Tangled straps likely caused Air Force instructor pilot's death, report finds

Yahoo

16 hours ago

An instructor pilot killed in a training mishap last year died after accidentally pulling the handle on his ejection seat, while not fully strapped in, Air Force investigators found.
That's one of the findings that the Air Force Accident Investigation Board reached after several months investigating the death of Capt. John Robertson at Sheppard Air Force Base last May. Robertson, a respected instructor pilot with the 80th Flying Training Wing, was inside a T-6A Texan II plane taxiing on the ground when the aircraft's ejection seat suddenly activated, launching him 100 feet into the air. He was severely injured in the unplanned ejection and died in the early morning from his wounds after being taken to the hospital.
The new report, released this past week but completed in May, found that Robertson likely did not fully insert the safety pin into his ejection seat upon landing. Air & Space Forces Magazine first reported on the findings.
On May 13, 2024, Robertson had already completed one flight for the day, and was originally only scheduled for one. He and a pilot trainee flew their second flight and landed on the runway at the air base. While taxiing back, he and the trainee ran through their safety checklist. Shortly thereafter Robertson began unbuckling from his seat. He was partially
'The [Mishap Instructor Pilot] remained partially connected to, and seated in, the ejection seat until automatic seat/pilot separation,' the report said. 'The MIP separated from the seat 100 ft above the ground, fell headfirst through an aircraft sunshade, and landed on the ground 261 ft from the [Mishap Aircraft.'
Emergency services were quickly called to respond to the incident and an ambulance reached Robertson just under 30 minutes after the mishap. He was rushed to a hospital where he later died.
Investigators, after studying the scene of the mishap and running multiple simulations of the events, concluded that Robertson likely accidentally triggered the ejection seat while in the process of unbuckling himself. A strap, they found, likely caught onto the handle that would activate the ejection seat and when the instructor leaned a certain way, the strap pulled on the handle.
The other pilot onboard the T-6A Texan did not eject when Robertson did and was unharmed. The T-6A aircraft itself was also heavily damaged from the mishap. Sheppard Air Force Base, in Wichita, Texas, is home to the 80th Flight Training Wing. It also serves as the hub for training pilots from NATO countries under the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training Program. The other person onboard the T-6A Texan II when Robertson died was at Sheppard as part of that program.
The Air Force Accident Investigation Board noted Robertson's many credentials and experience, describing him as 'very organized and meticulous.' He had been named Instructor Pilot of the Year for the previous year and had logged 719.7 total hours in T-6A, more than two thirds of those as an instructor.
Investigators found that unbuckling while the plane is taxiing after a flight is not uncommon, and that there is no clear guideline for how long the instructor pilots should wait until they start unbuckling themselves from the cockpit's straps and seat.
The U.S. Air Force uses several hundred T-6A Texan IIs for training lessons under the Air Education and Training Command. The planes have had mechanical issues in recent years. In 2022 several dozen T-6As were grounded after ejection seats were found to have faulty explosive cartridges.
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