All good points....to me: immersion suit not required for crossing La Manche or any points further South....I would definitely wear one to fly from Aberdeen to say Stavanger though....
Based on this I would assume that we should think things through better and not assume too easily that the ELT will work, the lift-raft will be available and so on.
Yes, Australia permitted handheld ELTs (in lieu of fixed installations) some years ago following many crashes in the outback where people survived but the aircraft ELT failed to emit a signal due to antenna position...I have a portable GPS/PLB which I keep in my jacket pocket when flying...
The thing is that when these people hit the water, due to flying too low (well, obviously) they probably were not doing a controlled ditching, so it is amazing anybody got out at all.
At FL100 or so, one can cross the Channel without being out of glide range. In fact a PPL (non IR) holder can go to FL074 which is probably good enough.
I think a lot depends on the sea state. If the wind is say 40kt then a ditching is going to be really hard anyway.
Lots of shades of grey...
The crew in The Dutch accident had PLBs and that is how they were found
An important thing is to never lend the raft to anybody because people have a tendency to undo the velcro and look inside, and then you have to send it off for an overhaul.
Where did you get this from? I have removed the packaging numerous times to check that everything is neatly folded. That is just the bag around the raft. Of course I agree that this is not an item I would lend to people I don't trust 100%.
PS: Nothing requires you to get an aviation life raft or TSO approved. You can buy nice rafts for sailing boats from 800 € on, all in the 20kg class.
Where did you get this from?
Experience 
Of course I agree that this is not an item I would lend to people I don't trust 100%.
Which is basically what I was saying.
I once lent the raft to a local school. These schools often did cross-Channel trips without a raft (that was normal) and sometimes did not even have enough life jackets for all. It came back a bit "fatter" and had obviously been unpacked. Nobody admitted it, however. It cost me about £200 because at the time the local firm didn't have some part and had to get one in specially.
With the raft I have, for sure, it is difficult to pack it back together just right, and if somebody had it open, you can never know what they did with it. It is likely to be your last option for survival. Would you let somebody unpack and repack your parachute?
Nothing requires you to get an aviation life raft or TSO approved. You can buy nice rafts for sailing boats from 800 € on, all in the 20kg class.
Yes; there are no approval requirements for anything portable, for private flying, other than possibly radio transmitting equipment.
I think 20kg is too heavy for most people. At work, I would not even try lifting a 20kg parcel with just my arms; it would do my back in.
I suppose that having two engines I can afford to be a bit more lax on this front. Assuming I do not run into an uncontained engine fire, or an electrical fire that cannot be extinguished, the risk of having to ditch is low. Changes of such fires, anyone? Haven't heard of one on Thielert engines, or Diamond aircraft, knocking on wood..
Nonetheless I do carry a raft over long stretches of water. I also did an evacuation course. It is indeed all very survivable if you land upright, especially in a low wing plane I guess. Things get hairier when you are upside down, as all of the people in the course experienced. You need to execute a standard exit procedure. Important to NOT unbuckle before you have your hand(s) firmly on a clear reference point, like the door latch, else you may start to float and lose your bearings. My take away from the course was that in such a situation you need all of your braincells to evacuate, and unless the raft is on your lap or so, it is going to be very unlikely to take it with you. So I probably bought the wrong raft, bulky and 20kg, only to be put on the second row, if flying with someone else..
I have seen these Survival rafts, and they are light and compact. Peter, Aeroplus, is there a servicing requirement based on calendar-time?
This is the company I use for overhauls, for the raft, and life jackets.
Why would you overhaul life jackets? The classic aviation life jackets are crap, very uncomfortable. Today's sailing jackets are fantastic but it is not so easy to find models without automatic inflation. I paid around 50 € for mine and they are great. After some years, I just buy new ones. German regulations require a strobe light on life jackets, those were about 10 € extra with automatic activation.
When I bought my plane, I also got a set of 1979 aviation life jackets. I inflated them and 3 out of 4 were all right, the other one didn't fully inflate but one could still use the mouth tube.
