TRANSPORT
EJECTION SE ATS E XPL AINED
Fighter pilots need life-saving technology if the worst happens, which is where ejection seats come in
WORDS MIKE JENNINGS
DID YOU KNOW? Ejection seat g-forces can be so extreme that pilots’ spines are compressed and shrink slightly
W e’re all used to seeing planes, but behind that familiarity you’ll find an awful lot of groundbreaking technology and some of the world’s most advanced safety gear. If you see a military jet soaring overhead, it’ll have ejection seats that can save the crew’s lives in emergencies. Ejection seats work as the name suggests: they eject pilots from planes if anything goes seriously wrong. They’re fast and often brutal mechanisms that never consider comfort, but speed is more important if your plane’s about to crash.
Most of the time, ejection seats work by propelling pilots from the cockpit using rocket-powered motors or explosive charges. This system allows seats to accelerate extremely quickly, which gets people out of danger.
Once they’re clear, the pilot can use a parachute to safely navigate their way to solid ground.
Did you know? Over 7,000 lives have been saved by ejection seats
Ejection seats are almost always found on military planes – the sorts of jets that can potentially come under fire from enemies. Many planes have more than one seat, and larger planes eject crew members at different angles to avoid mid-air collisions.