FAILED Ejection Seat - Pilot Killed - Counterfeit Components?

On June 30th 2020, Lt David “MEZr” Schmitz was killed in an F-16 mishap at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina. He was assigned to the 77th Fighter Squadron which is apart of the 20th Fighter Wing. A recent article written by Rachel Cohen and published on Air Force Times highlights information never released to the public until now. “MEZr’s” ejection seat failed to work properly during an ejection sequence ultimately resulting in his death. A key component of the ACES-II ejection seat is the Digital Recovery Sequencer (DRS) which was determined to be at fault for the ejection seat failure. In this episode we talk about the revelations about suspected counterfeit chips and other components that were discovered during the investigation.

@USMilitary-post Article by Rachel Cohen

Episode #23 F-16 Mishap - 30 June 2020 S

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[jimr]

In my mind there’s no excuse or acceptable explanation
I worked at a defense contractor years ago Raytheon
Built sonar system
All of our parts that came in from vendors HAD to be inspected and bench tested upon arrival to insure quality control
It set back delivery at times but in my mind this is far better than sending a part/ system out to the fleet, wing, soldier and it failing causing a life to be needlessly lost this behavior is nothing less than
Irresponsible
reprehensible and criminal in my opinion

[FastPaull]

I work as a government contractor for a large aerospace company, were a small facility and this has even been an issue for us. We've gotten 2 CAR's (Corrective action report) due to Counterfit parts being found in sub assemblies etc. The issue for us has been 3rd party suppliers, thankfully we have some smart assemblers and inspectors who caught these parts before they made it out the door. So now, we order everything directly from the manufacturer of whatever part that is. Including retaining a know authentic part as a "master" for comparison during incoming inspection of parts to our facility. Biggest issue with that is delays. A lot of these companies aren't setup to deal with thousands of customers. They deal with 4-5 large suppliers and that's it. With that being said, there is 0 excuse for these parts to make it out the door of a facility. Just screams laziness and lack of standards.

[RichEdwards]

In systems like this, even screws and fasteners have traceability to the location, date/time, and lot of manufacturing. There’s a paper trail somewhere that leads to at least where the breakdown, error, or fraud occurred.

[marcviergutz]

This isn't the first nor the last time some one dies because of higher concerns for company bottom lines than product quality and safety. And it's a damn shame.

[kinch]

The DRS is 100% at fault and its prima facia evidence. As an egress tech over 30 years ago, and if things havent changed on newer versions of ACES2 seats, then I guarantee you someone is covering this up. The environmental sensor in the back of the seat takes altitude, airspeed info from the pitot tubes on both sides of the pilots head at the top of the seat. As the pitot tubes are introduced in the airstream as the seat moves up the rail, the sensor sends that to the seat sequencer. I havent read the report or seen your other video, but its absolutely the point of failure. The seat has or did have three modes of ejection based on the airspeed and altitude. If the sensor worked ( im sure its been examined) it 100% would’ve then relied on the sequencer to determine the mode. And it sounds perhaps it was a lower altitude ejection. Correct me or I will research. But that sequence wouldve meant you got a instant chute to recover the pilot and immediate man/seat separation. So NO way can any argument be made that it was NOT the sequencer in my opinion. But it has been a minute since I worked on them.

[paulciprus]

I put NGK Iridium plugs in my Mini R56 turbo, only to find out that they were counterfeit..each time one plug failed…so this is going on at all levels…😡.

[JohnR.T.B.]

The part and production drawings, quality requirements, purchasing history, used for that component's version can be cross-checked with the actual part or parts from the same production lot, and any deviation and cause can be determined; a design failure, a bad engineering change, failed quality check, counterfeiting, or unaccounted change of sub-vendors.

[trcmarvinmg]

A F/A 18 went down this summer out in Trona California. I heard the pilot couldn't Eject either. What are the standards for a major safety device like a ejection seat? What to save some money?

[Tampertownmediagroup]

I might be wrong but I think I heard that there is and will be an issue with chips for all types of machinery because they are all made overseas and I think I might have read that somehow chip manufacturing may have even been compromised..

[markk]

seemingly no mention that the squadron sent the rookie into a night AR mission --- as his "first" AR. Reg stated all such firsts must be performed during daylight. That + the failure of SOF to contact emergency tech line for landing/ejection guidance suggests that some high level officers should have been were they? I wonder!

[ericb.]

This "shoddy craftsmanship" and "counterfeit components" is NOW followed by lack of ejection seat propellant linked to a British supplier. WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING ON THE BUILDER END WHERE THESE SEATS ARE ASSEMBLED AND INSTALLED?? WHERE is the quality control here?? Sounds like SABOTAGE.

[dougmate]

Id be surprised if the frequent use of 107's will be called into question.

[heim]

Why not just sample the seats that received the same parts around the same time?

[PendulumMapTarotLightWorker]

You would expect that from a civilian contractor of a military building lol not a plane...

[记住天安门广场]

Mainstream mediia never reported this. Surprise, surprise!

[Duvstep]

I wouldn't say counterfeit; maybe just the years of use these jets have taken and it just decided to fail this time and it proved to be fatal. That's just my opinion. Rest in peace; pilot. 🇯🇲