Another Red Arrows pilot dead

[Arturo Bassick]

Sad news indeed. Fantastic bunch of guys and skilled pilots. Met 5 of the arrows (and other test pilots) when I worked on Hawk AJT.
Both incidents this year have involved suspect seats.
They should be grounded while safety checks are carried out.
Maybe upgrading the team to the latest Hawks instead of the old clunkers they fly at the moment would be a good idea.

The seats should be safe for the pilot even from a ground launch.

[scooterscot]

My Dad used to be a Chief Tech Armourer responsible for the Martin Baker ejection seats in the aircraft his team maintained.

MB tried to employ me once to assess risk and safety. My rate was too high apparently.

As companies look to save money they risk adopting an US attitude to quality, it's scary.

[d000hg]

Quick, and he (she?) went doing the thing they loved. Worse for the ones left behind.

[cojak]

Dear God that's horrendous.

My Dad used to be a Chief Tech Armourer responsible for the Martin Baker ejection seats in the aircraft his team maintained.

The horror stories he (partially) told us when these things go wrong.

At least it would have been quick.

[scooterscot]

An uncommanded ejection perhaps.

I'd ground the fleet if I thought it were true.

[KentPhilip]

An uncommanded ejection perhaps.

That happens to me quite a lot.
I went to see the doctor about it, but he just said I should stop thinking about pork pies all the time, and have a cold bath...

[MarillionFan]

These things come in threes.

[Cliphead]

An uncommanded ejection perhaps. Modern ejector seats should be safe to operate stationary on the ground.

[TimberWolf]

BBC News - Red Arrows pilot killed in incident at RAF Scampton

From the limited amount of info out so far it sounds like an ejector seat malfunction. No talk about a plane crash.