Yes, and they do. In the 738's the lifejackets are overhead, not under the seats. They can't be stolen from how I understand it.

ValuJet had a history of accidents, faults and god knows what - nothing like Ryanair in the least.

I was talking to my friend that was cabin crew with ryanair about the programme this evening and she reiterated the fact that when the training course costs were met by the company, things were tough. If people failed their daily exams and tests, the trainers would get everyone together and humiliate those that failed by sacking them in front of all the trainees. :td:
Now that's bad craic in my opinion. You wouldn't catch me working for them, especially after what my neighbour has said about Michael O'Leary. She set up the ryanair offices over at Hahn in Germany when they first began that route and certainly hasn't sang his praises about the way he treats his staff.............she doesn't work for them anymore! :D

maybe this is where they end up? ;) http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BOAC-B-O-A-C-a...QQcmdZViewItem

OT: but why do BA make you tie your life jacket in a double bow at the side, as opposed to having hooks or clasps like everyone else? Surely they would be easier in an emergency (not that you'll have much chance to use it in a ditching of course).

Because that's how Hyacinth Bucket(/Bouquet) would have wanted them to be tied. :D ;)

well... it gives you the security of knowing your twice as safe as those ramshackle airlines that recommend just the one bow - shame on them!

still i say.. water landing + jet liner = certain doom

It looks classier? :D

US airlines do not have to have lifevests or rafts if they don't operate over the ocean (I think there's a small amount allowed for coastal airports.)

If you land in a lake, it's just you and the seat cushion.

By the way, Southwest has just introduced lifevests on its aircraft, to take advantage of routes over the Gulf of Mexico. There's some discussion in this in the Southwest forum, as the F/A briefing now includes the lifevests on all flights, not just those operating over the ocean.

Agreed. Still, putting it on and getting the double knot right gives one something to do in the final moments before meeting the grim reaper. There's a whistle for attracting his attention.

BMI have the same system. No idea why they don't use metal or plastic hooks like most others.

An explosive decompression would have resulted in the loss of Concorde....'explosive' being the operative word. Whether or not your blood boiled would be academic as the aircraft would probably cease to be 'a viable flying machine'.

However, a decompression in the normal sense (cabin leak, window blowout) would in all likelyhood not have been fatal, and there were procedures in place for this....oxy masks on, immediate descent (at points at a rate of 15,000ft/min), rapid pumping of fuel forwards to maintain CofG, that sort of thing.

In fact, the airconditioning system on Concorde was so sophisticated that it could maintain a liveable altitude inside the cabin whilst at 60,000ft with two windows blown out....

...and that awful crash in the Everglades was brought about by the company's transporting undeclared oxygen canisters which caught fire in the cargo hold, the heat of which severed the link between the cockpit controls and the flaps/rudder. :eek:

FWIW, Valujet changed their name to AirTran shortly after the accident and are still operating throughout the southeastern US and beyond.

Of the two local airlines in the East Carribean, Carribean Star give me a lot more confidence than LIAT. Both operate Dash-8s. However it was Carribean Star who have a seat base that could be used as a floatation device, LIAT give you a proper lifejacket. However LIAT also gave me a very old-looking plane, with condensation dripping on me from the ceiling at altitude (that can't be good, can it?). When you bear in mind that many carribean islands have runways that end at the water's edge I still think I'd like a real lifejacket though!

Indeed, which is why I get really annoyed by people comparing Ryanair to ValuJet - there really isn't any comparison between the two, and no matter how much you dislike FR, comparing them to ValuJet is extremely unfair.

If you've got a spare few minutes, this makes for VERY interesting reading... http://www.ryanair.com/site/EN/inpag...ner=DISPATCHES

It is scanned in copies of all the communications between Channel 4 (representatives of) and Ryanair.