{"id":33031,"date":"2022-09-13T22:33:26","date_gmt":"2022-09-13T22:33:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2022\/09\/13\/an-f-16-pilot-died-when-his-ejection-seat-failed-was-it-counterfeit\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T21:19:07","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T21:19:07","slug":"an-f-16-pilot-died-when-his-ejection-seat-failed-was-it-counterfeit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2022\/09\/13\/an-f-16-pilot-died-when-his-ejection-seat-failed-was-it-counterfeit\/","title":{"rendered":"An F-16 pilot died when his ejection seat failed. Was it counterfeit?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>This story is part of the portfolio that won the <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/spjdc.org\/2023\/06\/spjdc-announces-dateline-award-finalists-and-winners\/\"><i>2023 Society for Professional Journalists Dateline Award<\/i><\/a><i> for beat reporting in a newsletter or trade publication.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">An Air Force investigation of a fatal fighter jet crash in 2020 quietly discovered that key components of the pilot\u2019s ejection seat may have been counterfeit, Air Force Times has learned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">First Lt. David Schmitz, an F-16 Fighting Falcon pilot at South Carolina\u2019s Shaw Air Force Base, died June 30, 2020, when his ejection seat malfunctioned as he tried to escape from a failed nighttime landing. He was 32.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Air Force\u2019s official inquiry in the months following the accident found that electronics inside the seat were scratched, unevenly sanded and showed otherwise shoddy craftsmanship.<\/p>\n\n\n<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link smg-interstitial-link--fallback wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/static.militarytimes.com\/assets\/pdfs\/1663083139.pdf\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__fallback-link\">Read the complaint in Schmitz v. Lockheed Martin et al<\/a><\/aside>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That raised red flags at the Air Force Research Laboratory, which called for a closer look to confirm whether the pieces were fraudulent, according to previously unreported slides provided to Air Force Times. It\u2019s unclear whether that question was ever answered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While the Air Force suspected parts of the seat were counterfeit, it buried the information in a nonpublic section of its accident investigation report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Those details have come to light in a federal civil lawsuit filed by Schmitz\u2019s widow, Valerie, who is suing three defense companies for negligence and misleading the Air Force about the safety of their products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhat the military does is inherently dangerous to begin with,\u201d plaintiff attorney Jim Brauchle said Tuesday. \u201cIf you\u2019re going to be engaging in that kind of activity, you want to be doing it with equipment that\u2019s going to work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2020\/07\/02\/pilot-killed-in-shaw-f-16-crash-loved-his-family-his-country-and-loved-to-fly\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"155\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Schmitz2.png.png?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Pilot killed in Shaw F-16 crash \u2018loved his family, his country and loved to fly&#8217;<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Air Force 1st Lt. David Schmitz died in the crash of an F-16CM Fighting Falcon at Shaw Air Force Base late Tuesday night.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The case in U.S. District Court in South Carolina targets F-16 manufacturer Lockheed Martin; Collins Aerospace, which builds the ACES II ejection seat installed on planes across the Air Force; and multiple business units of Teledyne Technologies, which makes the seat\u2019s digital recovery sequencer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A sequencer is supposed to execute the steps of the ejection process when triggered in an emergency. Teledyne\u2019s product is used in ejection seats on the F-15, F-16, F-22 and F-117 fighter jets, the A-10 attack plane, and B-1 and B-2 bombers around the world, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.teledynedefenseelectronics.com\/energetics\/products\/Pages\/Aircraft%20Ejection%20Seat%20Sequencers.aspx\">according to its website<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In Schmitz\u2019s case, the ejection seat shot 130 feet into the air but failed to deploy its parachute. The airman hit the ground about seven seconds later while still strapped into his seat. He died on impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.acc.af.mil\/News\/Article-Display\/Article\/2409430\/acc-releases-accident-investigation-board-report-for-f-16-crash-at-shaw-afb\/\">public version of the Air Force\u2019s official accident report<\/a>, released in November 2020, blamed the mishap on how Schmitz mishandled his descent into Shaw, as well as his supervisor\u2019s suggestion to try a tail hook landing instead of telling Schmitz to eject earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Brauchle argues that glosses over the true cause of Schmitz\u2019s death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhat ultimately killed him was the ejection seat failure,\u201d he said. \u201cIt has only one job, and that\u2019s to get the pilot out and to get out a [parachute].\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2020\/11\/09\/pilot-error-leadership-failures-and-faulty-ejection-seat-led-to-fatal-june-f-16-crash-at-shaw\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"155\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Schmitz2.png.png?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Pilot error, leadership failures and faulty ejection seat led to fatal June F-16 crash at Shaw<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">1st Lt. David Schmitz &quot;loved his family. He loved his country. And he loved to fly,\u201d the commander of Shaw&#039;s 20th Fighter Wing said this summer.