Kid killed in Navy ejection seat

James Hughes said:
Just joined this site. I was there in 1980 also. I was a 19 year old former PR from the nearby NADC Warminster Naval Air Warfare Center. I served there for 4 yrs and got out in march 1979. I stayed in the area and tried out the local job market until August 1980, when I reenlisted. I was a Naval Aviation nut and frequently volunteered to host tours for boy and cub scouts and local media and civilian contractors. Warminster was only a 15 minute bicycle ride from Willow Grove NAS. I tried to catch every air show I could and enjoyed every one. On July 4, 1980 I rode my bicycle to NAS Willow Grove for the show. I saw the S-3 involved in the accident and was no more than 50 yards from it when it happened. It was HOT, it was HUMID. I rode past the S-3 and and noticed the stairs and the people lined up for a cockpit view. The stairs were on the starboard side of the S-3. There were people under the port side of the S-3 who were sheltering from the heat under the shade of the wing. There was a big boom and I instantly pivoted back to the sound. I saw a 28 foot flat parachute canopy floating in the breeze above the S-3. My first thought was where is that seat! I reached the S-3 and I saw a young woman under the port wing in a lawn chair with a stunned look on her face. I spun around and saw something on the tarmac (ramp). I didn't see him land but I was the first person to get to him. I will never forget that sight. It was soo surreal. I don't want to get graphic on my first post but I can give you graphic details of what I saw on that day.
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Wow.
 
I have to correct myself. I was a 24 year old Naval reservist on July 4th 1980. That summer I was in the process of signing up with VP-64 so that I could get activated and pick a duty station. I had 3 1/2 years of active duty working on a wide variety of naval aircraft at NAF Warminster. As a Parachute Rigger I worked on the A-4 Skyhawk, the T-2 Buckeye, the A-7 Corsair, the P-3 Orion, the A-3 Sky Warrior and several other types of planes and helicopters. I dealt with ejection seat aircraft almost daily. I even got volunteered to assist our AME's in removing and installing ejection seats a couple of times! I never got fully comfortable around ejection seats and always checked the pins and followed the rules before doing egress system maintenance. I don't know what happened in the S-3 cockpit that July day, but I'll never forget the results.
 
I was in USAF UPT when it happened.


But story I heard, was that all the ground safety pins were in, including those internal to the seat. And the kid pulled them all. One story stated pilot was chatting up the Mom.
 
Thanks Pinecone. I recall the starboard side ejection seat was activated. I saw the hole in the canopy as I went back to the S-3. I think the pilot seat is where his brother was seated. The Lady in the lawn chair under the port wing was standing up with a stunned look on her face and she was alone. I had always assumed that this was their mother. It all happened so fast and the first 60 seconds were a blur. I know that the child that was ejected landed forward of the S-3 and slightly left of center. I had pivoted around on my bicycle and got to him in the first minute after the ejection. I recall freezing, he was not moving, no sounds. No blood, no guts. If the tarmack were grass you would think he had taken a nap and was in a peaceful position. By this time I could hear 1st responders approaching. I could not bring myself to assist him in any way. It is probably for the best that I turned and got out of the way. One last detail, He was coated in a fine layer of grey residue. This made the event look staged as if he was a manequin or this was some kind of training drill. I was stunned for a while after this. I couldn't figure out where to point a finger and I can assure that this child didn't suffer, RIP.
 
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I was there that day as well. First I was on the walkway up to the F-105G cockpit that later toppled. Some teen idiots were on the bottom of the stairs shaking it and the whole thing got wobbly. The pilot of the Thud yelled at them, but the height of a thud spooked me and I scrambled down the stairs fast. Five minutes later it tipped and 4 or 5 people were on the ground in obvious pain.
I figured I would get in line to look inside the S-3. The hatch was on the right hand side, and I was finally getting my turn to climb in when there was a shout of "hey!" or "no!" from within and a tremendous explosion. In the movies I would have been blasted out of the hatch but the slap of concussion was so fast it was gone and I had a face full of dust and dirt without it even knocking my hat off. As I stepped back from the hatch I looked right and could see the tinted canopy was now totally opaque with an evil curl of yellowish smoke frozen above the hole where the seat went out. I knew finally that a seat had fired and looked up. I was terrified. The sky looked to be filled with big black pieces of debris and I knew one of them was the seat. I was certain it was going to land on my head and I turned and sprinted out of there as fast as my feet could go! I didn't stop till I got to my parents car in the parking area. I never saw the child that fired the seat, but my Dad and brother came running toward the scene and found out someone had been terribly injured. Dad was afraid I was the kid on the seat and it took a few moments before someone was able to tell him it wasn't me.
I was 11 years old that day but remember it with terrible clarity. That poor kid.
 
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