escape crew capsule

The concept of an ejectable escape crew capsule has also been tried.

The first three B-models were fitted with ejection seats and the remainder included the escape crew capsule.

The first production aircraft with an escape crew capsule was the Mach 2 B-58 Hustler.

Some examples of U.S. Military aircraft that have escape crew capsules comprise:

An escape crew capsule was also incorporated into some of Gerry Anderson's complex vehicles on the Thunderbirds TV series.

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.

An alternative to ejection seats was an escape crew capsule or cabin escape system where the crew ejected in protective capsules, or the entire cabin is ejected.

Such an escape crew capsule was also considered for Dyna-Soar, but American engineers eventually opted for a solid-fuel escape rocket that would kick the spaceplane away from an exploding booster, saving both pilot and spacecraft.

Because they were intended to fly too high or too fast for safe use of conventional ejection seats, the B-58 Hustler, XB-70 Valkyrie, General Dynamics F-111 and B-1A Lancer all used enclosed escape crew capsules of some kind.