Citation

Taber M, McCabe J. SAFE J. 2007; 35(1): 1-6.

Affiliation

Survival Systems Training Limited, Dartmouth, NS, Canada

Copyright

(Copyright © 2007, SAFE Association)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The data set consists of 511 helicopter ditching cases in which we could determine the number of occupants, the final position of the aircraft, the presence of external flotation devices and the number of surviving occupants. The final position of the helicopters indicated that 56 floated upright, 326 inverted with 156 of those sinking. It appears that helicopters that invert and sink significantly reduce the survivability rate of the occupants (p less than or equal .001). In addition, 298 of the helicopters were equipped with external flotation devices, while 109 did not have flotation devices. External flotation devices appear to assist in keeping the helicopters floating on the surface of the water (p less than or equal .005). However, it is not clear that survivability in helicopters with external flotation devices is higher than without the devices. This result may be partially due to the fact that approximately 46.5% of all helicopter ditching events involve the helicopter sinking. The results also indicate that 42% of helicopters fitted with external flotation devices still sank. It appears that installation of external flotation devices alone is not sufficient to result in a higher level of survivability following a helicopter ditching.

Keywords: Drowning; Drowning prevention