Originally Posted by IndyFan
Originally Posted by BusyLittleShop
Viya Con Dios...
My best conjecture of the tragic sequence of events are the pilot experienced a loss of thrust and maneuver for altitude in hopes for a return to base but tumbled after a stall...
According to a former Snowbirds pilot who commented in the Youtube video, the ejection seat is not recommended below 2000 feet. So the procedure is to exchange airspeed for alititude and try to air start the engiine. The plane clearly stalled as he reached the maximum altitude.
To have an aerobatic team using a plane with an ejection seat that is known to be suspect below 2000 feet is almost criminal when every other military aircraft, both trainers and combat aircraft, built since 1970 or earlier has a zero/zero ejection seat. I'm frankly stunned to find that they didn't at least have them modified and installed, many years ago. Much of their displays are done below 2000 feet. Absolutely irresponsible move by decision makers over decades. The altitude and angle where the ejection occurred would have been cake for a zero/zero. Inexcusable.
Of note...I saw a comment on social media about "hydraulic failure" causing loss of flight controls, but as in the YouTube video, the Tudor has no hydraulic system. It has manual, mechanical flight controls. I'm also really surprised that a skilled pilot like that would stall. It makes me wonder if the engine had a catastrophic failure that damaged the control links to the rudder/elevator. The Tudor should feel about like a Cessna when it stalls, so I have to believe that there was damage. I just can't imagine the pilot losing it like that.
Canada should ground the Tudors and be first in line for the new Boeing T-7. After equipping their training squadrons, they should then put that jet in the hands of the Snowbirds. Not only would they be safer, but they could do things in their show that the Tudor never dreamed of doing.
The RCAF uses the BAE Hawk for training. I believe the Tudor is only used by the Snowbirds right now.
It might be an idea to switch to the Hawk for the Snowbirds as well. That said, it's not like other airforces haven't had their share of fatal accidents with their display teams.
The seat on the Tudor is a zero-sixty seat (0 feet altitude, 60 knots airspeed) the Tudor stalls at 71 knots according to the internet so they had altitude and over 60 knots up until the stall. I wonder if the sink rate when they ejected at isn't what caused the fatality. Even a zero-zero ejection seat won't help you if you eject at a low altitude with a high enough sink rate. I'd guess that at that altitude as soon as enough airspeed was lost there was no saving the plane without the engine running, especially in a jet that takes time to spool up to full power. Why let it stall and start spinning before ejecting? Maybe the pilot was trying to get to a point where the plane was less likely to end up crashing in a built-up area?