RIP. http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22763159-23109,00.html A NAVIGATOR plunged to his death from an RAF fighter jet when it performed a roll during a routine test flight in Britain. The Ministry of Defence said the BAE Systems employee "exited" the Tornado fighter during an inverted roll yesterday over Norfolk. His body was found on a disused airfield, the British Press Association reported. The aircraft landed safely at the RAF Marham air base in Norfolk. "The aircraft was crewed by BAE Systems staff. They were carrying out a test flight, said Rem Merrick, a spokesman for RAF Marham. "The aircraft went into an inverted roll. The navigator exited the aircraft. We cannot speculate on the cause. It's being investigated by the board of inquiry." Mr Merrick said it was not known if the navigator had a parachute. BAE Systems employs about 250 people at RAF Marham, where they maintain and upgrade the RAF's fleet of Tornado GR4 aircraft.
Sounds like the ejector seat was not properly fastened. But, I suspect that he must have received a blow to the head, otherwise he would be able to exit the seat and recover himself.
Depends how low they were. I can't believe he didn't have a parachute; its virtually impossible to sit properly in an ejector seat without a parachute. I must admit my first thought when I read this was "suicide". On the other hand, there was the case about twenty years ago when a Harrier test pilot was killed when his seat ejected due to a malfunction; he went through the canopy without the explosive wire detonating - very unlikely to be suicide, too imprecise. The aircraft flew on until the fuel ran out.
