Re:I know how hard it would have been to escape the helicopt...
by lttlrck on Sunday March 18, 2018 @10:38AM
(#16612099)
I did this training when I was a cadet in Air Training Corps. It petrified me, I did the standard dunk but bailed before the dunk and inversion attempt. I am not a strong swimmer, they had rescue divers there, no way.
Being strapped into a container slowly filling with water rushing in through various orifices is a horrible feeling. And having to wait for the water to stop rushing in before unstrapping.
And I was in an indoor pool. Those poor people.
Re:I know how hard it would have been to escape the helicopt...
by toss1 on Sunday March 18, 2018 @10:54AM
(#16612204)
I worked with a USN heli pilot & commander. They had to go repeated tests where they were strapped into a helicopter body, blindfolded, and then it was dropped and inverted into a pool. They had safety divers immediately in the water, but to pass, they needed to get unstrapped, find their way out of the vehicle, and to the surface.
From amateur auto racing, I also know that harness and latch design is critical to being able to escape in an emergency. Again, we practice getting out of the vehicle quickly.
A video is just not even close to what would actually help the passengers. Note that the pilot escaped ok, but no passengers did. Might as well just take their money and say "good luck".
Re:I know how hard it would have been to escape the helicopt...
by maxxxxx on Sunday March 18, 2018 @12:06PM
(#16612572)
I have done a few doors off flights in LA and I certainly would not have been able to operate the harness in an emergency. Either the (hopefully well trained) pilot should be able to release or there must be a big emergency button that's hard to miss (but also not pressed by accident).
This sort of thing is intended for professionals with extensive training on the harnesses—in some cases including actual dunk tank training where you’re actually thrown in the water and need to escape (with safety divers present).
A lot of companies then started cutting corners and just pulling people off the street and showing them a “safety video” and sending them up. No way is that adequate training and the episode last weekend sadly demonstrates that fact.
Had it not been for the harness design and lack of adequate training it’s extremely likely everyone would have walked a way a bit wet and cold but otherwise unharmed.