Escape Crew Capsule - Design and Development

Design and Development

The first escape capsule designed was for the U.S. Navy F4D Skyray. It was tested in 1951-52 but was never installed in the aircraft. The Bell X-2, designed for flight in excess of Mach 3, could jettison the cockpit, though the pilot would still have to jump out and descend under his own parachute. The first production aircraft with an escape crew capsule was the Mach 2 B-58 Hustler. It was developed by the Stanley Aviation Company for Convair. The capsule was pressurized, sheltered the pilot from the airstream, and contained food and survival supplies. During testing of the "Stanley Capsule" in 1962, a bear became the first living creature to survive a supersonic ejection.

The Mach 3 XB-70's two crew escape capsules did not work well the only time they were needed. On June 8, 1966, XB-70 airframe AV/2 was involved in a mid-air crash with an F-104 Starfighter. Maj. Carl Cross's seat was unable to retract backwards into the escape capsule due to high-g-forces as the plane spiraled downwards. He died in the crash. Maj. Al White's seat did retract but his elbow protruded from the capsule and blocked the closing clamshell doors. He struggled to free his trapped elbow. As soon as he freed the doors, he was ejected from the plane and descended by parachute as planned. However, due to pain and confusion, White failed to trigger the manually activated airbag which would normally cushion the capsule upon landing. When the capsule hit the ground, White was subjected to an estimated 33 to 44 g (320 to 430 m/s²). He received serious injuries, but nevertheless survived. The pilot of the Starfighter, Joseph Albert Walker, was killed in the collision.

In the 1960s and 1970s, the F-111 and B-1A introduced the method of jettisoning the entire front fuselage as a means of crew escape. The crew remains strapped in the cabin, unencumbered by a parachute harness, while 27,000 lbf (120 kN) of thrust from rockets pushes the module out into the air. Multiple large parachutes bring the capsule down, in a manner very similar to the Launch Escape System of the Apollo spacecraft. On landing, an airbag system cushions the landing. In the event of a water landing the airbag acts as a flotation device; on land, the airbag is also usable as a shelter.

Three of the four B-1A prototypes featured a single crew escape capsule for the crew members. For the fourth prototype and for the B-1B, this was changed to use conventional ejection seats. One source gives the reason "due to concerns about servicing the pyrotechnical components of the system," while another says this was done "to save cost and weight." On August 29 1984, B-1A prototype #2 crashed and the capsule was ejected at low altitude. The parachute deployed improperly and one of the three crewmembers aboard died.

For more information on the advantages and disadvantages of B-58/XB-70 style capsule ejection vs. F-111/B-1 style cabin ejection, see Space Shuttle abort modes.