Drowning is the primary cause of death in helicopter water impact accidents.  In recent years, the UK Civilian Aviation Authority (CAA) has passed regulation to improve the ability to keep helicopters afloat and to improve the crashworthiness. Now, when operated over water, helicopters are required to meet set ditching requirements to allow passengers long enough to exit the aircraft under probable water conditions.

A few weeks ago, at the Blakely Rock Race in the Puget Sound, a crew member fell overboard but was quickly rescued with the aid of a few other boats. Marek Omilian, skipper of the Sonic, saw the man overboard and his crew started preparing their MOM. The Sonic dropped their MOM to the victim, who was able to grab it and another boat pulled the victim on-board. This quick rescue is credited to the preparedness of the crew on the two boats. Omilian has prepped his crew with “safety procedures ad nauseum” and they immediately responded when they saw the man overboard.

When you’re outfitting your plane with life vests, you need to consider who your passengers will be. Will you be flying your family around and possibly bringing children with you? Life vest requirements do vary for size so you’ll want to make sure you have vests that will fit and offer the most safety for everyone on board. Of course, we know storage can be limited so you’ll want to get the max use out of the life vests you have on hand. Additionally, in a light plane, donning a life vest might be a tight squeeze and a constant-wear vest,  might be a better fit.

Based on advanced military design, SWITLIK Survival Products designed the Inflatable Single Place Life Raft (ISPLR) for personal life-saving scenarios for both fixed wing and rotary aircraft. When minimal weight and stowage are critical for aircraft operation, the ISPLR is lightweight and compact enough to be worn or stowed, without compromising its mission-proven durability.

The fully packed life raft come in 3 different pack options, all easily transportable between aircraft.

We live in an age where a majority of production is passed off to overseas manufacturers, in unknown conditions. Safety and survival products are precise pieces of equipment, following a detailed construction process. A single misstep or oversight can result in the effectiveness of the product.