Regarding B-52H ejection seats: there are four seats on the upper deck that eject upward - pilot, copilot, EWO, and the seat formerly occupied by the gunner located next to the EWO. Two seats on the lower deck eject downward - navigator and radar/bomb navigator. These ejection seats are 1960's Boeing technology and while equipped with reliable catapults they are NOT fitted with rocket packs or ballistically-deployed parachutes like more advanced ejection seats such as Martin-Baker, ACES-II or Russian K-36. B-52 crew members must individually eject as there is no automatic sequential ejection system such as found on the B-1B. Anyone not occupying an ejection seat must manually bail out (preferably thru a lower deck hatch opening after the lower seats have ejected). The adverse attitude, low altitude and high sink of this aircraft placed any ejection or manual bailout attempt far outside the survivability envelope. The copilot hatch was successfully jettisoned as he initiated a "last resort" ejection but the ejection sequence was interrupted by ground impact. If the B-52 were equipped with the afore-mentioned advanced ejection seats, one or more of these crew members MAY have been able to successfully eject.
