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PostPosted: 11 Nov 2011, 07:52 
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I'm open to correction, but the easiest way to determine if a SAAF aircraft is fitted with a MB Mk 10 seat or later is to look at the headrest. The Mk10 (or later) seats have no face-blind firing handle (the loop at the top of the seat), all other SAAF ejection seats do.


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PostPosted: 11 Nov 2011, 08:15 
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Location: Christchurch, New Zealand
Dean wrote:
AFAIK, only the Cheetah D and E used the Mk10L seat, not the C (which had the older JM6)?
My memory is that the Cheetah C's were originally fitted with JM6. But I have the feeling that the JM6 seats were replaced by Mk 10's - I heard in meetings the results of studies into whether Mk10 would fit into the Cheetah C cockpit.

If the seats were changed, it was probably done "when the seat next needs to be removed" since there was not a general Cheetah C upgrade after the "Block 96" work, and that was primarily Avionics updates.


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PostPosted: 11 Nov 2011, 09:12 
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i was watching Armageddon lastnight...can anyone confirm if those were hawks used in that movie?
If so, same as the ones we have?

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PostPosted: 11 Nov 2011, 14:03 
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Rosh wrote:
i was watching Armageddon lastnight...can anyone confirm if those were hawks used in that movie?
If so, same as the ones we have?


This aircraft?

Image

That's not a Hawk mate, that's a Northrop T38

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PostPosted: 11 Nov 2011, 14:33 
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ok cool!
thanks :smt023

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PostPosted: 29 Sep 2016, 16:46 
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BBC
Quote:
Red Arrows pilot death: Ejector seat firm to be prosecuted

26 September 2016

An ejector seat firm will be prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) over the death of a Red Arrows pilot in 2011.

Flt Lt Sean Cunningham, 35, was injured after being ejected from a Hawk T1 jet while on the ground at RAF Scampton.

The parachute on the ejector seat did not deploy and the South African-born airman died in hospital on 8 November.

The HSE will prosecute Martin Baker Aircraft Ltd for an alleged breach of health and safety law.

Inspector David Butter said: "We have conducted a thorough investigation and consider there is sufficient evidence and it is in the public interest to bring a prosecution."

Martin Baker Aircraft Company Ltd, of Lower Road, Higher Denham, near Uxbridge, is to appear at Lincoln Magistrates' Court, at a date to be confirmed, to face a section three charge under the Health and Safety at Work Act.

The alleged breach is Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, which states: "It shall be the duty of every employer to conduct his undertaking in such a way as to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that persons not in his employment who may be affected thereby are not thereby exposed to risks to their health or safety."

In a statement, the company said its thoughts and prayers were with the pilot's family and that it was "dedicated to providing the safest ejection seats".

HSE investigated the incident following a number of separate inquiries including those by the Ministry of Defence (MOD), the civilian and military police, the Military Aviation Authority and the Military Air Accident Investigation Branch.

Timeline
§ 8 November 2011: Flt Lt Sean Cunningham dies after being ejected from a Hawk T1 jet while on the ground at the Red Arrows' base at RAF Scampton
§ 9 November 2011: The day after his death, the MOD suspended training flights of aircraft fitted with the MK10 ejector seats including Hawk T1, Tornado and Tucano
§ 22 November 2011: An inquest, which opened and adjourned in Lincoln, heard the Red Arrows pilot died from multiple injuries after being ejected from an aircraft. The coroner's court was told he fell from a height and had hit the ground, still strapped to his seat
§ December 2011: Funeral of Flt Lt Sean Cunningham is held at Coventry Cathedral, attended by 800 mourners including RAF personnel. The halted flights are resumed.
§ March 2013: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said it would review the pilot's death after Lincolnshire Police hand over a file of evidence.
§ April 2013: Prosecutor Alison Storey said no charges would be brought over the fatality because there had been insufficient evidence on whether anyone had breached their duty of care.
§ January 2014: Coroner Stuart Fisher records a narrative verdict after a three-week inquest into Flt Lt Cunningham's death.
§ September 2016: The Health and Safety Executive said it would prosecute Martin Baker Aircraft Ltd for an alleged breach of health and safety law.

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PostPosted: 23 Jan 2018, 13:42 
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22 Jan 2018: The Guardian

Quote:
Red Arrows ejector seat maker admits safety breach over pilot death

Martin-Baker Aircraft Ltd pleads guilty in case following death of Sean Cunningham in 2011

The ejector seat manufacturer Martin-Baker Aircraft has admitted breaching health and safety law over the death of a Red Arrows pilot.
Guardian Today: the headlines, the analysis, the debate - sent direct to you
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Flt Lt Sean Cunningham died in November 2011 at RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire after his ejector seat initiated during the pre-flight checks of his Hawk T1 jet while on the ground and stationary.

The parachute on the ejector seat did not deploy and the South African-born airman later died in hospital.

The statutory director of Martin-Baker Aircraft, John Martin, pleaded guilty on behalf of the company at Lincoln crown court on Monday to a charge under section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

The prosecutor Rex Tedd told the court: “The first matter in dispute is the question of design. We say it was defective from the outset.”

An inquest into Cunningham’s death in 2014 heard that the ejector seat firing handle had been left in an unsafe position, meaning it could accidentally activate the seat.

Stuart Fisher, the senior coroner for Lincolnshire, criticised Martin-Baker for failing to warn the RAF about safety issues.

Fisher recorded a narrative verdict, describing a safety pin that went through the firing handle as “entirely useless” and concluding that its presence was “likely to mislead”.

The coroner said that despite 19 checks carried out on the Hawk T1, there was a repeated failure to notice that the safety pin had been incorrectly housed and that the seat firing handle was in an unsafe position.

He said tests showed the pin could be inserted into the MK10 ejection seat even when it was in an unsafe position, giving the impression to RAF personnel that the seat was safe.

Despite Martin-Baker being aware since 1990 of issues with the over-tightening of crucial nuts and bolts in the mechanism of the seat that would cause the main parachute not to deploy properly, the company failed to pass on the warnings to the Ministry of Defence, Fisher said.

A statement from Martin-Baker offered condolences to Cunningham’s family and friends. The company said it had entered a guilty plea after the Health and Safety Executive “considerably narrowed” the issues from when its investigation first started.

“It should be noted that this was an isolated failure relating to the tightening of a nut during maintenance procedures conducted by RAF Aerobatic Team mechanics,” the statement added.

The next hearing will be held on 12 February.

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