Lost Air France Constellation found after 65 years
Life Rafts and Slides on Jet-airliners certificated in the 1960s
I'd like to second that. I was a decade behind tonytales, and never operated or worked on a long-haul piston. But I did have to be conversant with the rafts and slides available on first and second-generation jets in the 1970s. It's fair to assume that the escape equipment on our long-haul jets would have been as good or better than that on an L749A Connie in the 1950s.
Not sure what happens these days, but our long-haul crews had to do what was euphemistically called a "wet-ditching drill" every few years at the Crawley indoor swimming pool (near Gatwick). We deployed one or two rafts from the pool side and, among other things, practised hauling (actually bouncing) swimmers into them from flat-calm, cool water in daylight.
In the early 1970s we operated VC10s and B707-320s on long-haul, and several types of BAC 1-11 on short-haul. My previous post relied on memory, but I've now retrieved a copy of the company's Safety & Survival reference book for us crews. Not sure if the subject has been covered before, but - as our equipment was typical of narrow-body jets in the 1960s and 70s - it may be of interest also in a wider context. A successful ditching would have been only the first tricky hurdle.
To give a more complete picture of the emergency equipment, I've decided to cover slides and ropes as well, although the slides are irrelevant to the ditching case.
LIFE RAFTS (long-haul aircraft only)
Our B707s and VC10s carried double-chamber, self-inflating life-rafts stowed in the cabin ceiling in positions suitable for their deployment from the main and over-wing exits. We used a mixture of RFD and Air Cruiser types; the former being self-righting with its distinctive canopy and the latter being usable either way up. Both were designed to support 26 adults, but could accommodate more.
In each stowage was an accompanying EMERGENCY PACK, containing the food and equipment, which had to be handled separately until it could be placed in the inflated raft.
There were also, of course, LIFE COTS for infants, stowed in the ceilings and/or hat-racks.
SLIDES
Our B707s, being later models of the type, were newer than our VC10s, and had inflatable slides mounted on each of the 4 main doors. For flight, a strap extending from the slide was attached by a crew member to a floor-mounted ring inside the door. When the door was opened the slide would "drop into position" without inflating. There was an inflation handle on the slide, which had to be operated manually.
The VC10s were early models from 1964/5, and the inflatable slides were stowed in the ceiling above the 4 main doors. In a pre-planned emergency landing, their packs could be lowered and anchored into position by each door in advance. After the door was opened, a crew member would push the pack out. As it fell, it was designed to inflate automatically, but there was a lanyard at the top to activate the nitrogen (inflation) bottle manually if it didn't. Failing all that, the slide could be used un-inflated if at least two strong, athletic people were available to jump out (using a rope if necessary - see below) and hold handles on either side of the bottom of the slide. We used to practise that once in a blue-moon, using a rope that was provided at each exit. Once on the ground you had to use handles on the sides of the slide to pull its base firmly out from the aircraft, lean outwards and brace yourself before each person jumped.
The different types of BAC 1-11 were all delivered between 1965 and about 1970, and all of them had a ventral staircase at the single aft door. The Dash-200s had a non-inflatable nylon slide mounted in a stowage above each forward door. The 501s had a similar one mounted above the forward R/H door only, air-stairs serving the L/H door. The 509s had an inflatable slide mounted on the forward R/H door, similar to our B707s (see above), and air-stairs on the forward L/H door.
ESCAPE ROPES
Our B707s had a rope at each of the 4 over-wing exits, plus 2 in the cockpit. After a ditching, the over-wing ropes were extended and attached to a lug on each wing.
The VC10s had a rope at each of the 4 main doors and each of the 4 over-wing exits, plus 2 in the cockpit.
The BAC 1-11-200s had a rope at each forward door and each of the 2 over-wing exits, plus 2 in the cockpit. (The over-wing ropes were not included in our emergency drills.)
The Dash-500s had one at the forward R/H door and 2 in the cockpit, but none over-wing.
Not sure what happens these days, but our long-haul crews had to do what was euphemistically called a "wet-ditching drill" every few years at the Crawley indoor swimming pool (near Gatwick). We deployed one or two rafts from the pool side and, among other things, practised hauling (actually bouncing) swimmers into them from flat-calm, cool water in daylight.
