Stunning Vid: Pilot Ejects Moments Before Chinese Fighter Jet Crashes
- Posted on October 14, 2011 at 12:30pm by
Jonathon M. Seidl
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BEIJING (AP) — A Chinese air force jet crashed at an air show on Friday, leaving one of the pilots missing and presumed dead.
Footage aired by China Central Television showed the jet sputtering and then nose-diving into a field outside the northern city of Xi’an as one of the pilots ejected from the cockpit and landed beneath an open parachute.
Only one parachute was seen opening, and the plane, a two-seater JH-7 “Flying Leopard” fighter-bomber, burst into flames upon crashing. The other pilot’s seat appeared not to have ejected.
The pilot who ejected suffered only minor injuries, but his comrade appeared to have been trapped in the doomed plane, the official Xinhua News Agency said, citing witnesses and air show organizer He Liang.
The plane crashed more than a mile (2 kilometers) from the nearest onlookers and there were no deaths or injuries on the ground.
The crash is being investigated and it wasn’t clear if mechanical problems or pilot error was to blame. The plane is powered by two highly reliable license-built Spey Mk202 engines and it was considered unlikely that both would have stalled at the same time.
The Chinese-made JH-7 entered service in 2004 and is a mainstay of the country’s air force and naval aviation, with more than 100 built.
At least one of the planes crashed previously – during a China-Russian joint exercise in 2009 – killing both pilots.
China rarely released information about military accidents, but the public nature of the crash and the rapid spread of images of it happening on the Internet made it impossible to keep secret.
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Comments (46)
g56
Posted on October 14, 2011 at 6:44pmThey should know by now not to buy fighters made in China!
Report Post »Armed Patriot
Posted on October 14, 2011 at 8:20pmApparently the cyber wars are only 50% effective so far. Sorry for the loss of life, but as so far as our enemy’s??? Not so much. Drive on.
Report Post »capitalismrocks
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 12:39amLOL !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh man, that was PERFECT !
Report Post »Delta D-5-3
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 12:42amOne less we’ll have to worry about. And you all know what i’m talking about……
Report Post »THE EQUALIZER
Posted on October 14, 2011 at 6:41pmLOL! Chinese fighter jets suck too.
Report Post »Latter-Day-Soldier
Posted on October 14, 2011 at 6:09pmIt reminds me of an incident where a chinese fighter (Shenyang J-8) had a mid-air collision with a EP-3 Orion about 70 miles away from Hainan Island nearly 10 years ago. Anyone remember that fiasco?
Report Post »B.T.W. the Chinese pilot died in that incident too
AnAmerican111
Posted on October 14, 2011 at 5:07pmHate to see any pilot go down in his jet!……………
Report Post »…..the Chinese pilots must not have been peddling quick enough
bmwrider
Posted on October 14, 2011 at 6:00pmThis guys a worse pilot than John Mccain!
Report Post »SERUM
Posted on October 14, 2011 at 6:11pmSad to see a pilot has lost his life…
Report Post »Has anyone read “Air Disasters” by Yu Tu Lo?
Latter-Day-Soldier
Posted on October 14, 2011 at 6:15pm@BMWRIDER:
John McCain was shot down over Vietnam while in the video you can see the Chinese aircraft “pancake” into the ground.
Report Post »bmwrider
Posted on October 14, 2011 at 6:41pm“In his most serious lapse, McCain was “clowning” around in a Skyraider over southern Spain about December 1961 and flew into electrical wires, causing a blackout, according to McCain’s own account as well as those of naval officers and enlistees aboard the carrier Intrepid. In another incident, in 1965, McCain crashed a T-2 trainer jet in Virginia.”
http://articles.latimes.com/2008/oct/06/nation/na-aviator6
Report Post »Latter-Day-Soldier
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 2:14am@BMWRIDER:
Checked the site out, has good info on it.
Report Post »Here is one that has some interesting info too: pythiapress.com/wartales/McCain-shootdown.htm
hud
Posted on October 14, 2011 at 4:49pmPilot training in China at its best, if you survive you get to try again.
Report Post »Cheeta05
Posted on October 14, 2011 at 4:48pmOverheard on the way down, “Altitude, airspeed. Altitude, airspeed. Altitude, airspeed….”
Report Post »Dave In Arizona
Posted on October 14, 2011 at 3:47pmThe pilot will be take later to some secluded spot and shot for destroying government property. Should have stayed with the plane.
Report Post »babylonvi
Posted on October 14, 2011 at 6:26pmMaybe that‘s why the other one didn’t eject?
Report Post »st3v300
Posted on October 14, 2011 at 3:38pmTakes two to fly it… and the 2nd seat pilot knew more than his first seat… Get the heck out
Report Post »Anonymous T. Irrelevant
Posted on October 14, 2011 at 3:10pmWow. How many millions just went up in flames. Finally got video to work. Registry error. System Mechanic Pro didn’t find, but “free” CCleaner did.
