kesian the pilots


A pilot's career is not automatically over after an ejection, but the chances of retirement increase due to the high risk of injury, especially to the spine. While many pilots are medically cleared and return to flying, frequent ejections, especially from older seats, can lead to cumulative spinal damage, and a pilot's military service may be terminated due to injuries.

Risks and medical evaluation
Spinal injury: The forces of ejection can cause compression injuries to the spine, sometimes leading to a permanent loss of height. Rates for significant back injury after an ejection are high.

Other injuries: Pilots can also sustain other injuries to their arms, legs, and neck from the process.
Medical clearance: After an ejection, a pilot undergoes an immediate medical evaluation. If they are found to be healthy and cleared for flight, they can return to duty.

Factors affecting return to flying
Seat design: Modern ejection seats are designed to smooth out the acceleration curve and are generally safer than older seats, which could be more brutal.

Ejection parameters: The success of an ejection and the degree of injury can depend on factors like ejection speed, the aircraft's position, and whether the ejection was "textbook" or occurred on the edge of the operational envelope.

Number of ejections: While there is no official limit in some air forces, some pilots may have to retire after ejecting multiple times due to cumulative injuries, with some sources suggesting that the third ejection can be a significant factor, according to Quora users.

The decision to shoot was 'wrong'
As for what caused this disaster, the command investigation pointed to a series of failures, from shortcomings in the planning process to deficiencies in the Gettysburg’s combat systems, and noted that crew fatigue may have played a role.

US Navy F/A-18 Super Hornets, assigned to the Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group, fly a mission over the US Central Command area of responsibility, April 8, 2025.
One F/A-18 was shot down, and another one barely survived during the friendly fire incident. US Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Jackson Manske
Early in the deployment, the investigation said, the Navy identified “significant degradation” in the Gettysburg’s core interoperability system. Problems spanned network management, surveillance and tracking reporting, identification, mutual tracking, mission engagement, and weapons coordination.

During the first three months of the deployment, the Gettysburg and Truman were often separated. The cruiser had been fending off Houthi missiles and drones shortly before the friendly fire incident, and there appeared to be some confusion over whether the threat had concluded.

That said, the investigation assessed "the decisions to shoot were wrong when measured across the totality of information available" to Gettysburg's commanding officer, who was constrained by a series of previous actions and decisions both in and beyond his control.

The captain had low situational awareness, and his combat information center team was unable to help him regain it, the investigation said.

This shootdown incident wasn't the Red Sea battle's only friendly fire incident, though it was the most serious. Earlier in the Red Sea conflict, in February 2024, a German warship accidentally targeted a US MQ-9 Reaper drone, but the missiles never reached it because the warship's radar system suffered a technical malfunction.

The December 2024 friendly fire incident was one of four major mishaps that the Truman strike group experienced during its monthslong deployment in the Middle East.

The aircraft carrier collided with a cargo vessel in February and also lost two more F/A-18s to accidents — one fell off the side of the warship along with a tow tractor in April, and another experienced a failure while landing and slid off the flight deck in May.

In a statement Thursday, Vice Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jim Kilby said that "the Navy is committed to being a learning organization," adding that "these investigations reinforce the need to continue investing in our people to ensure we deliver battle-ready forces to operational commanders."