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  #1  
Old 01-31-2011, 12:12 PM
Berchmans Berchmans is offline
 
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Anchorage, Alaska
Posts: 457
Default Under Water Egress Training

The importance of underwater egress training.

Underwater egress training saved my life and the life of my wife. My wife and I were involved in a floatplane accident. The plane impacted the water during takeoff, flipped over and sank immediately. This is the aftermath of the crash.



The instructors attempt to convey all of this. They stressed the importance of having a reference point and focusing on it and here is the hard part?waiting, so that your actions can have a chance of succeeding. It does no good to push on a door or pull on a canopy until the plane is completely flooded, it won?t move.

I remembered all of this at the moment it counted. As my head went underwater, I was able to grab my reference point. This happened to be the top latch on the door (a Citabria has two door latches). As the plane rolled, I released my harness and grabbed the other door latch, never letting go of the top latch in the process. I was then able to push the door open and get out. My wife (who had not had the training) was disoriented and trying to get out the side of the airplane that has no door. I was able to grab the back of her survival vest and pull her out the plane backwards. Witnesses on shore said that this all took about 30 seconds. I have no idea how long it took. Another float plane came to our aid about 4 minutes after the crash.

I fly in Alaska, on floats and wheels. Regardless of where you fly however it is always best to be as prepared as you can for any emergency. I cannot stress strongly enough how important underwater egress training is. I absolutely believe that if one of us had not had the training, we would not have survived the event. If you haven?t taken the training, take it. If you have taken it, take it again. I have and will continue to repeat the class. My wife and friends have since taken it too.

One last thing, wear an inflatable flotation vest with critical survival gear in the pockets. You can only count on getting out of the plane with what you are wearing. Any survival gear in the baggage compartment is really just camping gear and it will sink with the plane.

As always I would like to thank the US Coast Guard and local FAA office for putting on this kind of training. I know of two lives it has saved.
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Burke Wick
Flying RV 8
Anchorage, Alaska
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  #2  
Old 01-31-2011, 12:35 PM
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flyboy1963 flyboy1963 is offline
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Lake Country, B.C. Canada
Posts: 2,416
Default Egress link

For west coasters at least, you can contact another survivor of a ditching accident, who went on to share survival knowledge and training with us.
Bryan comes highly recommended by those who have taken his class, and he will travel if a flying club signs up enough members, and there is a suitable pool in the area.

http://www.dunk-you.com/

I'm sure those of us who fly overwater, or over mountainous terrain, where the ONLY survivable crash site is a lake or river, would benefit from the training. Heck, it would even help if you flip your bird in a soft field!
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Perry Y.
RV-9a - SOLD!....
Lake Country, BC
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  #3  
Old 01-31-2011, 01:27 PM
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RV8iator RV8iator is offline
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Saint Simons Island , GA
Posts: 1,523
Default Marine Survival Training Center

in LaFayette, LA offers a great course. It's mostly offshore oil folks and helicopter crews but it's open to anyone.

I took it because sometimes I fly offshore with Marine Mammal survey groups. It's very worthwhile training and like the opening post said, it's all about remaining calm and oriented after the big splash.

If you fly over water you should take this training. I think it only a couple hundred bucks and a day of your time.
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Jerry "Widget" Morris
RV 8, N8JL, 3,000+ hours on my 8.

VAF #818
Saint Simons Island, GA. KSSI
PIF 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011,2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020

I just wish I could afford to live the way I do
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  #4  
Old 01-31-2011, 03:55 PM
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airguy airguy is online now
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Garden City, Tx
Posts: 5,147
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by RV8iator View Post
in LaFayette, LA offers a great course. It's mostly offshore oil folks and helicopter crews but it's open to anyone.

I took it because sometimes I fly offshore with Marine Mammal survey groups. It's very worthwhile training and like the opening post said, it's all about remaining calm and oriented after the big splash.

