Seconds from disaster: Pilot ejects from fighter jet moments before it crashes in giant ball of flame

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfiCyVKnSSwendofvid
[starttext]
By Paul Bentley

Lightning reactions: Royal Canadian Airforce Captain Brian Bews ejects to safety as his fighter jet stalls


With only a split second before his plane hit the ground in giant ball of flame, this air force pilot miraculously managed to eject to safety.

As Captain Brian Bews, 36, of the Royal Canadian Air Force performed a daring low pass of an airfield yesterday, his CF-18 fighter jet suddenly stalled.

But his quick reactions and his rocket-powered ejector seat saved his life as he was catapulted out of the stricken £30million aircraft.


Going down: The £30m aircraft plummets to the ground at the Lethbridge County Airport, near Alberta in Canada


Crash: Captain Bews watches from his parachute as the disaster unfolds. He had been taking part in a practice run the day before an air show


Ball of fire: The CF-18 jet explodes at the airfield


Lucky escape: Captain Bews was taken to hospital, where he will remain this weekend after landing hard and getting dragged across the runway by his parachute


The extraordinary crash was captured on camera during an afternoon practice session for an air show at the Lethbridge County Airport, near Alberta in Canada.

Captain Bews was taken to hospital, where he remains this weekend after landing hard and getting dragged across the runway by his parachute.

‘He's in the hospital,’ his sister-in-law, Heather Bews, said.

‘His ego's hurting pretty bad, but we don't even care. We don't care about the plane, the show... we just care about him.’
[endtext]