# Seat cushions as flotation devices

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seat-cushions-as-flotation-devices/198442>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [August 29, 2003, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seat-cushions-as-flotation-devices/198442 "2003-08-29T16:15:52Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 9\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Robbbbb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e9a140/32.png) [@Robbbbb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robbbbb)\
**Post date:** [August 29, 2003, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seat-cushions-as-flotation-devices/198442/1 "2003-08-29T16:15:52Z")

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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?

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**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\
**Post date:** [August 29, 2003, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seat-cushions-as-flotation-devices/198442/2 "2003-08-29T16:27:43Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Robbbbb \*  
> \*\*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.

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**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\
**Post date:** [August 29, 2003, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seat-cushions-as-flotation-devices/198442/3 "2003-08-29T16:39:48Z")

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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.

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**Author:** ![Fire\_Fox\_40](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b2d939/32.png) [@Fire\_Fox\_40](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fire_Fox_40)\
**Post date:** [August 29, 2003, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seat-cushions-as-flotation-devices/198442/4 "2003-08-29T17:34:15Z")

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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

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**Author:** ![Robbbbb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e9a140/32.png) [@Robbbbb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robbbbb)\
**Post date:** [August 29, 2003, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seat-cushions-as-flotation-devices/198442/5 "2003-08-29T17:43:25Z")

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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?

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**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\
**Post date:** [August 29, 2003, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seat-cushions-as-flotation-devices/198442/6 "2003-08-29T18:02:20Z")

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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?

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**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\
**Post date:** [August 29, 2003, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seat-cushions-as-flotation-devices/198442/7 "2003-08-29T18:10:34Z")

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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?

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**Author:** ![Forbin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5e9695/32.png) [@Forbin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Forbin)\
**Post date:** [August 29, 2003, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seat-cushions-as-flotation-devices/198442/8 "2003-08-29T18:28:57Z")

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…and the cocktail cart can be used as a shark cage.  
😉

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**Author:** ![doctordoowop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecc23a/32.png) [@doctordoowop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doctordoowop)\
**Post date:** [August 29, 2003, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seat-cushions-as-flotation-devices/198442/9 "2003-08-29T18:40:33Z")

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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."