In the early 1970s we operated VC10s and B707-320s on long-haul, and several types of BAC 1-11 on short-haul. My previous post relied on memory, but I've now retrieved a copy of the company's Safety & Survival reference book for us crews. Not sure if the subject has been covered before, but - as our equipment was typical of narrow-body jets in the 1960s and 70s - it may be of interest also in a wider context. A successful ditching would have been only the first tricky hurdle.
To give a more complete picture of the emergency equipment, I've decided to cover slides and ropes as well, although the slides are irrelevant to the ditching case.
LIFE RAFTS (long-haul aircraft only)
Our B707s and VC10s carried double-chamber, self-inflating life-rafts stowed in the cabin ceiling in positions suitable for their deployment from the main and over-wing exits. We used a mixture of RFD and Air Cruiser types; the former being self-righting with its distinctive canopy and the latter being usable either way up. Both were designed to support 26 adults, but could accommodate more.
In each stowage was an accompanying EMERGENCY PACK, containing the food and equipment, which had to be handled separately until it could be placed in the inflated raft.
There were also, of course, LIFE COTS for infants, stowed in the ceilings and/or hat-racks.
SLIDES
Our B707s, being later models of the type, were newer than our VC10s, and had inflatable slides mounted on each of the 4 main doors. For flight, a strap extending from the slide was attached by a crew member to a floor-mounted ring inside the door. When the door was opened the slide would "drop into position" without inflating. There was an inflation handle on the slide, which had to be operated manually.
The VC10s were early models from 1964/5, and the inflatable slides were stowed in the ceiling above the 4 main doors. In a pre-planned emergency landing, their packs could be lowered and anchored into position by each door in advance. After the door was opened, a crew member would push the pack out. As it fell, it was designed to inflate automatically, but there was a lanyard at the top to activate the nitrogen (inflation) bottle manually if it didn't. Failing all that, the slide could be used un-inflated if at least two strong, athletic people were available to jump out (using a rope if necessary - see below) and hold handles on either side of the bottom of the slide. We used to practise that once in a blue-moon, using a rope that was provided at each exit. Once on the ground you had to use handles on the sides of the slide to pull its base firmly out from the aircraft, lean outwards and brace yourself before each person jumped.
The different types of BAC 1-11 were all delivered between 1965 and about 1970, and all of them had a ventral staircase at the single aft door. The Dash-200s had a non-inflatable nylon slide mounted in a stowage above each forward door. The 501s had a similar one mounted above the forward R/H door only, air-stairs serving the L/H door. The 509s had an inflatable slide mounted on the forward R/H door, similar to our B707s (see above), and air-stairs on the forward L/H door.
ESCAPE ROPES
Our B707s had a rope at each of the 4 over-wing exits, plus 2 in the cockpit. After a ditching, the over-wing ropes were extended and attached to a lug on each wing.
The VC10s had a rope at each of the 4 main doors and each of the 4 over-wing exits, plus 2 in the cockpit.
The BAC 1-11-200s had a rope at each forward door and each of the 2 over-wing exits, plus 2 in the cockpit. (The over-wing ropes were not included in our emergency drills.)
The Dash-500s had one at the forward R/H door and 2 in the cockpit, but none over-wing.
Last edited by Chris Scott; 19th Mar 2018 at 22:45. Reason: Para 4 added.
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Tracy Island
Age: 61
Posts: 47
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Rolling20 -That's funny! not too dissimilar to the Titanic...
Another similar water ditching in the middle of a large city was back in 1963 involving a Aeroflot Tupolev 124, again fortunately all on board survived, cause of the crash was fuel starvation. I understand that a tug boat tied some rope around the structure of the windscreen and towed the aircraft to shore. Link below
???? ?? ???? / ???????????.Ru
Another similar water ditching in the middle of a large city was back in 1963 involving a Aeroflot Tupolev 124, again fortunately all on board survived, cause of the crash was fuel starvation. I understand that a tug boat tied some rope around the structure of the windscreen and towed the aircraft to shore. Link below
???? ?? ???? / ???????????.Ru
Last edited by Fly.Buy; 24th Mar 2018 at 13:18. Reason: Link not working
