Originally Posted by
SASless
During my time in the Army National Guard flying Kiowa's and Huey's....at an Annual Safety Training Weekend....we were treated to a very fine presentation by a USAF Lockheed T-33 Pilot who had survived a crash that occurred following an engine failure below a safe Ejection Height.....which forced the Two Man Crew to ride it down.
They crashed.....like really crashed....hitting trees....catching fire....causing both broken bones and severe burns....before fortunately (in his words) winding up submerged into a River.
He reckoned the total immersion of the cockpit section in the water extinguished the fire that was causing him such grievous injuries....and they were severe.
He talked of flying the aircraft as far into the crash as possible but at the same time bracing oneself as possible to prevent head/face/extremity injuries....and never giving up.
He emphasized the need to wear your equipment and clothing in a manner to cover all your skin possible....wear stout footwear that covers your feet and ankles....and the use of Flame Retardant clothing and never wear nylon or similar manmade fabrics.
I wish I had a video of his presentation as it was one of the very best I have ever attended.....as when he made a point...such as always wearing gloves.....he held up his hands and noted that day he was not....and one peek at what was left of his hands proved his point.
My own experience with a severe fire in flight and the benefit I got out of gloves and Nomex have made me an advocate for such practices.
I stil have my hands today only because I had Leather/Nomes gloves on.....which very much reduced the severity of my burns.
Same for my legs...which due to the construction of the nomes trouser with the multiple pockets and multiple layers of Nomex Cloth....those burns were localized pretty much to where there were only single layers of cloth.
Side note: Nomex does nothing re stopping bullets....proved that along with the previous aforementioned benefits in reducing thermal injuries.
One thing such events reminds you of is that "It" can happen to you and not just to others!
Given that kind of experience, why is Nomex not mandatory for combat crew garments?
I do remember horror stories of UK sailors clothed in burning and melting uniforms during the Falklands episode, has there been no learning since?
I also very much remember the crew of a USAF KC-10 donning gloves as they prepared to land, so at least some of the message has gotten across there.