Wet drills and swimming ability

[Skyseeker]

Hi,

I am training for my CPL/IR at the moment and was just wondering about the requirements of airlines for you to be able to swim. I cannot swim well at all and have a have a phobia about being out of my depth (pathetic I know).

What do they ask you to do in the wet drills? Are you always wearing a lifejacket etc?

I know I am jumping the gun here as I havent even finished my training yet, let alone got a job, but I would be keen to know so if needs be I could try and sort out my phobia before that time might come.

Thanks for your help in advance.

SS.

[P1 Forever]

Hi Skyseeker,

A very good question and one that I have been meaning to ask on here for a while.

I am in the same situation as yourself - training towards CPL/IR and I also have a slight phobia about swimming, especially in deep water. I don't know about you but I think I should be fine if you are allowed to wear the lifejacket during the drills. If not then I dread to think what I will do.

So, if anyone knows or has been through the drills recently then please post the details of the course.

Thanks a million!!!

P1.

[Bealzebub]

The answer is simple.

Yes airlines do require that you have the ability to swim. The solution is simple go to your local swimming pool and sign up for a course of lessons.

I sympathise with your situation and feel it is a disgrace that so many ( not all ) schools do not include swimming as a vital part of the curriculum, and as a result so many people cannot swim.

In fact it may save yours or someone elses life one day and is therefore time and money well spent. Given the commitment and expense involved in becoming a pilot this cost is almost a non-event.

It is my firmly held opinion that if you cannot swim and are not prepared to learn prior to embarking on a flying career, then you are totally unsuited to this career and further more, you may one day prove to be an absolute liability in an emergency.

By the way when you can swim it doesn't matter how deep the water is. It will also cure the phobia. So folks go and learn ASAP !

[Honest Fr@nk]

Not sure of the requirement(distance wise) but you will have to swim unaided. You also do drills with the lifejacket on. You are sure to do these drills in the deep end-pointless doing them in the shallowend I think. You will have to jump into the pool and then inflate the jacket. I'm not too keen on deep water myself so I thought "bugger this" and inflated just before I jumped.

The good news is; you only have to do wet drills once in your career as you can (at the moment) self certify yourself that you have completed the drills with your previous airline.

[P1 Forever]

Thanks Guys for the quick reply.

Well, I will have to find out the distance - length required and work towards it I suppose.

You see, my problem is that I get very tense and can't relax. I am ok swimming a little in shallow water, however in the deep end, well never tried it, but I feel I will tense up and just sink and drown!!

Anyone know the distance required to swim unaided?

Cheers.

[Manual Reversion]

Don't know if you're in the Uk, but have done wet drills three times....( I believe there's only a requirement to do it once)
Basically, I think there's a requirement to do 'a length' unaided, in your own time, after that, it's with life jackets etc. Short haul, we didn't do dinghy drills. Long haul, there's a requirment to get into a raft. I wouldn't worry at all as I'm sure that given that the SEP etc stuff usually comes at the end of your training, you would pass! Anyway, if I had to be in a swimming pool at six o'clock in the morning, it might as well be with thirty hosties!

[Skyseeker]

Thanks guys,

As I expected really, looks like I will have to go and get this sorted. I guess its been embarrasment that has stopped me going along to a swimming club and learning (the idea of a municipal pool with loads of school children watching me thrashing around is a bit of a turn off !!)

Anyway, thanks for your help.

P.1 Best of luck with your quest for buoyency!!! :ok:


SS

[Old Smokey]

Most phobias seem like an unmovable mountain at the time, but, by facing it head-on these can usually be overcome. Take swimming lessons, go with a swimming instructor, or, if you can already accomplish the basics go in the company of some trusted friends until you gain confidence - forget the shyness and use water wings if you must!. My experience with phobias is that they're a bit like a mad dog, turn and look them in the eye, and they will slink away.

One of the posters here said that the 'wet drill' was a once only requirement, well, maybe so in some places, but we have to complete it annually as part of recurrent SEP training. No SEP certificate, no licence! The ability to swim for 50 metres WITH an inflated life jacket comes to mind.

[fireflybob]

If you have a water phobia then I suggest you go and see a qualified hypnotherapist - a couple of sessions should sort it out.

[ww1]

When I went for my CPL we were required to jump in the pool fully clothed, which meant having to remove the jeans I was wearing as cotton gets very heavy when wet and makes staying afloat harder. We were taught how to tie knots in the legs of the pants, fill them with air, and use them for temporary partial flotation. Then we were shown how to break the death-grip of panicked co-swimmers and swim them to safety. I forget if we had to do many laps - probably just a down-and-back. And finally, we had to tread water for a few (5 or 15, I forget) minutes. All this was done unaided. Lifejackets came later on.

I think the key here is to be comfortable in the water. They're not looking for olympic swimmers, just someone who won't add to the confusion. Remember, if you can swim in water that's two inches above your head, you can swim the Marianas Trench. It's just like flying - doesn't matter how high you are since you're using just the very top anyway.

Your local swim club and a good instructor will go a long way toward easing your fears. Just take it nice and slow. Practice. Don't be embarrassed, we've all been there. In time, you might even start to enjoy it. Swimming's a great way to stay in shape!

Good luck, hope it all works out for you.

[Sharjah Night Shift]

Skyseeker, if you are located SE London way PM me for the name of the people who taught me to swim properly.

[flaps to 60]

Skyseeker

I have done a couple now and like you I hate swimming in the deep end, silly I know, but, hey thats life.

Generally they ask you to do a length in clothing both with and without a life jacket.

Then you have to be able to stay afloat just kicking your legs followed by "rescueing" another person both of you in life vests.

You will also be required to jump in to the deep end and inflating your jacket. When in the drink you will also be required to both inflate and deflate the jacket with your breath.

When i did both wet drills it's funny my phobia disapeared almost completely as you are driven by the fact that its a means to an end and that end is a job!

Im sure that some airlines or courses are different but it wont be far off.

Good luck

[P1 Forever]

Hello,

Some good posts being put forward, thanks.

One other question I would like to ask, do freight airlines like channel express, DHL, Emerald require you to pass these drills? Or is it just if you carry passengers even for a small airline like eastern, air wales etc..do they require you to go through this as well?

[flaps to 60]

P1

Any aircrew operating under an AOC/FBO must do these drills.

[Max Angle]

I hate spiders and love swimming so everyones got something they don't like or can't do. If you have a large gym such as a David Lloyd centre or other gym big enough to have a decent pool you will find they will almost certainly have someone who can help you in a little more privacy than a public pool. A lot of public pools also hold adult swimming classes and often that is the only activity taking place in the pool, trust me, you are not alone.

[P1 Forever]

Thanks again for the info and your kind words.

Cheers!

P1.

[Straight Up Again]

I too was a very poor swimmer, and I had to do pool drills (vest and dinghy) for my work (helo flight test).

The dunker scared the poo out of me, especially the turn you upside down, in the dark, without time to properly strap in part. We also had to do sea survival and wet winching, jumping into any water was something I had never been able to do, jumping into the sea also scared the poo out of me (I actually froze up and couldn't do it, had to go back for a second go).

I did a course of adult swimming lessons, the only people in the pool were the adult non-swimmers (shallow end) and the adult improvers (including me), in the deep end (only about 1.5 m at my pool).

Go for the adult lessons, they are very good, I felt a bit embarrassed at first, but so did everyone else. Since taking those lessons (12 weeks or so of them) I have so much more water confidence, and now scuba dive as a hobby (including plenty of jumping off the back of boats), swim for exercise and the last two times I did the dunker I really enjoyed it.