A video shot in first person point of view shows a Russian fighter pilot ejecting from his crashing plane. The footage has emerged from the Russia-Ukraine war and shows the pilot exiting the aircraft and landing safely in a field some distance away. We later see the aircraft consumed by fire.
The pilot was carrying a GoPro-like action camera on his helmet or body, so we can get a pretty clear idea of what ejecting from a combat aircraft flying low level looks like. Basically, it’s not something I’d like to experience first-hand.
“This is probably the first ever action camera combat jet ejection footage,” says David Cenciotti in the online military aviation magazine The Aviationist. The website also identifies the aircraft as an Su-25SM and surmises that the incident probably occurred last summer due to the landscape.
“We can’t say whether it was shot down by Ukrainian air defense systems (or MANPADS – Man Portable Air Defense System), as it seems more likely, or it went down for other reasons,” says Cenciotti. “Whatever, the footage is remarkable as it is, to our knowledge, the first-ever ejection recorded by a pilot with an action camera, and for sure, the first such kind of clip coming from the current conflict in Ukraine.”
Commenters on the clip posted to YouTube have clearly been impressed with the footage. One goes as far as to say “this footage is military history. Amazing it’s been recorded and shared for us to see, I’ve never seen anything like it.”
It is indeed remarkable footage, and the speed at which everything happens truly makes you realize how intense this job must be. In moments such as this, you really must have to rely on your training and instincts.
[Via The Aviationist]
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