Originally Posted by SchmeckFlyer

AFAIK, no water landings by commercial aircraft have had survivors, barring those runway overruns of course. I also believe that the emergency slides have never actually been used as rafts. The only exception I can remember is the hijacked Ethiopian airlines jet that landed (crashed) near Mauritious or the Seychelles or Comoros close to a beach; many of those who died actually inflated their life-vests too early, leading to some passengers becoming trapped in the sinking fuselage sections because they could not swim underwater (to safety). They ended up drowning with their life vests inflated, very tragic.

So, it might actually be argued, in a water landing, forget the life vests entirely! (Well, better probably... just follow instructions: don't inflate until outside the aircraft.)