Originally Posted by kennethfine
Being the OP I must confess this thread is turning out to be a lot more interesting than expected.
Why are you/others so pessimistic about the survivability of an ocean ditch?
Has anybody examined how quick the plane will sink? Are there mechanisms to keep it afloat long enough to get out?
My guess is that if you manage to a) get out and b) not freeze to death like our friends on the Titanic/Bismark/etc. you have a good chance of surviving.
If that's not the case I guess I'd like to know.
-KF
Even if you survive the ditching (which as several have pointed out is unlikely), there is also the problems that you are now floating on a raft in the middle of the North Atlantic - you're likely also to be wet. You are going to die from exposure pretty quickly - exposure in the North Sea kills in about 5-10 mins in winter if you are in the water, and you get longer if you are in a life raft, with a survival suit on. Unfortunately, airlines don't give you survival suits. So basically, a mid-Atlantic ditching and you are basically gubbed, either from the ditching, or from the weather. Even when a plane ditches close to land (thinking of the Gulf Air which flew into the sea near Bahrain) its generally not pretty, with SAR close by.
Another point to note - some of the mid-Atlantic islands do not offer SAR services - IIRC I think the Azores don't - which is why the airliner which ran out of fuel and had to glide in was determined to make it - there would have been no rescue exercise mounted from the Azores (the nearest land point) if they hadn't made it.