The U.S. Air Force’s Technical Airworthiness Authority completed an internal report on May 1 and the experts concluded that the F-35’s ejection seat will not be able to save pilots in rare cases.
Specifically, the seat might not work properly in “off-nominal” conditions – when the jet is out of control. The F-35 Joint Program Office choose not to spend more money and time to test how the seat will work in those conditions.
Testers at the Pentagon are also worried whether the polymer cockpit canopy might hit the pilot during an ejection. By design, the canopy will jettison and shatter when the pilot bails out.