Nearly 30 Martin-Baker ejections seats will fly in four airframes conducting a joint-combined formation Thursday along the Hudson River at approximately 9:30 a.m.

The Martin-Baker seats will be flown by the Royal Air Force Red Arrows in nine Hawk aircraft (twin seats), the US Navy’s Blue Angels in six F-18 jets, and two US Air Force F-35A to make up at least 26 Martin-Baker seats in service during the flight. The US Air Force Thunderbirds will also be part of the formation in 6 F-16 aircraft.

“It’s an amazing sight,” said Martin-Baker’s Andrew Martin, Senior Vice President of Business Development and Marketing. “It’s rare to get these elite aerial demonstration teams together in one formation, and we are extremely proud to provide the ejection system for the vast majority.”

The formation will fly along the Hudson River to Liberty Island, and then back up the Hudson. The teams are all in the area as part of demonstration events in the New York area 24-25 Aug.

The aircraft show the evolution of Martin-Baker ejections seats from the Mk-10 fitted in the Hawk, the Mk-14 Navy Aircrew Common Ejection Seat (NACES) in the F-18, and the US16E in the F-35A.

Martin-Baker ejection seats have saved the lives of 7613 aviators since the first ejection in 1949. There are currently more than 17,000 seats in service in 90 air forces and 56 different airframes.

*Photo courtesy of the New York International Air Show*