Originally Posted by
tonytales
Inflatable life rafts were around before World War Two, way before this crash. In fact the L-749 and L-1049 aircraft had raft compartments in the wing trailing edges to be utilized in the event of a ditching.
Quite right too! perhaps I should have said 'obligatory' to carry life rafts.
It would appear that this particular Constellation didn't have any, similar to the A320 Hudson River crash the passengers had to stand on the wing before being rescued an hour later.