If you fly over water you should take this training. I think it only a couple hundred bucks and a day of your time.
Been there, so I could fly to the offshore rigs in my previous life. Well worth the time and effort.
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Greg Niehues - SEL, IFR, Repairman Cert.
Garden City, TX VAF 2020 dues paid
N16GN flying 700 hrs and counting; IO360, SDS, WWRV200, Dynon HDX, 430W
Built an off-plan RV9A with too much fuel and too much HP. Should drop dead any minute now.
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  #5  
Old 01-31-2011, 05:47 PM
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apkp777 apkp777 is offline
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Schaumburg, IL
Posts: 2,053
Default

This is a timely thread as my wife and I just got back from a vacation to the southern Caribbean. Of course, she wanted to know if "we could fly the RV down" there. My response was "I don't think we could get out if we went into the water".

Taking an egress training course, while highly valuable, does beg the question "can you get out of a tip-up RV if you land in water"?
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Tony Phillips
N524AP, RV 9 (tail wheel)
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  #6  
Old 02-01-2011, 08:03 AM
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airguy airguy is online now
 
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Location: Garden City, Tx
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I would think an RV would tend to float for a bit if you have relatively low fuel levels, just from the air in the tank? 20 gallons of fuel burned out of the tanks will give you 160 pounds of bouyancy, maybe not enough to keep it floating but enough to give you time to get out?
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Greg Niehues - SEL, IFR, Repairman Cert.
Garden City, TX VAF 2020 dues paid
N16GN flying 700 hrs and counting; IO360, SDS, WWRV200, Dynon HDX, 430W
Built an off-plan RV9A with too much fuel and too much HP. Should drop dead any minute now.
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  #7  
Old 02-01-2011, 08:18 AM
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apkp777 apkp777 is offline
 
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Location: Schaumburg, IL
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Quote:
Originally Posted by airguy View Post
I would think an RV would tend to float for a bit if you have relatively low fuel levels, just from the air in the tank? 20 gallons of fuel burned out of the tanks will give you 160 pounds of bouyancy, maybe not enough to keep it floating but enough to give you time to get out?
I am thinking that at splashdown, it would flip upside down and then be nearly impossible to open the canopy?
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Tony Phillips
N524AP, RV 9 (tail wheel)
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  #8  
Old 02-01-2011, 09:18 AM
Ben SSUSA Ben SSUSA is offline
 
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Groton, Connecticut
Posts: 1
Default SSUSA Underwater Egress Training

For anyone interested, Survival Systems USA is the world's leader in underwtaer egress training. We have served more than 100,00 individuals both militray and civilian. We have two commercial sites, our mian operations in Groton, CT and one in Kenai, AK.
Please check out our website for video of what we do and the services we provide. The testimonials from crash survivors posted on our site say it all.

www.survivalsystemsinc.com

Ben Rayner
SSUSA/Groton
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  #9  
Old 02-01-2011, 09:36 AM
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Mike S Mike S is offline
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Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Dayton Airpark, NV A34
Posts: 15,420
Default

Dont forget -------- follow the bubbles

Jimmy Buffett did a great writeup of an underwater escape he was involved in, says that the prior egress training saved his life.
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Mike Starkey
VAF 909

Rv-10, N210LM.

Flying as of 12/4/2010

Phase 1 done, 2/4/2011

Sold after 240+ wonderful hours of flight.

"Flying the airplane is more important than radioing your plight to a person on the ground incapable of understanding or doing anything about it."
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  #10  
Old 02-01-2011, 09:36 AM
clucier clucier is offline
 
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Gilbert, AZ
Posts: 118
Default Opening any door

Folks its nearly impossible to open any door until the vehicle, is flooded, once flooded a tip up would open like anything else unless you were in shallow water and it came to rest on the canopy.
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Chris Lucier
http://RV12SP.Blogspot.com
RV12 Empennage Arrived (Early)
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