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The public accident report acknowledged that the sequencer malfunction contributed to Schmitz\u2019s death, but did not offer further details.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to Air Force Research Laboratory slides dated Aug. 3, 2020, however, the service suspected that several transistors and microchips inside the sequencer were fake. Valerie\u2019s legal team obtained the slides through a Freedom of Information Act request.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Six transistors \u201chad no conformal coating, were heavily gouged, had arcing scratch marks, were considered obsolete and were suspected of being counterfeit,\u201d the complaint said. A capacitor that may have been damaged while it was handled was \u201cpartially dislodged.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Suppliers Atmel, Analog Devices and Siliconix provided the potentially counterfeit transistors, memory chips and accelerometer chip, according to the Air Force slides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The lab also found signs that Teledyne had destroyed evidence related to the case, the lawsuit said. Teledyne appeared to have replaced five microchips on the sequencer before sending it to the lab.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cTeledyne had removed the printed wiring board from the DRS housing and had mounted the [board] to a \u2018test fixture,\u2019\u201d the lawsuit said. \u201cTeledyne had cut the leads on Channel #2\u2032s parallel flash memory chip to facilitate chip removal.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/static.militarytimes.com\/assets\/pdfs\/1663106099.pdf\" target=\"_blank\"><b>AFRL: Digital Recovery Sequencer<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Still, the lab said it wasn\u2019t sure whether any of those parts caused the ejection seat to fail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe parts \u2026 are strictly considered suspect at this time,\u201d AFRL wrote in 2020. \u201cDestructive analysis on these components, and analysis of components on other DRS boards, would be required to provide [a] higher level of confidence in whether or not they are counterfeit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Plaintiffs hope to learn through the legal discovery process whether the components were proven fake. Counterfeiting has plagued the Pentagon\u2019s supply chain for decades, and contractors are often unaware they are providing faulty materials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe DoD is aware of this problem and is working to eliminate these components from supply chains,\u201d the Air Force Research Laboratory said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Plaintiffs are also questioning whether the sequencers meet the Air Force\u2019s standard of reliability. The Air Force Safety Center recommended in 2012 that the sequencer be replaced with more reliable hardware.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Delays in that replacement effort led the Air Force to continue using sequencers longer than intended \u2014 including on Schmitz\u2019s fighter jet.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2022\/08\/15\/all-us-air-force-f-35s-are-flying-again-after-ejection-seat-checks\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"214\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/F-35-demo-team.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">All US Air Force F-35s are flying again after ejection seat checks<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Service technicians inspected 706 cartridges from 349 F-35s, as well as additional supplies of spare cartridges.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To keep an eye on potential degradation, contractors tested 60 sequencers in 2017 and 2018, the lawsuit said. Three were flagged for further evaluation. Teledyne found that two of the three units would have functioned properly in an ejection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Two years after that testing, the lawsuit claims, the companies hadn\u2019t said whether the third unit passed muster. Still, the Air Force relied on the test data when it decided to continue using the sequencer that ended up in Schmitz\u2019s F-16, the lawsuit said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now, the plaintiffs are calling for a jury trial to recoup damages that could total several million dollars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The complaint accuses the contractors of wrongful death, accident liability, misrepresentation of the seat\u2019s airworthiness, negligent supervision on Lockheed\u2019s part, failure to warn the F-16 community and the public about the seat\u2019s flaws, and violation of South Carolina law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Brauchle indicated a successful trial would offer Valerie some closure after losing her husband, her support network of military friends and the Air Force\u2019s backing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201c\u2018Here\u2019s your [life insurance payment], here\u2019s your outbrief, see you later,\u2019\u201d he said of the Air Force\u2019s response. \u201cThen she feels like they\u2019re not giving her the whole truth, and that hurts even more.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/2018\/06\/19\/air-force-b-1b-bombers-to-resume-flights-following-ejection-seat-complaint\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"157\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/4453542.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Air Force B-1B bombers to resume flights following ejection seat complaint<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Air Force Global Strike Command will resume B-1B Lancer flights this week, following a safety stand-down that began June 7.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Plaintiffs said the Air Force has stonewalled further requests for information due to a federal law enforcement probe. A recent response to the legal team cited a law that allows the government to withhold information that is \u201cexpected to interfere with enforcement proceedings.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAny responsive documents to your request are not releasable to you at this time. \u2026 Your request has been closed,\u201d wrote Roxanne Jensen, head of OSI\u2019s FOIA branch, to Valerie\u2019s legal team on June 22.