"Another said, 'It went lower and lower and in a little bit three parachutes


OK, I will assume we are taking about a recent version of the F-15 and
since the story discusses a pilot only with no GIB (Guy-In-Back), that
eliminates the F-15E, and we are left with the F-15C. The F-15C is
equipped with the McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) Advanced Concept
Ejection Seat (ACES) II zero-zero seat.

This seat uses an extractor chute to help deploy the drogue which
slows and stabilizes the seat. Then after the pilot separates from
the seat, out comes the main chute to bring the pilot down. [See:
http://www.ejectionsite.com] So the extractor, drogue and main chutes
may account for three chutes seen by the witness.

Two problems with this explanation:

1. We don't know what mode the seat was in. In Mode 1 which cover 0
- 250 kts, the all chutes are deployed but the drogue is not inflated
since the main deploys and inflates within 2 seconds (makes a groin
ache thinking about it).

2. The witness rseems to say that the three chutes were small
(whatever that means). While the main is not a big chute, the three
chutes deployed in succession are distinctly larger than their
predecessor.

So yeah . . . witnesses need to be taken with a grain of salt, but
this person could have seen three chutes.

Take care . . .

John