Preparing: Lifejackets.
So, the flight you’re about to fly has a risk of a water landing; this may be because it actually is a floatplane operation, or maybe that a portion of the flight will be over water, or with a water landing being the only practical escape (flying the shoreline of a city). You know in your heart, that entering the water is possible during that flight, are you prepared?
Lifejackets: Yup, got ‘em. They’re in plastic bags in the seat pocket behind you. Hmmm, if you’re being inundated with a gurgling mass of dark cold water, and thinking about how to get out, will you even think about searching behind you for a lifejacket? Could you find it, and take it with you? If you got out with it, could you don and inflate it, while struggling to remain afloat in the mean time?
Wait, the person you were flying with is just over there, and looks like they are struggling in the water, can you help them too? Oh, now you realize that though you’re out of the plane, you’re a lot more injured than you realize – your shoulder is broken, and your arm is of little use, your ankles are broken, you cannot swim – it’s getting more complicated…
But, you were prepared, you were already wearing the lifejacket while you were flying, so it went out the door with you – excellent! Do you recall how to inflate it? Your cell phone, to call for help, darn, it’s in your pocket, and soaked….
Recently, to my instant horror, I found myself floating beside the plane I had just been flying in, which was now sinking. I was calling out to my fellow pilot, as I could not see him. I had not exited the plane, I had been ejected through the windshield. I was wearing my life jacket, as I always do when water flying. My cell phone was in a waterproof bag, clipped to the life jacket, so when I was ready, and floating with stability, I could call for help.
Well, exiting through the windshield had not been an element of my planning. The life jacket was torn (as was I), and the cell phone pouch ripped off. While floating (well, sinking), I had trouble finding the inflate tabs, and my injured arm refused to assist. The manual inflation tube was perfectly positioned, and my right arm worked, so I blew breaths in to inflate. I did not realize that the lifejacket was ripped, but happily, it held enough air, that I could see the yellow pillow form at my shoulder. That modest amount of buoyant air saved my life. Then I passed out. Happily, I later learned that my fellow pilot was much less injured than I, had inflated the life jacket he was wearing, and was rescued with me.
I have the most brief recollection of a person I know telling me I’ll be alright, while hearing the sound of an outboard motor. I recall a glimpse of a fellow firefighter (I’m a volunteer firefighter in the place of the accident) telling me it’ll be alright, as he helped lift me out of the boat. One more momentary memory of another of my fellow fire fighters telling me it will be alright, while riding in the ambulance. Three days later, I came to, in critical ICU, with my family all around me, telling me how close I’d come medically to not making it. I know how close I came buoyantly to not making it!
And my phone? My wife called it for nearly two days. The waterproof case held, as it rung, and took a message, until finally the battery went flat.
So, my advice is consider your risks, and skills – if you’re flying over water, are you prepared to suddenly be in it? Injured? Needing to also assist your fellow flier? Have you practiced with a life jacket in the water? Can you exit the plane in the dark, upside down? If you chose to not wear the life jacket, can you find it, and take it with you, while rushing out in a panic? When I took the dunker course, the purpose of one exercise was to grab the lifejacket on the way out. With all the mental planning I had done, and single purpose to performing that simple task, three of four times, I left the inverted, submerged cockpit without out the life jacket – fail!
Prepare for emergencies, they don’t always give you much warning! The difference between my being rescued by boat, or being searched by police divers was my wearing my lifejacket, and managing to make the best of it, even damaged.
My advice for you from my life lesson five weeks ago…..