Flight attendants, or cabin crew, are primarily onboard for passenger safety, not service, although many passengers don’t realize that. They are trained specifically to handle emergency situations like medical emergencies, preparing for an emergency landing, and evacuating the aircraft. Of course, an emergency usually happens suddenly without warning, and the Cabin Crew has to act decisively and jump immediately into action; hence why, during their training, they practice drills time and time again.
One such emergency is landing on water or ditching, as we call it. We have to know what to do if we need to ditch into the ocean, a lake, or a river. Thankfully, ditching is quite rare; in recent years, the Miracle of the Hudson has been the most prolific and was absolutely a textbook water landing and evacuation, and thankfully, all onboard survived. How are cabin crew trained for an emergency water landing, and how would they prepare if one happened on their flight?
Procedures In Brief
If there is time, the cabin is secured, the crew are briefed, and the passengers in turn are briefed. Any flotation equipment is prepared, and the crew will check that the passengers are wearing their life vests correctly. Passenger life vests are usually yellow and stored underneath the cabin seats, and crew vests are orange or red. Main door emergency slides on most commercial aircraft are detachable to be used as slide rafts, if necessary. Overwing exit slides on smaller aircraft types such as the Airbus A320 and the Boeing 737 are not detachable.
In the event of a ditching, there will likely be more than one impact. Evacuation should not take place until the aircraft comes to a complete stop and the engines are shut down. The evacuation starts at the captain’s command, although in a ‘catastrophic’ situation, cabin crew can initiate it. This applies if the aircraft is broken up, there is fire or smoke, it is ditching, or there is no response from the flight crew.
Cabin crew have to assess the water level outside and check that it’s safe to evacuate. Exits at the rear of the aircraft will not be used if the water is above the door sill. Non-door-mounted flotation devices from the aft overwing exit are deployed as applicable to the aircraft type. Passengers should board the raft at a low level or crawl and sit on alternate sides. Slides and sliderafts should then be detached from the aircraft, and if possible, life rafts should be grouped together.
The Ditching Drill
As part of their initial training, flight attendants, cabin crew and flight crew have to complete ditching training. This is split into two sections: preparing the cabin, which takes place in a mock-up cabin or simulator, and the wet drill, which is the practical drill in the water. Trainees must inflate the life vest and jump in the water. Vests must only be inflated after exiting the simulated aircraft to prevent getting trapped if the cabin fills with water. Trainees must also demonstrate how to manually top up air using the inflation mouthpiece.
Trainees must also rescue a ‘passenger’ not wearing a life jacket, practice the HELP or Huddle position in a circle to conserve body heat, and then board the life raft. They assist others to board the raft and learn how to safely disconnect the slide-raft’s mooring line from the aircraft using the raft’s built-in knife. The crew then erect the raft’s canopy to shield against simulated bad weather.
Cabin crew have to show proficiency with safety equipment, including life vests, slide rafts and additional rafts (depending on aircraft type), the Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT), and survival packs. The wet drill is extremely challenging for most people but an essential part of training. It takes place every three years as recurrent cabin crew training or at every initial training session when starting at a new airline.
Safety Equipment For Ditching
Life vests have one or two buoyancy chambers inflated by CO2 cartridges when the red toggle is pulled down. It can also be inflated by mouth, and there is a whistle and light for attracting attention. The aircraft also carries infant life vests and cots. These are the only flotation devices that can be inflated inside the aircraft cabin. Spare life jackets are carried onboard.
Standard life raft equipment includes a mooring line, a rescue line and a boarding ladder. The life raft has lights, and there is a canopy to protect from the outside environment. Survival packs are fitted into the life raft or are kept close to the exit door. An ELT is a radio beacon that transmits a distress signal if activated during a ditching; it is usually stored at the rear of the aircraft and must be removed by an assigned crew member.
