EGRESS, EMERGENCY, AND SURVIVAL
(The original article, in Spanish, can be found here).
Landing gear up, four blues, ready for the water. Or not…!
We have all seen planes resting upside down in the water.
Usually, it is the result of landing with the landing gear in the down position, but it is not the only reason. Sometimes it could be conventional aircraft that by emergency and probability end up in the water. In the case of Sweden, the area that currently concerns me, 9% of the territory is water. In any flight, you have a 9% chance of ending up soaked in an emergency.
It could also be that a poorly performed water landing leads to a total loss of control and turn over / capsizing. Or that due to an impact (with rocks, shallow water, hollow tree trunks, wire strikes flying at low altitude), we end up in an emergency and survival situation in the water, from which we must leave by our means.
We could go on and on about survival, way beyond a 1000-word article. If the topic is of interest, I recommend Laurence Gonzales’ bestseller book as an excellent initial read beyond the classic aspects, “Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why”.
Help! Do not be afraid or proud or let yourself be driven by ego. Ask for help before it is too late
In many of my previous videos, I’ve highlighted the fascinating aspects of our work. In this one, I delve into “the other reality” and offer insights into essential emergency and survival equipment for Fireboss operations. If you believe it can’t happen to you, think again. In my 10 years of experience, I’ve personally known four firefighting pilots who ended up swimming, and none of them were one-armed, clumsy, or poor pilots.
In this video, I showcase the essential equipment for Fireboss operations. While other gear we use, such as dry suits for the cold Baltic temperatures, is not included, the featured items are crucial. Some footage is my own, but credit is due to the original authors. The goal is to enhance safety in our operations.
Knowing how to escape underwater is an n essential skill to practice
This one was in Sweden. Necessary and fun to perform. It feels almost like a team building activity that additionally could save your life.
Regardless of what the regulations say in your country, get it done. It’s a well invested money.
Water landing with landing gear down goes beyond pilot blame; it’s more complicated than a clumsy or reckless pilot in command
Companies, and even Accident Investigation Commissions, often focus on the pilot as the weakest link and the easiest target, labeling us as non-procedural. With the benefit of hindsight and the comfort of an office, it’s easy for everyone to appear highly knowledgeable, isn’t it?
In a situation where you swam out from a wrecked $ 3-4 million aircraft, floppy wet ears, the last thing you will be willing to do is to fight to prove the deeper organizational issues.
And let’s not forget, if you end up at the bottom of the sea, you can’t even share your side of the story. What others say—sometimes from incompetent individuals acting as judges and juries—will stand as the truth, or at least the most accessible version of it.
Consider the case of a close colleague, a SEAT pilot who mysteriously disappeared over the sea in June 2018. His body was found days later, still inside the aircraft, 60 meters deep in the Mediterranean Sea. Incredibly, two years on, we still don’t know what happened, and we can’t even learn from it.
An interim report was issued a year later, but as the second anniversary approaches, we still have no final statement. My dear flying friend, I never had the pleasure of meeting you in person, but as a fellow pilot, I won’t forget you, and we will keep pushing for answers. The same goes for you, Ricardo. I hope we eventually learn what happened to you both.
The reality is usually far more complex than a simple lapse in judgment by the pilot. Often, it’s not the apple that’s rotten, but the barrel that ends up rotting the apples it contains.
There are often more far-reaching organizational factors, such as inadequate training, training flights, and proficiency checks that are cheated on paper and never done, complicit instructors and examiners designated for convenience rather than pedagogical skills or flight training vocation.
Dogmas and paradigms, once again, appear:
Some operators I know exhibit a concerning lack of attention to safety. For instance, when a door has accidentally opened in flight due to vibration, excessive speed while dropping, or perhaps a deficient locking mechanism, instead of resolving the issue by consulting the manufacturer or proposing an improved, approved design, they opt to secure it with a plastic tie wrap on the opening handle. This makes it extremely difficult to exit in an emergency.
This approach is not only illegal but also concerning. As pilots, we should not accept or overlook such practices.
Note 2023:
After the death of a colleague and according to the findings from the investigation board, Air Tractor finally issued a service letter:
“The world is full of people who hold dogmas so firmly that they don’t even realize they are dogmas.”
Other contributing factors are related to the design and standard equipment of the aircraft, such as sound warnings of the landing gear, redundant and poorly calibrated, which end up being internalized, ignored, or even deactivated. Similarly, the landing gear lights are positioned outside the primary field of vision, which is outrageous for design purposes.
This FAA document shows the way to go in cabin design, other than torture for the pilot. It is called “overall design philosophy”, in which human factors are also taken into account and do not only focus purely on engineering. If you read it, you will realize that we failed in a few things.
Although there is still a long way to go, luckily, in our Fireboss model, a new LGAS system has been implemented. It solves some problems mentioned above regarding the management of the landing gear. Those who are lucky enough to fly in companies with new aircraft and where the safety culture reaches everyone, from top to bottom, and vice versa, are somewhat safer. I’m a lucky one.
Unfortunately, until it reaches the entire fleet of older aircraft in other operators, many years will have passed, and some, they will never get to see this improvement. It is up to you to slam the door and look for safer, more generative setups, where there are real training and safety departments.
In this article, I wrote about the need to close some doors to continue growing personally and professionally.
Request high-quality training, briefings, and debriefings. Demand safety, demand top-notch emergency and survival equipment, and above all, watch over the one who watches over you.
“Hope for the best, train for the worst.”
“Hard training, easy combat.”
«Live as if you were to die tomorrow, train as if you were to live forever.»
1 thought on “EGRESS, EMERGENCY AND SURVIVAL – FIREBOSS OPERATION”
Great article Éder, and as you mentioned we come from a poor safety culture and it’s time to work all together to improve it and set a new training bases. Thanks for all your hard work and clarity, it’s what really needs this industry!