Pilot ejects from jet seconds from disaster at Alberta airshow <!-- google_ad_section_end(name=story_headline) -->
<!-- // .story-headline --> From: <cite> NewsCore </cite>
July 25, 2010 4:21AM
A PILOT managed to eject from his jet moments before it crashed in a ball of flames at an airshow. <!-- google_ad_section_end(name=story_introduction) --> <!-- // .story-intro --> <!-- google_ad_section_start(name=story_body, weight=high) --> Captain Brian Bews was piloting the Canadian Air Force CF-18 fighter when the crash occurred at the Alberta International Airshow.
Witnesses told the Calgary Herald that Bews managed to pull his parachute and eject from the plane only moments before it erupted into flames on impact with the ground.
His quick reactions and ejector seat saved his life as he was catapulted out of the stricken $52 million aircraft. He had been practicing for the air show, rehearsing low-level maneuvers. He was about 30 metres from the ground when he ejected and came to rest near the exploding jet.
The experienced pilot was taken to Chinook Regional Hospital with minor injuries after landing hard and getting dragged across the runway by his parachute.
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Witness Ryan Giffiin said he could tell the plane was in distress as he watched it from his office desk near the airport. He said: "Oh my god, it's crashing. Everybody looked and it was already hitting the ground. There was a massive fireball." "You could tell something was going wrong. It was going way too slow.
There was a sputtering sound and two puffs of smoke from the engines. "It started to nose dive, banked to the right, and the pilot ejected." The CF-18 Hornet was to take part in the two-day air show at Alberta's Lethbridge Airport beginning yesterday.
:p
