I can’t say I fly frequently, but I fly enough to know the whole “in the
event of a water landing…” speech by heart. My question is, how many lives
have been saved by the fact that our seat cushions can be used as a
flotation device? I can’t think of any major airline water landings where anyone
survived, and if there was such a situation, it would seem to me that the
life rafts and inflatable life vests would be more than enough. How much
money would be saved if the seat cushions were not buoyant?
You assume that sinkers would be less expensive than floaters. Foam padding is cheap, and foam padding floats.
Not every plane is equipped with life rafts and inflatable vests. On flights not scheduled over large bodies of water, the seat cushion is sometimes the only thing available.
What gets me is the flight attendants make that announcment whether or not if the plane will be flying over water. It would calm my nerves for them to have a seat cushion that will bounce off a mountain
Still, have they ever been used as a flotation device in an emergency situation?
Or, alternatively, has there been an instance where people survived a plane landing on water but then drowned because there were no flotation devices available?
I think that from the time the plane reaches rotation speed on takeoff until it slows to < about 80 mph on landing you are in the lap of statistics. The probability that any particular flight, like the one you are on, reaching its destination safely is nearly one. The passenger safety devices, with the possible exception of the drop-down oxygen masks are sort of “feel good” items that have been shown to have a least some value.
Giving the emergency instructions doesn’t hurt anyone except perhaps the nervous nellies and, I think, has demonstrated value in some cases so why not?
I should add passenger lap belts and “seat backs in the upright position” to the list. In fact, fire-resistant interiors could go in too. A lot has been learned about crash survival over the years and I’m pretty sure, upon further thought, that my “feel good” phrase might have been a little hasty.
True, the chance of surviving a water landing from a condition of an aircraft in flight is pretty slim. However, airliners have run off the end of the runway into Boston Harbor, for example. I don’t know whether or not floating seat cushions were useful or not but as muffin said, the floating foam probably isn’t as expensive these days as springs and cotton padding, a la the 1930’s, so why not?
…and the cocktail cart can be used as a shark cage.
Once I was flying from Tucson to Las Vegas- the attendant cracked up giggling when talking about a water landing. Isn’t it a water crash anyway? I know ,landing sounds better, like 'bumpy air."