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-   -   BA 747 ditching video (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/british-airways-executive-club/2033949-ba-747-ditching-video.html)

1Aturnleft Feb 10, 2021 4:32 pm

BA 747 ditching video
 
I found this gem the other day which was used in the mid 70's in cabin crew training. A very well produced internal training film, you can feel the tension building in the opening minutes. Some great fashions and make up applications of the era make it even more special.
What do you think?


jayjaygee Feb 10, 2021 5:12 pm

At least there would have been plenty of flares onboard.

golfmad Feb 10, 2021 6:45 pm

Extinguish all cigarettes!

IAMORGAN Feb 11, 2021 12:48 am

Start securing the cabin 3 hours into a transatlantic flight BUT DON’T ALARM THE PASSENGERS!
“Yes sir I know you’re half way through your meal but I really do need to take your tray....there is no cause for alarm”.

HarryHolden68 Feb 11, 2021 1:49 am

I wonder which category of passenger we all fall into? Those that can help or those that would hinder?
And I don't doubt someone would be on here afterwards complaining that there was no separate raft for First / Club Europe passengers!

Can I help you Feb 11, 2021 1:56 am

I see a few familiar faces one of them being the co founder of Dreamflight Pat Pearce MBE.
https://mobile.twitter.com/dreamflightpat?lang=en

noFODplease Feb 11, 2021 2:41 am

This is really interesting, thanks for posting! I think current knowledge of ditching in a large aircraft (some based on Ethiopian flight 961) would expect a lot more damage and destruction then portrayed here. Did crew videos touch on how to handle a damaged aircraft too? Or is it a case of improvising.

How do BA treat their crew after a serious incident? I would hope there is counselling and paid time off etc. or even a bonus for a really difficult situation well handled (BA38, or BA2276 in Las Vegas come to mind)

HarryHolden68 Feb 11, 2021 2:51 am


Originally Posted by noFODplease (Post 33030037)
How do BA treat their crew after a serious incident? I would hope there is counselling and paid time off etc. or even a bonus for a really difficult situation well handled (BA38, or BA2276 in Las Vegas come to mind)

Back in 2008, Captain Peter Burkill suggested in his excellent book that there was no immediate plan within the organisation as to what to do with the crew. Unite ended up looking after him, taking him to a hotel and telling him they were going for a curry and too many beers. The counselling was to be done by alcohol. His family and friends were hounded out of their homes by the media frenzy. Later on, more effort was made to rehabilitate him but that did not work out. Of course, this is only one side of the story.

I am sure that BA learnt a lot in the aftermath of that event and things would be very different today. But it is staggering that even as recently as 2008, they did not have a plan to turn to, or if they did, nobody thought to get in out of the cupboard.

T8191 Feb 11, 2021 4:27 am

A very interesting reminder that CC are MUCH more than just providers of food and drinks.

aflan85 Feb 11, 2021 4:47 am

This was a fascinating watch, and clearly still highly relevant, although it is worth pondering how much more complex the cabin environment would be these days. It would have been relatively easier when the only hindrances passengers had on them were glasses, ballpoints and a backgammon board - now you have to deal with phones, tablets, laptops, IFE etc., and pax wanting to take their hand luggage with them.

The production managed to capture the building tension to a superb extent. I tend to think I am well-acquainted with the ins-and-outs of aviation safety (I hope so at least, as it is part of my job!), and am therefore reassured and try to be reassuring on these sorts of scenarios. Nonetheless, I felt that same sense of foreboding watching this as I do when seeing the old Protect & Survive videos - even though in this video everything seemed to "end well" and you are in much better hands with that crew than hiding under a wooden dining table in the face of Soviet nuclear attack...

It did make me wonder - would there really be time for such calm preparation in an incident warranting a ditching mid-Atlantic? Or are we used these days to ETOPs allowing diversion to Reykjavik/Shannon/Gander etc., while 45(!) years ago there would have been more chance of having to ditch?

1Aturnleft Feb 11, 2021 5:52 am

I think in reality, the chances of any aircraft landing in one piece in the middle of the open seas in order to perform such an evacuation would little to none, let alone successfully evacuating into life rafts and bobbing about with a load of survivors attracting air/sea rescue with little mirrors. That would have applied in 1975 just as much as it does today. But so long as there is a chance it could happen then the responsibility must be there to provide all the equipment necessary to aid survival and train crew in their use should the need ever arise. There was the Air Transat A330 incident a few years ago which encountered a fuel leak mid Atlantic which resulted in complete fuel starvation. Had it not been for the crews more southerly track than usual that took the aircraft within range of the Azores when the leak occured, the glide it ultimately made to safety would have resulted in something like this training video. That's quite a sobering thought when you think about it.

Can I help you Feb 11, 2021 5:59 am

This video explains what we would have done in a preplanned ditching, a lot has changed as you might expect, we also practice unplanned ditching as well.

CHESHLAD Feb 11, 2021 6:07 am

Was Angus Deayton in one of the scenes ?

Can I help you Feb 11, 2021 6:13 am

No he wasn’t.

Will100 Feb 11, 2021 10:40 am


Originally Posted by Can I help you (Post 33030215)
This video explains what we would have done in a preplanned ditching, a lot has changed as you might expect, we also practice unplanned ditching as well.

How much has training and equipment on board in 2021 evolved from this?


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