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Brauchle said the Air Force isn\u2019t named as a defendant in the case because it is protected by the Feres Doctrine, which blocks active duty troops from suing the military for most damages incurred as a result of their service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Air Force spokesperson Rose Riley declined to comment on the claims made in the lawsuit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe are not tracking this court case or any related investigations,\u201d she said Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Multiple Air Force organizations did not respond to questions from Air Force Times, including the Air Force Research Laboratory; Air Force Office of Special Investigations; Air Combat Command, which oversees the F-16 fleet; or the Air Force Safety Center.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/2021\/12\/13\/jet-ejection-seat-breathing-system-oversight-gets-ramped-up-in-defense-bill\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"214\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1000w_q95-16.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Jet ejection seat, breathing system oversight strengthened in defense bill<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The provisions of the defense policy bill aim to prevent further deaths and injuries among military pilots.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lockheed Martin spokesperson Leslie Farmer declined to answer questions on pending litigation. Other lawyers and representatives for Lockheed, Collins and Teledyne did not respond by press time Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The defendants are required to file a rebuttal in court by the end of September.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Schmitz\u2019s crash sparked renewed discussion in Washington about the measures needed to keep military pilots safe. Eighty-nine people have been killed in Air Force mishaps since 2012, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.safety.af.mil\/Portals\/71\/documents\/Aviation\/Mishap%20Summaries\/USAF_Aviation_Class_A_Summary.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">according to the Air Force Safety Center<\/a>. Six of those incidents occurred in the F-16.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.military.com\/daily-news\/2021\/06\/12\/f-16-pilots-runway-death-forces-reckoning-over-tight-flight-hours-training-gaps.html\" target=\"_blank\">Reporting by Military.com last year<\/a> illuminated concerns about whether the airman was pushed too hard to fly a training sortie with tasks he hadn\u2019t yet tried at night because of an upcoming deployment, and about slow-moving ejection seat repairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Schmitz\u2019s seat hadn\u2019t been fixed in three years because of a spare parts shortage. The Air Force put off addressing the problem despite knowing it could turn fatal, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.military.com\/daily-news\/2021\/06\/19\/air-force-knew-it-had-ejection-seat-problem-didnt-speed-fix-then-pilot-died.html\" target=\"_blank\">Military.com reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2022\/01\/31\/deadly-aircraft-accidents-declined-in-2021-air-force-says\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP21145072621245.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Deadly aircraft accidents declined in 2021, Air Force says<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Sixty-three of the most severe kinds of aviation accidents, known as Class A and Class B mishaps, were reported last year, down from 71 in fiscal 2020.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After his death, Congress passed a law requiring the Air Force and Navy to provide updates on their ejection seats twice a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lawmakers want to know how many seats are installed at each active flying base, and how many have a waiver that clears them for use, despite needing repairs or replacement parts. They also ask for more transparency regarding who signed off on each waiver and when.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The first report was due to Congress on Feb. 1.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>New details about 1st Lt. David Schmitz&#8217;s death have come to light in a federal civil lawsuit filed by his wife against three defense companies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":72564,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":7,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[7,160,36],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3484],"class_list":["post-33031","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-air","category-daily-news-roundup","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"YGYVUTUIH5GADIJ6K5KGORA5VE","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-air-force\/2022\/09\/13\/an-f-16-pilot-died-when-his-ejection-seat-failed-was-it-counterfeit\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>An F-16 pilot died when his ejection seat failed. Was it counterfeit? - Defense News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"New details about 1st Lt. David Schmitz&#039;s death have come to light in a federal civil lawsuit filed by his wife against three defense companies.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"An F-16 pilot died when his ejection seat failed. Was it counterfeit?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"New details about 1st Lt. David Schmitz&#039;s death have come to light in a federal civil lawsuit filed by his wife against three defense companies.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2022\/09\/13\/an-f-16-pilot-died-when-his-ejection-seat-failed-was-it-counterfeit\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Defense News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-09-13T22:33:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-07T21:19:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rachel S. Cohen\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Rachel S. 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