Do planes carry spare lifejackets?
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Aberdeen
Posts: 45
Do planes carry spare lifejackets?
I've just read in some linkbait article that the under-seat life jackets are a target for thieves. So, you've just dutifully listened to the safety briefing and you've reflexively checked under the seat for the life jacket, and it isn't there! What do you do? Does the plane carry spares?
And how often do staff check the seats?
And how often do staff check the seats?
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Here
Posts: 1,108
Originally Posted by Bull at a Gate
The chances that a life jacket on a commercial jet aircraft will be of any benefit at all are so small I wonder why they are required to be carried.
better safe than sorry
Paxing All Over The World
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Hertfordshire, UK.
Age: 62
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No one knows what the water will be like until you are in it. Also, for this extraordinary event, the Captain was able to turn the aircraft in the direction of the tide. Had the tide been on the flood? Then the water would have been very choppy indeed. Further, the lifejacket makes keeps you in the right position and more visible to rescuers - particularly if you are semi-concious or disorientated.
Put the jacket on and inflate when outside the cabin!
Put the jacket on and inflate when outside the cabin!
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Asia
Posts: 327
Life jacket theft is a huge problem in certain Asian countries such as Vietnam. The pre-flight emergency briefing actually states that removing them is a criminal offence. Supposedly useful for boating activities or simply onsold.
Join Date: Dec 1999
Location: EGNX
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Originally Posted by Bull at a Gate
Dave, I know that many passengers were wearing one but would anyone have died if they weren’t wearing a life vest?
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: London UK
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Originally Posted by Tray Surfer
Certain routes, in Europe, are prone to theft, especially during school holidays or with large school groups onboard.
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Manchester
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There was an issue several years ago of several bars/clubs in the Med hotspots offering free drinks etc if you had a piece of aircraft safety equipment. Plus the inevitable brief excitement of inflating a life jacket around the pool.
Join Date: May 2009
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Originally Posted by Bull at a Gate
Dave, I know that many passengers were wearing one but would anyone have died if they weren’t wearing a life vest?
In the Hudson incident, they were lucky that (a) the plane stayed afloat long enough and (b) the local boats etc were able to get there quickly. If either of those ahdn't been there, people would have had to take to the water.
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Manchester
Posts: 1,452
Originally Posted by Davef68
Until that incident, I was sceptical as to whether a large passenger jet could make a safe ditching in water that would result in the passengers being able to evacuate, so much so that I used to inwardly say 'crashing into the sea' when the crew did the 'In the event of a landing on water' part of the safety brief.
In the Hudson incident, they were lucky that (a) the plane stayed afloat long enough and (b) the local boats etc were able to get there quickly. If either of those ahdn't been there, people would have had to take to the water.
In the Hudson incident, they were lucky that (a) the plane stayed afloat long enough and (b) the local boats etc were able to get there quickly. If either of those ahdn't been there, people would have had to take to the water.
The Hudson is a perfect example of where a life jacket is of use. I.e take off and landing incidents around bodies of water or pre-planned emergency landings around bodies of water.
Everyone assumes that lifejackets are explicitely for “crashes” over oceans which is highly unlikely.
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Reading, UK
Posts: 9,615
Originally Posted by Bull at a Gate
But, was a single life saved because of a life jacket in the flight 1549 example?
Nobody's life on US1549 was saved by an oxygen mask, either. Are you suggesting that those should be dumped, too ?
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Australia
Posts: 141
I have never actually suggested that life jackets should be dumped, but I could construct a very good argument that they should be. A lot of things in life involve a cost/benefit analysis and I am not sure that the benefits of carrying life jackets outweigh the costs.
Would the flying public let it happen though? Not a chance.
Would the flying public let it happen though? Not a chance.
You Think, Therefore I Am
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: UK
Age: 59
Posts: 3,587
If it helps...
- Yes, spare lifejackets are carried, and checked by the cabin crew as being present as part of the pre-flight equipment checks. Serviceability/Time expiry are checked by engineers periodically, as required.
- Many aircraft do not have slide rafts at each door. The ditching procedures require some pax to swim to slide rafts or to wait on the wing until rescued or transferred to a slide raft.
- Some aircraft carry additional rafts as part of their EROPS equipment
- Wearing a lifejacket will preserve an unconscious survivor upright and above water level. A conscious survivor will be supported and have access to the light & whistle. Treading water for an extended period without a lifejacket is surprisingly tiring.
- A yellow lifejacket is more visible than some dark clothing
