Israeli pilots train abandoning aircraft, surviving in enemy territory

Pilots from across the Israeli Air Force have recently completed a workshop designed to train them on emergency procedures, including how to abandon aircraft and prevent capture by the enemy, the Israeli military reported on its website Tuesday. The Ejection, Escape and Extraction (EEE) workshop, which is held by the IAF's Search and Rescue Unit 669 every five years, primarily prepares aviators on how to exit an aircraft that suffers a technical malfunction or is hit by enemy fire. CH-53 heavy-lift transport helicopter pilots, who are usually sent to rescue downed colleagues, received their opportunity to experience being rescued. They trained on how to survive a crash at sea, using a new simulator comprised of a mock cockpit that drops inverted into a swimming pool. The trainee then has to unbuckle and swim his way out of the escape door using a diver's oxygen tank. "Not only is it important to know the procedures, it also makes me think how I can help the rescued party during a mission," Major N., a veteran CH-53 pilot, was quoted as saying. According to the report, fighter jet pilots were familiarized with the ejection seat for the first time in a decade, after use of the ejection simulator was discontinued in 2003 due to technical failures that have since been repaired. While the acceleration of the simulator is significantly smaller than the force a pilot experiences during a real ejection, where he is essentially shot out of an aircraft by mini-rockets attached to his seat, the simulation is "the closest it gets" to reality, the report said. It noted that the specialized workshop's instructors had also employed a new shooting simulator designed to prepare aviators for a situation involving abandoning the aircraft in hostile territory.