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Ditching accidents, life rafts, jackets and equipment, training and related discussion

There was an excellent review in AviationConsumer recently.

EGTF, LFTF

I did some research on life rafts and it depends: how many persons, where will you be flying, type of aircraft?

www.ing-golze.de
EDAZ

how many persons, where will you be flying, type of aircraft?

4 place plane (Mooney), based in Scotland so cold water....

There was an excellent review in AviationConsumer recently.

I saw a four part review from AVweb which was done on 2000....but I will look in Aviation Consumer....I am actually a subscriber but I don't recall the article....will look again

YPJT, United Arab Emirates

I have this one.

It is compact and lightweight, which is important. The ~20kg ones are difficult for one person to move about - I had one on rental for a few weeks.

A pilot I know ditched a TB20 in the Med, with this same raft, and just got his feet wet, so they certainly work.

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.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom
EGTF, LFTF

Thanks, yes I found the article....of course it basically says that for colder waters you need inflatable floor and canopy....and these are more like 20kg....not to mention 2-3 times the cost...having done numerous sea-survival and Helicopter underwater escape training courses and refreshers over the years I can appreciate the comments about ease of righting and boarding....and the need for protection from the elements

And of course immersion suits are also mandatory when traveling offshore in the North Sea by helicopter...where survival times are measured in minutes not hours if submersed....but I don't suppose many GA pilots wear one to cross the channel....(although you probably have a few more minutes there than say West of Shetland)....how do people rationalize this? (Not wearing immersion suits)

YPJT, United Arab Emirates

Fly high and glide.

EGTF, LFTF

how do people rationalize this? (Not wearing immersion suits)

  • Everything carries a risk
  • The risk of an engine failure is very low (if you have fuel, etc)
  • A life raft with a canopy (and a bag with a handheld radio, GPS & ELT) is a plausible escape route
  • One would set 7700 immediately, call ATC, etc
  • Fly high (an IR and oxygen can help a lot)
  • An immersion suit is going to rule out most female passengers (rubber is a 1960s thing...)
  • A route which avoids long water crossings may be only 10% longer

I would definitely have a raft with a canopy, because (having windsurfed for 25 years and spent loads of time in the water) I know that sea spray will finish you off pretty quick.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

Agree with Denopa and I think people often have an irrational fear of ditching - the likelihood of a ditching seems to be overestimated. There are other far greater risks that people do not address with something as cumbersome and uncomfortable as an immersion suit.

EGTK Oxford

I have the same liferaft as Peter has. On top, every life-vest has its own PLB. Then I assume that flying at night is also a risk (where to land the aircraft in case of ...), so I fly over the North sea in winter and summer and accept the risk.

However, just recently there has been an accident in the Netherlands with a crew of 2 (one photographer) that ended up in the North sea doing photography work. Even though they were wearing immersion suits, the pilot died. They were flying low to take pictures and there was mist/fog and hit the waves. The aircraft sank within 1 minute, so they had trouble to get out in time, did not have time to get the life-raft and their immersion suits were not fully zipped. Then on top of that, most aircraft with a fixed landing gear will flip over and the antenna for the ELT is at the top, so also in this case, the signal was not received well. The photographer just published an article on it.

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.

EDLE, Netherlands
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