I just attended an aviation egress training course. I had wanted to do this for a few years, but the timing had never been right, this time it worked out and was able to go to Thunder Bay to do the course with Aviation Training Systems http://dunkyou.com/. There are many commercial pilots in my area, including helicopter, several had been through this course and felt it was very worthwhile. I was primarily interested because most of my flying operations are now on water, be it soft or hard and was especially interested in underwater egress. My eyes were opened during the classroom portion of the training, there was good information that pertains to all of us that may get into a ditching situation and not necessarily in water, tips that can save your life, or at least minimize injury. The water egress portion of the training was done in a swimming pool, we were introduced to several situations and practiced escaping from a plane that is under water. I felt the course was very worthwhile for me. If I am ever in the situation to have to ditch, I may not survive, but feel my chances are much greater now than before the course.

Aviation Training Systems does training all over and will accept anyone that is interested in their course. They are going to be in Winnipeg in the next couple of weeks, so if anyone is interested in that area, (including guys from Minnesota), you might give them a buzz. The company is based out of the west coast of Canada, so would be in range of you US guys in the Northwest. Brian said he can do a training session anywhere, as long as the group is large enough. I don't want this to sound like a commercial for ATS, but they are the only ones I was aware of that do this, though I would guess there must be others, any such similar training may save your life.

Steve

Underwater egress training is simply THE BEST training you can complete if you fly floats. And that company is one of the leaders in that kind of training.

MTV

I wish we could get commercial egress, spatial disorientation, and low light (in the dark ) training equal to Pennsscola, NAS ! I did because I was sent there after we had I guy hit the water in Florida IFR. There was a stand down and everybody went for retraining.

I did the training in Winnipeg a few years ago - as steve mentions well worth it - Highly recommended.

garth

http://www.survivalsystemsinc.com/ This is were I did my last ditching training. They did a very good job. The tank was heated and should have been cold to simulate the real shock and time you have to work. After I completed my last inverted egress they let me ride with mask and watch EMS crews try and egress a instructor on a stretcher. They were not successful on that try and the safety divers had to get him out.

I did this in Juneau several years ago and felt it was extremely valuable, the actual in water stuff was done in the pool but they insisted that you do it in you regular flying clothes, boots, jacket and all. They had an inclined ramp going into the water and a mock up fuselage on wheels. After you got strapped in they released this thing and it rolled down the ramp then just before it hit the water it flipped over upside down. There you sit upside down, under water, holding your breath and trying to remember where the seatbelt release was, where the door was, where up was and so on.
If you fly over water and ever get the chance to take the program do so.
The second time I rode the thing I kept my eyes closed the whole time to simulate darkness, even more fun.

Steve or anyone who has done this training on the civilian side, did they discuss the helicopter emergency eagerness device (HEEDs) during your training? I'm just curious. I've only gone through HUET trainer for the Army helicopter. The latest version I went to was done by Safety Systems on a contract. The last time I went overwater in the plane I took along my army flight vest with horse collar PFD and the HEEDs bottle. I've always thought the HEEDs bottle would be good to have for float pilots. Just curious.

Brett

I was trained to keep your eyes closed because that fuel and oil in the water could do damage to your eyes. I was able to train in a large cabin sim and they duplicated my aircraft (DHC-6) cockpit doors and emergency exit. They just changed the side panels with the doors I wanted. The last dive was inverted, cockpit door jammed, had to work my way to the fuselage small exit and egress. We were also trained to stay orientated with the aircraft (in this case upside down with the earth) and stay that way to work your way out so you dont get disoriented.

In the class I attended they also catered to the helicopter folks, two of the classmates worked for a helicopter company. I did not realize the importance of putting it down on one side as opposed to the other, or that all makes do not rotate in the same direction. It sounded like most helicopter guys wear helmets, getting that headset wire disconnected under water is an extra issue for them. It was all good information for those of us that know little to nothing about helicopters.

The auxillary air supply was not discussed, but I can see the advantage of it. I used to dive and if lucky might be able to make use of one, for those without experience, that would be extra training time.

I don't wear a PFD in the plane. I know that is foolish, but did not want to deal with one (kind of the way I used to be with seat belts in the car). This class opened my eyes, there is no way in world that you can ever get any use out of a PFD, unless you are wearing it when you hit the water. I need to start researching PFD's with pockets for the essentials, then wear it.

Steve

I've used http://www.proaviation.ca/dunker-course.html in Canada, just over the border from Bellingham, WA. Flying clothing, lifejacket and liferaft use, rollover dunker with quick release doors. Blindfolded, you'll get a jammed door and have to exit on the other side of the cockpit. Pool water to get enough time to master the technique, even so you'll be chilled by the end. If I wore a compressed air bottle like the SAR pilots then I'd do that too. None of our helicopter guys wear helmets. Our lifejackets have a GPS-ELT/Comm radio, strobe, etc.

Call me chicken, but in my Citabria beyond gliding distance from shore I wear an inflatable "horse-collar" PFD, so does my passenger. I've done a few polar bear swims (too cheap to have a retriever for those semi-frozen pond duck hunts), and I know how fast everything stops working in cold water.