Originally Posted by
Fly.Buy
Perhaps I have it wrong then, my recollection of the US air flight on the Hudson River was of the passengers standing on the wings and eventually being recused by the river ferrries.
I wasn't saying that the A320 didn't have life rafts (of course it did) but I'm drawing on the correlation with the Constellation incident of the passengers standing on the wings awaiting rescue.
Apologies, I'd thought you were implying that the A320, like the Connie, didn't have rafts. You are correct in that a substantial number of the US Airways pax got out onto the wing - presumably the two other slide/rafts couldn't be deployed because the rear doors were awash.
Interestingly, in the case of the Air France ditching, the report states that many of the pax, who were all wearing lifejackets, attempted to swim to the shore or the nearby lighthouse, having been ordered to get clear of the aircraft because of a fuel leak, with four of them drowning in the process.
A few, unwilling to enter the water including a mother and baby, remained on the wing. The mother, baby, three other passengers and a stewardess were rescued by the lighthouse-keeper in a rowing boat and the remainder, including those in the water, by two other boats.