airline lifejackets - how safe are they?
Discussion
Useless fact for you all (and not entirely relevant)
A South African charity is asking international airlines to donate their old (ie used a few times then thrown away) blankets to the homeless in SA, since they keep burning down their shanty homes and these would prevent many accidental deaths given their fire retardent properties.
Clever, eh?
A South African charity is asking international airlines to donate their old (ie used a few times then thrown away) blankets to the homeless in SA, since they keep burning down their shanty homes and these would prevent many accidental deaths given their fire retardent properties.
Clever, eh?
The Boy Lard said:
Don't the 'slides' turn into life rafts anyway?
So you may only need them in the 'Egyptian Hijack' scenario... Slightly out of control ditching?
Will other things float like seat cushions?
IIRC though, a large number of the deaths occurred because of drowing, rather than the actual impact and a high proportion of those drownings were from passengers who inflated their life vests before exiting the aircraft and so found it impossible to swim 'down' towards exits or splits in the fuselage.So you may only need them in the 'Egyptian Hijack' scenario... Slightly out of control ditching?
Will other things float like seat cushions?
matc said:
Paddy_N_Murphy said:
matc said:
Why dont they replace them for parachutes?
Do parachutes float ?
wacko105 said:
matc said:
Paddy_N_Murphy said:
matc said:
Why dont they replace them for parachutes?
Do parachutes float ?Sorry guys, Ahhaamm ooot..
JonnyFive said:
wacko105 said:
matc said:
Paddy_N_Murphy said:
matc said:
Why dont they replace them for parachutes?
Do parachutes float ?Sorry guys, Ahhaamm ooot..
matc said:
I'll admit my plan is a little flawed, but it was a reasonably valid question. How long is the plane still in the air for when the pilot knows he has a terminal problem?
Usually the pilot only knows it’s terminal once they actually hit the mountain or whatever. The exception is structural or very major mechanical failure, which is why the aircraft carrying parachutes tend to be those that get shot at or fly in formation with attendant risk of collision.Having a problem on an airliner that means the pilot has time and sufficient control to allow people to bale out but not enough to ditch would be very unusual.
Would parachutes have saved more lives than lifejackets since mainstream passenger flight began?
I know it sounds like a stupid question but having read the flight-log of the Air France crash it seemed that there could have been time to at least evacuate some of the passengers before it crashed into the atlantic - maybe all of them if planes had been designed with rapid evacuation in mind.
I know it sounds like a stupid question but having read the flight-log of the Air France crash it seemed that there could have been time to at least evacuate some of the passengers before it crashed into the atlantic - maybe all of them if planes had been designed with rapid evacuation in mind.
Edited by matc on Thursday 7th June 17:00
matc said:
Would parachutes have saved more lives than lifejackets since mainstream passenger flight began?
I know it sounds like a stupid question but having read the flight-log of the Air France crash it seemed that there could have been time to at least evacuate some of the passengers before it crashed into the atlantic - maybe all of them if planes had been designed with rapid evacuation in mind.
they only worked out what was going on (and what danger they were in) seconds before they hit the deck at high speedI know it sounds like a stupid question but having read the flight-log of the Air France crash it seemed that there could have been time to at least evacuate some of the passengers before it crashed into the atlantic - maybe all of them if planes had been designed with rapid evacuation in mind.
Edited by matc on Thursday 7th June 17:00
and I wouldn't have fancied my chances parachuting into a tropical storm in the middle of the atlantic, thousands of miles from civilisation
Hugo a Gogo said:
they only worked out what was going on (and what danger they were in) seconds before they hit the deck at high speed
and I wouldn't have fancied my chances parachuting into a tropical storm in the middle of the atlantic, thousands of miles from civilisation
..and without a lifejacketand I wouldn't have fancied my chances parachuting into a tropical storm in the middle of the atlantic, thousands of miles from civilisation
Dr Jekyll said:
Hugo a Gogo said:
they only worked out what was going on (and what danger they were in) seconds before they hit the deck at high speed
and I wouldn't have fancied my chances parachuting into a tropical storm in the middle of the atlantic, thousands of miles from civilisation
..and without a lifejacketand I wouldn't have fancied my chances parachuting into a tropical storm in the middle of the atlantic, thousands of miles from civilisation
Airbags!
Little ones in the seat in front.
Big ones under the fuselage.
Hit water, airbags go off and you float happily until rescued.
Weight of fully loaded 747: 350,000kg.
Volume of water to be displaced by airbags: 350,000 litres
Thus airbags totalling 9 metres in diameter would support the weight of the ditched airliner. I think.
Where is the nearest patent office?
Little ones in the seat in front.
Big ones under the fuselage.
Hit water, airbags go off and you float happily until rescued.
Weight of fully loaded 747: 350,000kg.
Volume of water to be displaced by airbags: 350,000 litres
Thus airbags totalling 9 metres in diameter would support the weight of the ditched airliner. I think.
Where is the nearest patent office?
Ayahuasca said:
Airbags!
Little ones in the seat in front.
Big ones under the fuselage.
Hit water, airbags go off and you float happily until rescued.
Weight of fully loaded 747: 350,000kg.
Volume of water to be displaced by airbags: 350,000 litres
Thus airbags totalling 9 metres in diameter would support the weight of the ditched airliner. I think.
Where is the nearest patent office?
Unless the airbags are right at the underside of the plane not all of them will be submerged & displacing any water.Little ones in the seat in front.
Big ones under the fuselage.
Hit water, airbags go off and you float happily until rescued.
Weight of fully loaded 747: 350,000kg.
Volume of water to be displaced by airbags: 350,000 litres
Thus airbags totalling 9 metres in diameter would support the weight of the ditched airliner. I think.
Where is the nearest patent office?
Besides, which bit of the broken up wreckage will they be connected too?
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