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> Think of the situation that puts the commander and pilot in- they're the ones flying the shuttle; no one else can eject. > If they eject, they are essentiall
by jabl 7y ago
> Think of the situation that puts the commander and pilot in- they're the ones flying the shuttle; no one else can eject.
> If they eject, they are essentially abandoning the rest of the crew to die. It's the antithesis of the captain going down with his ship.
The Avro Vulcan bomber used by the RAF during the cold war had ejection seats for the pilot and co-pilot, and the 3 other crewmen had just parachutes. There were several accidents where the pilots managed to eject successfully but all the other crewmen were killed.
- beerandt 7y agoInteresting... That's also a little different in that the crew could possibly bail before the pilots ejected, at least in theory. Which is similar to what the shuttle plan turned to post-Challenger, except the ejection seats were already gone. The commander and pilot were supposed to hold a bail out orientation until the rest of the crew bailed, then put it on auto pilot (assuming it was working) and bail themselves.