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Where鈥檚 my Ejector Seat?

Why can鈥檛 commercial planes have ejector seats, like fighter jets do? We take off on a mission to explore flight safety, to answer an intriguing question from two Ugandan brothers

Even if you spent your entire life on a plane, the chances are you鈥檇 never crash 鈥 commercial air travel is remarkably safe. But after hearing about a recent air tragedy, two brothers in Kampala wondered if commercial airplanes could ever have ejector seats 鈥 like fighter jets do - to give passengers a last option for escape.

We meet 98-year-old John Oliver 鈥淛o鈥 Lancaster, one of the first people ever to eject out of a plane, and discover the seemingly insurmountable barriers to fitting ejector seats into passenger jets. And we find out that an awful lot of work goes into making flying as safe as it is, as we visit an air accident investigation lab, practise an emergency exit from a passenger cabin and deal with a multiple engine failure 鈥n a plane simulator.

But are any safety ideas as radical as ejector seats on the horizon? We assess a controversial design that would parachute the entire passenger cabin down to earth should the worst happen.

Do you have a question we can turn into a programme? Email us at crowdscience@bbc.co.uk

Presenter: Marnie Chesterton
Producer: Cathy Edwards

(Image: Person blasting out of a plane cockpit on an ejection seat Credit: Martin-Baker Aircraft Company Ltd)

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27 minutes

Last on

Mon 15 May 2017 13:32GMT

Broadcasts

  • Fri 12 May 2017 19:32GMT
  • Sat 13 May 2017 22:32GMT
  • Sat 13 May 2017 23:32GMT
  • Mon 15 May 2017 02:32GMT
  • Mon 15 May 2017 04:32GMT
  • Mon 15 May 2017 05:32GMT
  • Mon 15 May 2017 06:32GMT
  • Mon 15 May 2017 13:32GMT

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