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Air Force instructor pilot killed when ejection seat activated at Texas base

WASHINGTON (AP) — An Air Force instructor pilot was killed when the ejection seat activated while the jet was still on the ground at a Texas military base, the Air Force said Tuesday.

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 Air Force said. The pilot’s name was being withheld pending notification of next of kin.

The T-6A Texan II is a single-engine two-seater aircraft that serves as a primary trainer for Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps pilots. In a training flight an instructor can sit in the front or back seat; both have lightweight Martin-Baker ejection seats that are activated by a handle on the seat.

In 2022, the T-6 fleet and hundreds of other Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps jets were grounded after inspections revealed a potential defect with one component of the ejection seat’s cartridge actuated devices, or CADs. The fleet was inspected and in some instances the CADs were replaced.

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