Report Post »13th Imam
Posted on October 14, 2011 at 3:07pmAfter watching the video, A pop up was placed on the bottom of the screen
“ Sign Up For Flight Training”
Report Post »txrailroader
Posted on October 14, 2011 at 2:54pmHe must have gotten a call on his cell phone.Wife wanted to know if he wanted rice or rice for supper.
Report Post »notmy planet
Posted on October 14, 2011 at 2:51pmLooks like they are ready..lol
Report Post »When is Satan coming to dinner?
South Philly Boy
Posted on October 14, 2011 at 2:12pmAh So
Report Post »CanaryInACoalMine
Posted on October 14, 2011 at 1:47pmThey should have knocked off the ACES II instead of that Russian deathtrap of a seat.
Report Post »theonefromabove
Posted on October 14, 2011 at 1:55pmPretty intense video.
http://politicalbowl.com – Political Videos
Report Post »Thevoice
Posted on October 14, 2011 at 1:37pmThey could copy how to build it …Not fly it …..Yeah…,Rightthinging 1 …(VERY FUNNY)….. I’ve had several Made in China products crash and burn. Where’s the news? Exactly
Report Post
Report Post »SBR308
Posted on October 14, 2011 at 1:28pmJust another cheap crappy copy of a Russian fighter. Beware Chinese airlines!!
Report Post »GTH
Posted on October 14, 2011 at 1:02pmObviously due to a cheap chinese metal part.
Report Post »Chinese metal is the worst stuff on the planet, just as soft and brittle as a potato chip
C. Schwehr
Posted on October 14, 2011 at 1:56pmCareful about the propaganda, folks….this sounds a little bit too much like what europeans and americans were saying about the japanese right before WWII, and their zero sen fighter turned out to be the most advanced fighter aircraft in the pacific at the beginning of the war…….
Report Post »SgtB
Posted on October 14, 2011 at 3:06pm@ C.SCHWEHR
Only because it was built with little to no armor. You could’ve brought up the Japanese minsubs or the carrier subs, or even the baloon bombs, but I’d just say that we had the nuclear warhead and move on.
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on October 14, 2011 at 12:54pmIt’s “a mainstay of the country’s air force” and they only have 100 of them?
Report Post »nobull14
Posted on October 14, 2011 at 12:54pmI guess they did not read the blue prints they stole from us correctly
Report Post »RightThinking1
Posted on October 14, 2011 at 12:52pmYeah…, I’ve had several Made in China products crash and burn. Where’s the news?
Report Post »Marine 1
Posted on October 14, 2011 at 12:51pmCHUCK…Switch to decaf man. It’s all in fun. As for the threat, I used to be a Signal Intelligence Officer so I think I know a little bit about the threats. Have a great day!
Report Post »COFemale
Posted on October 14, 2011 at 12:50pmMy condolences to the family of the pilot who died. Regardless of whether we support or don’t support China, it should not take away that this pilot died during an air show.
Apparently, there wasn’t enough time for the co-pilot to eject. Also in some cases, the canopy would not pop upon pulling the ejection mechanism and the pilot/co-pilot would slam into the canopy, thus killing him. I know that sounds gruesome and I don’t mean to be, but I believe this was a design flaw on the F-14 when it was first built. I am only speculating this might have been the case with the co-pilot. God rest his soul.
Report Post »Stoic one
Posted on October 14, 2011 at 12:45pmWow..
Report Post »glad one pilot survived . .. …
teapartyconservatism
Posted on October 14, 2011 at 12:36pmOh that’s gotta peeve Obama off, especially after he’s been helping them so much.
Here’s the new and improved blog providing the facts repressed by politicians and the media, on how to be certain if Obama really is ineligible and what Congress knows about it! http://teapartyconservatism.blogspot.com
Report Post »COFemale
Posted on October 14, 2011 at 12:54pmWell I see you are at it again. Well you just go away. Your fake ties to the tea party is seriously lacking in substance. You are probably laughing in your basement thinking you are smarter than us true Tea Party member and/or supporters. NOT!
Report Post »Marine 1
Posted on October 14, 2011 at 12:33pmDang it! The ground crew didn’t wind the rubber band enough. I hate it when that happens.
Report Post »Chuck Stein
Posted on October 14, 2011 at 12:41pmOurs crash, too, sometimes. China is a serious threat. In the Navy, a superior officer warned me back in the 1970′s: “Don’t make Ivan dumb” Food for thought.
Report Post »ChiefGeorge
Posted on October 14, 2011 at 12:49pmIvan and Chin are both very smart because they both know all they have to do is wait for America implode due to our enemies within.
Report Post »txrailroader
Posted on October 14, 2011 at 2:56pmNo they used a wrist rocket to launch the plane.
Report Post »