Bailed out AI pilots disappearing?

[Bloblast]

I always follow bailed out AI pilots, but it seems they just disappear, no chute or anything.

[Vengeanze]

This happened to me when I had altered the equipment of the pilot in the menu.
I stripped him of the chute and like 10 games later I bailed but he never opened the chute.
After equipping him with the chute everything back to normal.

So in short, check his gear in the pilot section.