The Martin-Baker ejector seats are among the most reliable and safest bits of kit in aviation technology. MB seats have saved more than 7,000 lives since the company was formed and have seen 32 safe ejections this year alone.
The type fitted to the Hawk is capable of safe ejection from “zero/zero” airspeed and altitude. However, its major drawback lies not with the seat but with the way the canopy is dealt with. In most aircraft the canopy is jettisoned before ejection and the pilot and seat are propelled through the open space. However, along with the recently retired Harrier, ejection from the Hawk is designed to take place through the canopy (which is shattered a few milliseconds before ejection by an explosive charge).
Details have not been released as to the cause of this tragedy, but there is a possibility that the pilot may have been ejected either through an unshattered canopy and/or whilst he was not strapped to the seat. The ejector seat is “made safe” whenever the aircraft is on the ground by a large, well marked safety pin which locks the firing handle. This is withdrawn by the aircrew as very much the last action before the aircraft moves off and should be replaced as soon as the aircraft is in a safe situation on the ground. Quite what happened at Scampton is anybody’s guess.