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Hi folks
First of all, well done to the crew of that aircraft...amazing!
I do have some questions though that will put my mind at ease as im flying off to prague this friday.
On the saftey card you read before take off (which i always do) it shows pictures of the escape shoot coming out all the doors which can then be used as a life raft. If you look at this plane the back of it was under water so they couldnt open the two back doors therefore - 2 life rafts! what happens now? surely you need all of them for all the passengers?
Also last september i flew the same airline and same typr of aircraft to las vegas and on the saftey card it advised that the seat you was sitting on was your life jacket. dont ever remember seeing any others, have things changed?
last question....if engines cut out at cruisng altitude and cant be started can a plane glide back down to safety or does it just drop like a brick?
Thats probably a silly question but im a bit of a nervous flyer so i apologies now! Thanks
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dear starbuck,
no question re safety is silly,
i commend your questions,
at least you take the trouble to look around you....
firstly
use of the rear doors as an exit in ditching and use of the slide-raft?
(slide-raft if fitted, btw, see below)
well many a/c do not use the rear doors in a water landing so you are correct in thinking then there maybe not enough spaces in the front door slide-raft for all pax to sit in.
good point actually so heres the answer,
some a/c are NOT fitted with chutes/slides that can be used as rafts
they are not the same thing.
some airlines who do not fly over open water do not carry life jackets,nor life rafts NOR escape slides that can be used as rafts,
the seat cushion is what you use as a life preserver.
on extended over water flights the a/c WILL have ALL of the above,
if you lose the use of the 2 rear doors due to the water coming in then you lose the use of the 2 rear slide-rafts,
your MAIN life preserver will be you in your life jacket,
in the water,
if rafts cannot be launched or the slide-rafts fail then you have only your life-jacket.
lastly
re loss of power in the cruise?
the cruise meaning you are at high altitude.
if power is lost then the pilots will of course attempt to re-light the
engine(s)...
it is possible from several ways,
but it can be depending on the height of a/c,
the outside air temp, ice etc
whether the apu is working and will infact start itself!
engines can be started using ''wind-milling'' method,
and whether you have any fuel left (see below)
the BA747 over java lost all 4 due to volcanic ash but he got 1 then 2 engines restarted to get down to jakarta runway,
if he hadnt i think he would have had to have ditched in the sea at night,
not nice.
he had 30 minutes of glide (on no power)
the air transat A330 lost all its fuel over the atlantic, lost both engines and glided over 20 minutes to a safe but hard and fast landing without any power to the azores.
the ryanair 737 a few weeks back on final approach to Rome hit birds and lost both engines...
this was a critical moment and the pilots skillfully and luckily made the runway, landed hard and smashed the gear up but everyone walked away ok...
he had very little height and speed left when he lost all power, so in theory he was dropping like a brick...
he used all his flying skill and efforts (same as the BA 777 LHR crew did) to coax the a/c down or as near the runway as he could.
as you can see its all different scenarios,