The K-36 Ejection seat provides emergency escape for a crew member in a wide range of speeds and altitudes of aircraft flight, from zero altitude, zero speed (zero-zero) upwards, and can be used in conjunction with protective equipment, such as pressure suits and anti-g garments.

The seat consists of the ejection rocket firing mechanism, gear box, headrest rescue system with a dome stowed in the headrest, and other operating systems all of which are aimed at providing a safe bail-out.

This was the first ever successful ejection from an aircraft in zero-zero conditions outside of a testing environment.

[1] At the 1989 Paris Air Show when Anatoly Kvochur successfully completed a low-altitude ejection from a MiG-29 just prior to ground impact.

Two more pilots survived when a pair of MiG-29s collided over Fairford, England, in 1993 at the Royal International Air Tattoo.