Author describes what it is like to eject from a jet fighter:
https://www.popsci.com/what-aircraft-ejection-is-like/
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Author describes what it is like to eject from a jet fighter:
https://www.popsci.com/what-aircraft-ejection-is-like/
It is good that the article makes the point that an ejection seat saves the life of the crew member but there is still a risk of injury in the process.
There have been a few ejections "outside of the envelope". What this means is the pilot attempted ejection when the parameters of safe operation of the seat was not possible.
Initial designs of ejection seats required a certain amount of altitude and forward airspeed to allow the seat to fully depart the aircraft, and then allow the chute to open and deploy so that the pilot didn't impact the ground at too high a velocity. Most current seats, but not all, will allow '0-0' ejection. Zero altitude and zero forward airspeed.
Safe ejections will almost always result in some spinal compression due to upward excelleration (depending on the seat).
One of the last ejections attempted by a Snowbird aircraft was a desperate situation due to a bird being injested on take-off. The pilot, Capt Richard MacDougall, initiated ejection as the plane stalled out of the air, with his seat leaving the plane first. The passenger seat fired second, but too late to allow the chute to start deploying. Public Affairs Officer Capt Jennifer Casey sustained fatal injuries. The ejection seats in the Canadair CT-114 Tutor aircraft are not '0-0' seats, unfortunately, and the plane was low and heading downward when ejection was attempted. In this case, it was try or die.
Blue Skies, Jenniefer Casey.