"Up in the sky--It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's...an Idiot!"

Flying in a fighter plane is serious business. If you ever get the chance to do so, and the pilot gives you some instructions before takeoff, you should probably pay close attention to them.

You may think that goes without saying. But apparently one civilian in South Africa had to learn that the hard way.

It probably is best not to fiddle with switches or controls when riding in the back seat of an air force plane.

A man who failed to obey that principle found himself hurtling out of the cockpit, smashing through the Perspex canopy and into space after grabbing the black- and yellow-striped handle between his legs. He had inadvertently pulled the eject lever and found himself blasted 100 metres into the sky on his rocket-powered seat.

The South African air force has confirmed the incident that took place last Wednesday, when the passenger took off for a flight with an experienced pilot from South Africa's Silver Falcons air display team. Investigators are assuming that the passenger tried to steady himself while the pilot was putting the Pilatus PC-7 Mk II through its paces by grabbing the eject lever.

The full article can be read here.