Escape crew capsule

An escape crew capsule allows a pilot (or astronaut) to escape from their craft while it is subjected to extreme conditions such as high speed or altitude. The crewman remains encapsulated and protected until such time as the external environment is suitable for direct exposure or the capsule reaches the ground.

There are two ways to do this:

Some examples of U.S. military aircraft that have escape crew capsules are:

Pioneering developments in jettisonable-cockpit style escape capsule systems occurred in Nazi Germany, by both Heinkel Flugzeugwerke — the same firm that built the world's first ejection-seat-equipped combat aircraft, the Heinkel He 219 — and by the Deutsche Forschungsanstalt für Segelflug (German Institute for Glider Research), with the jettisonable-nosed, 1939-flown Heinkel He 176 pioneering rocket plane, and the DFS 228 research aircraft, both aircraft having similar jettisonable-nose escape systems to get the pilot away from the airframe.

The first American attempt to design such an escape capsule 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. 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.

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