s, that are doing a lot of that work.”
All About Ejection
Meanwhile, Popular Mechanics, back in 2023, published an explainer about what’s actually required to eject from a plane.
“You want to avoid it at all costs,” the story says. “But when there is no other option, it can save your life.”
And there are many reasons for that.
“The turbulent process of ejecting puts pilots at serious risk of injury. Once those rockets fire under the seat, they blow a person up and out of the cockpit with enough force to seriously bruise both shoulders on the harness straps and possibly break collarbones. And you better tuck in your knees and elbows, because if anything hits the side of the cockpit on the way out, it’s coming off,” Popular Mechanics said.
About the Author: Stephen Silver
Stephen Silver is an award-winning journalist, essayist, and film critic, and contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review, and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. For over a decade, Stephen has authored thousands of articles that focus on politics, national security, technology, and the economy. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @StephenSilver, and subscribe to his Substack newsletter.
