So, what do you do if you happen to be a passenger in an emergency? I’ll try to give you some thoughts.

1. First, listen to the predeparture safety demonstration. I know that you can buckle your seatbelt, but where will you escape if the airplane is on fire? Where will you go if the plane ditches on the water? Is the airplane equipped with rafts and lifevests? Not all are, and it’s not always demonstrated. If the lifevest wasn’t demonstrated, feel under your seat to see if one is actually there. How will you find an exit if it’s smoky? All airplanes have emergency lights located near or on the floor. These lights change pattern or color near an exit. Also, next time you fly, look at the moulding under the overhead compartments, you may see some bumps molded into the surface near the exits.
2. Second, learn about the oxygen system. The MD-80 has chemical oxygen generators, and other airplanes may have a compressed oxygen, or even a liquid oxygen system. In all cases, you must pull down on the oxygen mask in order to pull a pin to start the oxygen flowing — it doesn’t happen automatically. Also, it isn’t a pressure system, so you may lose consciousness anyway. This is why they tell you to put on your own mask before assisting others. The pilots use a different system which will pressure feed the oxygen into their lungs.
3. If there’s an emergency, listen to the flight attendants, not to your fellow passengers and not even me, unless I’m your captain. If there’s time before the landing, the flight attendants will show you the ditching position, likely with your head in your lap, or whit your head on crossed arms with hands on the headrest of the seat in front of you. If he can, the pilot will call on the PA to brace for impace, we use the terminology “Brace! Brace! Brace!”. Don’t leave this position until the airplane has fully stopped — it may take a while.
4. After the airplane has stopped, I know it sounds funny, but open your seatbelt. It may not be the first thing that you think about, and I’ve heard stories of people struggling to leave their seats with their seatbelt still buckled. You may hear “Open Your Seatbelt — Come this way — Jump and Slide!” Follow the instructions of uniformed crew members. Some exits may be unusable. There may be fire, it may be underwater or it may be jammed. To continue pushing toward an unusable exit doesn’t help anybody. Leave your luggage! If you have to slide, and you’re a woman, remove your high heels and realize that you nylons may burn against the slide friction. Remove them if practical.
5. Jump onto the slide into the seated position. Don’t jump onto your feet - you may tumble. Don’t sit on the edge and then slide like on a child’s slide — it takes too much time and a burning airplane may give you only a minute or two for everybody to get out. After you are out, assist other people at the base of the slide if needed and you are able. Direct people away from the airplane and into a group. Rescue vehicles can always hit stray survivors. Consider moving people away at a 45 degree angle, as exploding engines always seem to throw metal pieces foreward, backward and sideways.
6. If in the water, put on your lifevest, but don’t inflate it yet. Here’s why. If the only exit you can use is submerged, you won’t be able to use it if you’re already wearing an inflated lifevest. To prevent entering the water with a defective lifevest, inflate it just before exiting.
7. If exiting through a window, realize that the window is heavy and not hinged — it comes completely out. Put it someplace out of the way — it’s permissible to throw it out the window if that’s the best way. To exit through the window, use the leg-body-leg procedure. After getting through, slide down the back of the wing on the flap, or walk out on the wing away from the exit if on the water. Look for arrows on the wing surface pointing you in the right direction and be careful of things on the wing surface, like open spoilers.
8. If climbing into a raft, be prepared to be cramped. Some of these rafts can hold 50 people or more, but not in luxury.

Your airline’s instructions take precedence over anything that you read here. Also, if you have anything to add, email me and I’ll tack it on.

Len

There have been a lot of supposed “facts” by the news media that I would like to refute:

1. The airplane will float — at least for a while. The amount of time that the aircraft will actually float depends on a few factors. One, how many holes are in the fuselage? Are there underwater doors open? Are there cracks in the fuselage? Are the pressurization outflow valves closed? Two, how empty are the fuel tanks? Airplanes rarely take off with full tanks, and air in the tanks adds to the flotation. Also, fuel weighs less than water, so even the fuel in the tanks will add to the buoyancy.

2. There were no liferafts on this airplane. Although the Airbus 320 can be equipped with liferafts, those airplanes destined for US domestic service prefer to save on the weight. The exit slides can be used for flotation, and can be separated from the airplane in case the airplane sinks, but, in this case, they were not liferafts. Also, not all domestic airplanes even carry lifevests. But, they all have flotation seat cushions. Just lift your cushion out of the seat — it’s secured by velcro. To use it, put the padded part against your body, and look for strap loops on the bottom where you can thread your arms. If jumping into the water, be aware that the cushion can bump against your jaw, so either keep it away from your head when entering, or put your jaw on the edge before jumping — I know this from experience…

One more thing — they talk about how the pilot was initially trying to return to Laguardia airport. I find this very unlikely, given the runway configuration. More likely, he would have tried for JFK Kennedy or EWR Newark airport. To talk about Teterboro is also very unlikely. The Hudson river was perhaps the only option.

As many of you know by now, today there was a forced ditching of an Airbus 320 from US Airways. From what I read so far, the failure of both engines due to bird ingestion is the likely cause. After declaring an emergency, New York RAPCON offered emergency runways at Teterboro and Newark, but the pilot wisely chose to avoid the hazardous areas around the airports and landed in the water. My hat is off to the crew!

Bird strikes have been the cause of several aircraft accidents in the past, and thousands of bird strikes causing no damage happen every year. I recall a Lockheed C5 Galaxy flew into a flock of snow geese, had degraded thrust in three of its engines, and returned safely to Dover Air Force Base Delaware. The photo that I saw showed a completely shattered radome, something that today’s airbus seemed to keep intact.

It will be interesting to see the NTSB press releases coming up. I’ll be happy to listen and read any comments at flyingpilot@gmail.com or len@flyingpilot.com or the comment line at +1 (206) 203-3300.

Len