The Falcons

The Falcons

Falcon is a part of the pilot’s briefing. “Do NOT pull the yellow and black handle unless you hear me say ‘Eject, Eject, Eject!’” But a civilian flying on a demonstration ride with a member of South Africa’s Silver Falcons display team apparently accidentally pulled the handle while steadying himself following an aerobatic maneuver.
The incident reportedly happened shortly after takeoff in a Pilatus PC-7 used for precision aerobatic demonstrations by the Silver Falcons.

The rocket-powered ejection seat blew the unnamed civilian through the perspex canopy of the two-place military aircraft and shot him nearly 300 feet into the air after he pulled the ejection handle, reports the London’s Daily Telegraph. The parachute in the seat deployed correctly, and he landed safely near Langebaanweg airfield, 80 miles north of Cape Town.
South African officials sent a helicopter to pick him up, so he had the opportunity to fly on two military aircraft for the price of one.

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