Originally Posted by JimmyTheJock

Why bother giving them out at all...the chances of surviving a landing on water is so small...as oposed for example over-running the runway at GIB...HKG...PHL or anywhere else near water...in which case the aircraft are rarely submerged.

But of course it's not NIL...before anyone reminds me of the rather miniscule number of incidents when people have successfully emerged...perhaps the issue of Tesco Will-writng kits would please most on this board...as long as we got the points from their purchase!

I well remember the lifejacket drill on Concorde...oh yes...we come down at 1,350mph from 60,000ft and you think I need a lifejacket...what I would have wanted was another LARGE G&T!

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.)

Originally Posted by The _Banking_Scot

Hi,

I think there was also a DC 9 by AOA( sp?) ( Antilles Airlines) that ran out of fuel in the carribean in the early 1970's and made a ditching in the sea ( IIRC about 50%of the pax survived).

Regards

TBS

Originally Posted by Wikipedia

Despite these assertions, there have been water landings in which passengers survived:

In 2005, Tuninter 1153 (an ATR 72) ditched off the Sicilian coast after running out of fuel. Of 39 aboard, 20 survived with injuries including serious burns. The plane's wreck was found in three pieces.

In 2002, Garuda Indonesia 425 (a Boeing 737) successfully ditched into the Bengawan Solo River near Yogyakarta, Java Island after experiencing a twin engine flameout during heavy precipitation and hail. The pilots tried to restart the engines several times before taking the decision to ditch the aircraft. Of the 60 occupants, one, a flight attendant, was killed.[6]

In 1996, Ethiopian 961 (a 767-200ER) ditched in shallow water 500 meters from land after being hijacked and running out of fuel. Unable to operate flaps, it impacted at high speed, dragging its left wingtip before tumbling and breaking into three pieces. The panicking hijackers were fighting the pilots for the control of the plane at the time of the impact, which caused the plane to roll just before hitting the water, and the subsequent wingtip hitting the water and breakup are a result of this struggle in the cockpit. Of 175 on board, 52 survived. Some passengers were killed on impact or trapped in the cabin when they inflated their life vests before exiting. Most of the survivors were found hanging onto a section of the fuselage that remained floating.

In 1970, Antillean 980 (a DC-9-33CF) ditched in mile-deep water after running out of fuel during multiple attempts to land at Princess Juliana International Airport in the island of Sint Maarten in the Netherlands Antilles under low-visibility weather. Of 63 occupants, 40 survivors were recovered by U.S. military helicopters.[7]

In 1963, an Aeroflot Tupolev 124 ditched into the River Neva after running out of fuel. The aircraft floated and was towed to shore; all 52 on board escaped without injuries.[8]

In 1956, Pan Am 943 (a Boeing 377) ditched into the Pacific after losing two of its four engines. The aircraft was able to circle around USCGC Pontchartrain until daybreak, when it ditched; all 31 on board survived.[9][10]

Also in 1956, Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 2 ditched into Puget Sound after the flight engineer forgot to close the cowl gills on the Boeing Stratocruiser's engines. All aboard escaped the aircraft after a textbook landing, but four passengers and one flight attendant succumbed either to drowning or to hypothermia before being rescued.

Originally Posted by Swiss Tony

Have now flown with an infant on planes registered in the UK, Canada, US, Singapore, Germany & UAE. So far, no mention of infant life vests/cots at all.

Originally Posted by JimmyTheJock

what I would have wanted was another LARGE G&T!