Most life rafts include a survival pack with items such as a sea anchor, an inflation pump, and a repair kit. There is a bailing bucket and sponge for removing water from the raft. Signaling devices include flares, a mirror, and sea markers. Water purification tablets, a water collection bag, and candies or dried food are also in the survival pack. There is also a first aid kit, seasickness pills, a torch, and an instruction manual.
Planned Vs. Unplanned Emergency Ditching
There are two types of emergency: planned and unplanned. In an unplanned ditching, such as the Miracle on the Hudson, there is no time to brief the crew or passengers. Cabin crew are trained to respond appropriately to an emergency and to maximize the likelihood of a successful ditching, evacuation, and subsequent survival.
A planned ditching is when the captain knows that a ditching will happen; therefore, the captain can brief the crew, and in turn the crew briefs the passengers. Most crew use the NITS briefing method: Nature of the emergency, Intention of the flight crew, Time available, and Special Instructions. So in this case, the senior cabin crew member (SCCM) would be called to the cockpit, receive the NITS briefing, write it down, and repeat it back to confirm understanding. The SCCM then briefs the cabin crew.
Nature of the emergency: | Loss of power in both engines |
Intention of the flight crew: | Controlled ditching into the ocean |
Time | Ten minutes until impact |
Special instructions: | Ensure all passengers are briefed and wearing life vests. Instruct them not to inflate them in the cabin. Use forward and overwing exits as the aft exits may be submerged. |
The passengers are informed that there will be a ditching. The cabin crew demonstrate the donning of the life vest, the brace position, point out the exits, and show the safety card. Sharp items and high heels should be removed. The cabin crew will then check that the passengers are wearing the life vest correctly and hand out infant life vests or cots. It must be emphasized that life vests are not inflated inside the cabin. Able-bodied persons (ABPs) may be briefed to help with the evacuation on water. The galley and cabin are secured.
Examples Of Ditching
On January 15, 2009, a US Airways Airbus A320-200 following take-off from New York’s LaGuardia Airport experienced an almost complete loss of thrust in both engines after encountering a flock of geese. With no other viable option, the aircraft was successfully ditched in the Hudson River. Of the 150 occupants, one flight attendant and four passengers were seriously injured, and the aircraft was substantially damaged. It was a textbook landing on water and evacuation and was named the ‘Miracle on the Hudson’.
On November 23, 1996, Ethiopian Airlines flight 961, a Boeing 767-200, was hijacked and crashed during a ditching into the waters off the Comoros Islands, killing 125 occupants; 50 survived the accident. The hijackers insisted on being taken to Australia, but the captain told them they did not have enough fuel. The aircraft ran out of fuel and lost power, forcing the captain to ditch it in shallow ocean near a beach. Some passengers inflated their life vests in the cabin and got trapped when water flooded in.
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Pan Am 6 was a round-the-world passenger flight that successfully ditched in the Pacific Ocean on October 16, 1956, after two of its four engines failed. The Boeing 377 Stratocruiser was named ‘Clipper Sovereign of the Skies’. The Captain circled near the United States Coast Guard Cutter ‘Pontchartrain’ for hours to burn off fuel and wait for daylight. The aircraft safely ditched in the ocean foam path the cutter laid. All 31 passengers and crew members survived with only minor injuries before the aircraft sank.
A Final Observation
The wet drill is probably the toughest part of cabin crew training; it’s physically challenging but necessary for all crew. The course covers the use of rafts and slide rafts, as well as the life vest, ELT, and survival packs. This training takes place every three years for recurrent crew, or whenever you join a new airline.
Survival techniques are also practiced both in the water and on the ground. Keeping warm in the water is crucial, so techniques are covered during the wet drill. On the raft and on the ground, survival is broken down into protection (from the environment), location (for signaling), water (collection), and food in order of priority.
Luckily, ditching or landing on water are very rare events and would only occur if there was absolutely no other option. The aircraft is intentionally and controllably landed on water, only as a last resort when there is no safe runway or off-airport landing site within reach. This could occur if all engine power is lost, an onboard fire cannot be controlled, or fuel is exhausted.
