Air Force instructor pilot killed when ejection seat activated on the ground
The Air Force says an instructor pilot was killed when the ejection seat activated while the turboprop aircraft was still on the ground at a Texas military base. The instructor pilot was in a T-6A Texan II at Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita Falls, Texas, when the seat activated during ground operations on Monday. The pilot was taken to a hospital and died Tuesday. The pilot’s name is being withheld pending notification of next of kin. In 2022, the T-6 fleet and hundreds of other Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps aircraft were grounded after inspections revealed a potential defect with one component of the ejection seat’s cartridge actuated devices, or CADs.