F-16 Pilot Died Because His Ejection Seat May Have Been Counterfeit

[ATCclears]

An Air Force investigation of a fatal fighter jet crash in 2020 quietly discovered that key components of the pilot's ejection seat may have been counterfeit, Air Force Times has learned.

While the Air Force suspected parts of the seat were counterfeit, it buried the information in a nonpublic section of its accident investigation report.

Those details have come to light in a federal civil lawsuit filed by Schmitz's widow, Valerie, who is suing three defense companies for negligence and misleading the Air Force about the safety of their products.

"What the military does is inherently dangerous to begin with," plaintiff attorney Jim Brauchle said Tuesday. "If you're going to be engaging in that kind of activity, you want to be doing it with equipment that's going to work."

The case in U.S. District Court in South Carolina targets F-16 manufacturer Lockheed Martin; Collins Aerospace, which builds the ACES II ejection seat installed on planes across the Air Force; and multiple business units of Teledyne Technologies, which makes the seat's digital recovery sequencer.

F-16 Pilot Died Because His Ejection Seat May Have Been Counterfeit | ZeroHedge

ZeroHedge - On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero

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[gryghin]

Having been in the US Military and worked in Supply, I understand the bidding process. The government always selects the lowest bidder.

But there has to be a level of quality even with the lowest bid suppliers.

This is as bad as the falsified QA for the submarine hull steel.

I feel sorry for this generation of volunteers.

 

[gryghin]

How do they consider this justice?

Former lab director sentenced to prison for falsifying results of steel testing on parts for Navy subs

Tacoma – The former Director of Metallurgy at Bradken Inc. was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to 30 months in prison, and a $50,000 fine, for falsifying test results that measure the strength and toughness of steel that Bradken sold for installation in U.S. Navy submarines...

www.justice.gov

 

[Alexx1401]

How do they consider this justice?

Former lab director sentenced to prison for falsifying results of steel testing on parts for Navy subs

Tacoma – The former Director of Metallurgy at Bradken Inc. was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to 30 months in prison, and a $50,000 fine, for falsifying test results that measure the strength and toughness of steel that Bradken sold for installation in U.S. Navy submarines...

www.justice.gov

Sounds like he got off WAYYY too easy to me.

 

[gryghin]

Sounds like he got off WAYYY too easy to me.

I agree... 30 months and $50,000 fine is a slap on the wrist!

30 Nuclear Submarines are affected by this negligence.

I was fortunate to serve on the East Coast where the undersea topography isn't changing. It's a much different experience in the Pacific.

Just last year, we had another boat hit an undersea mountain. In 2005, there was a horrible accident which resulted in a death and majority of the crew injured. We would have loss the whole ship if the steel structure didn't hold.

What happens when a submarine runs into an undersea mountain

Just after noon on Jan. 8, 2005, the USS San Francisco, U.S. Navy nuclear-powered Los Angeles-class submarine collided with an undersea mountain while moving at maximum speed. The crew, most of them injured, one of them killed, fought for…

www.wearethemighty.com

 

[titsonritz]

Wonder if it was one of Fat Leonard's deals.