Yesterday I posted Hawk 108 ejection - what happened? and without any disrespect to the two late RMAF pilots and their grieving families, nor to the greater air force community, asked:
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Major Mohd Hasri Zahari (left) and Major Yazmi Mohamed. |
... I wonder what could have gone wrong for the automated emergency parachutes not to save their lives?
Did those parachutes malfunction? Both?
I also mulled over the ejection being done too low, but the disappearance of the plane from the site of the two bodies, but now found near Kampung Yak Yah, about 25 to 30 nm (40 to 50 km) away (from the bodies) argued against that.
MM Online - Missing fighter jet found in Terengganu (extracts):
KUALA LUMPUR, June 16 — The Hawk 108 fighter jet which disappeared from radar yesterday has been found near a village in coastal Chukai, Terengganu, the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) confirmed today.
In a statement, the RMAF said the fighter jet’s wreckage was discovered near Kampung Yak Yah at 10.27am today, after search operations resumed at 7am.
That would mean the two pilots ejected but the jet minus the pilots and their ejection seats (including the cockpit canopy) continued flying on for another 40 to 50 km before it crashed.
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looks as if the aircraft plunged straight into the ground instead of gliding down to belly-crash like most transport type aircraft minus engine power |
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above aircraft (including one bomb for illustration) plunging straight into the ground |
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above aircraft belly-crashing |
I also discussed about types of ejection systems in fast jets like the Hawk 108 including having probably a zero-zero ejection capability, meaning the ejection would have been safe to activate at zero forward speed (eg. stationary at an airport apron site) and zero altitude (eg. on the ground).
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with zero-zero ejection seat |
Just so, this morning I read MM Online's Witness says one of two parachuting pilot made a cross sign before plunging to death (extracts):
KEMAMAN, June 16 — “One of the pilots was making a cross sign with his hands in my direction and I thought they were in a training session,” said a witness who captured a glimpse of two pilots on parachute who subsequently plunged to their death after their 108 Hawk fighter jet had crashed.
Siti Zamilah Mohd Hussin, 27, said she was sweeping the courtyard of her house on a hill in Kampung Pondok Pasir here about 12.30pm when she spotted the two men on parachutes.
“I saw one of them tugging at his parachute rope and making a cross sign with his hands in my direction. I responded by waving at them because I thought the two men were involved in parachute training,” she told reporters here this evening.
She said the two pilots were subsequently seen plunging in the rear of the house before she heard a loud thud.
Siti Zamilah Mohd Hussin, 27, said she was sweeping the courtyard of her house on a hill in Kampung Pondok Pasir here about 12.30pm when she spotted the two men on parachutes.
“I saw one of them tugging at his parachute rope and making a cross sign with his hands in my direction. I responded by waving at them because I thought the two men were involved in parachute training,” she told reporters here this evening.
She said the two pilots were subsequently seen plunging in the rear of the house before she heard a loud thud.
Believe me, Cik Siti Zamilah, the Muslim pilot was NOT making any 'cross' sign but rather struggling with his parachute strings, because his parachute did not deploy fully and correctly.
I have arrived at the sad conclusion that my questions yesterday, to wit, I wonder what could have gone wrong for the automated emergency parachutes not to save their lives? Did those parachutes malfunction? Both? might have been probably right. I wish I wasn't.
Though both pilots ejected successfully (for whatever technical reason which has to be another 'story'), they found to their immense horror that the automated parachutes did not deploy as expected.
That's why and how both were probably killed in their fall to the ground without the safety aid of parachutes.
Because both parachutes had probably failed to deploy correctly, the RMAF must now immediately double-check the entire Hawk 108 parachute/ejection seat system.
The technical fault on the plane which caused both pilots to eject is a separate matter.
