Does the ditching switch allow an A320 to float indefinitely?How long can passengers survive after ditching...
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Does the ditching switch allow an A320 to float indefinitely?
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Does the ditching switch allow an A320 to float indefinitely?
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I watched a documentary yesterday about the Hudson River ditching of US Airways Flight 1549. In the documentary, one of the investigators explained that the reason the water was entering so quickly was because the FO did not have time to hit the 'Ditching' switch the A320 is equipped with. This switch closes all vents etc. to prevent water from entering the cabin.
If an A320 or similar is ditched and the switch is activated in time, does that totally prevent water from filling the cabin (in a best-case scenario)? I'm thinking if one ditched in the Atlantic and had to wait for hours for help, would it be possible to stay afloat for so long?
emergency airbus-a320 accidents ditching saltwater
asked 9 hours ago
CloudCloud
3,16232252
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
I watched a documentary yesterday about the Hudson River ditching of US Airways Flight 1549. In the documentary, one of the investigators explained that the reason the water was entering so quickly was because the FO did not have time to hit the 'Ditching' switch the A320 is equipped with. This switch closes all vents etc. to prevent water from entering the cabin.
If an A320 or similar is ditched and the switch is activated in time, does that totally prevent water from filling the cabin (in a best-case scenario)? I'm thinking if one ditched in the Atlantic and had to wait for hours for help, would it be possible to stay afloat for so long?
emergency airbus-a320 accidents ditching saltwater
asked 9 hours ago
CloudCloud
3,16232252
$endgroup$
2
$begingroup$
Actual boats won't stay afloat forever without additional help! But "long enough for rescue" is a good criterion for this scenario.
$endgroup$
– Toby Speight
4 hours ago
$begingroup$
There was significant damage to the rear lower fuselage, so it is not obvious how much water intrusion the ditch switch would have prevented anyway: flyian.net/aircraft/museum/ncam/1549/1549.htm
$endgroup$
– Adam
2 hours ago
$begingroup$
US-1549 was floating for two days after the landing into water even without the switch.
$endgroup$
– h22
57 mins ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$
I watched a documentary yesterday about the Hudson River ditching of US Airways Flight 1549. In the documentary, one of the investigators explained that the reason the water was entering so quickly was because the FO did not have time to hit the 'Ditching' switch the A320 is equipped with. This switch closes all vents etc. to prevent water from entering the cabin.
If an A320 or similar is ditched and the switch is activated in time, does that totally prevent water from filling the cabin (in a best-case scenario)? I'm thinking if one ditched in the Atlantic and had to wait for hours for help, would it be possible to stay afloat for so long?
emergency airbus-a320 accidents ditching saltwater
asked 9 hours ago
CloudCloud
3,16232252
$endgroup$
I watched a documentary yesterday about the Hudson River ditching of US Airways Flight 1549. In the documentary, one of the investigators explained that the reason the water was entering so quickly was because the FO did not have time to hit the 'Ditching' switch the A320 is equipped with. This switch closes all vents etc. to prevent water from entering the cabin.
If an A320 or similar is ditched and the switch is activated in time, does that totally prevent water from filling the cabin (in a best-case scenario)? I'm thinking if one ditched in the Atlantic and had to wait for hours for help, would it be possible to stay afloat for so long?
emergency airbus-a320 accidents ditching saltwater
emergency airbus-a320 accidents ditching saltwater
asked 9 hours ago
CloudCloud
3,16232252
asked 9 hours ago
CloudCloud
3,16232252
asked 9 hours ago
CloudCloud
3,16232252
asked 9 hours ago
CloudCloud
3,16232252
asked 9 hours ago
CloudCloud
3,16232252
3,16232252
2
$begingroup$
Actual boats won't stay afloat forever without additional help! But "long enough for rescue" is a good criterion for this scenario.
$endgroup$
– Toby Speight
4 hours ago
$begingroup$
There was significant damage to the rear lower fuselage, so it is not obvious how much water intrusion the ditch switch would have prevented anyway: flyian.net/aircraft/museum/ncam/1549/1549.htm
$endgroup$
– Adam
2 hours ago
$begingroup$
US-1549 was floating for two days after the landing into water even without the switch.
$endgroup$
– h22
57 mins ago
add a comment |
2
$begingroup$
Actual boats won't stay afloat forever without additional help! But "long enough for rescue" is a good criterion for this scenario.
$endgroup$
– Toby Speight
4 hours ago
$begingroup$
There was significant damage to the rear lower fuselage, so it is not obvious how much water intrusion the ditch switch would have prevented anyway: flyian.net/aircraft/museum/ncam/1549/1549.htm
$endgroup$
– Adam
2 hours ago
$begingroup$
US-1549 was floating for two days after the landing into water even without the switch.
$endgroup$
– h22
57 mins ago
2
2
$begingroup$
Actual boats won't stay afloat forever without additional help! But "long enough for rescue" is a good criterion for this scenario.
$endgroup$
– Toby Speight
4 hours ago
$begingroup$
Actual boats won't stay afloat forever without additional help! But "long enough for rescue" is a good criterion for this scenario.
$endgroup$
– Toby Speight
4 hours ago
$begingroup$
There was significant damage to the rear lower fuselage, so it is not obvious how much water intrusion the ditch switch would have prevented anyway: flyian.net/aircraft/museum/ncam/1549/1549.htm
$endgroup$
– Adam
2 hours ago
$begingroup$
There was significant damage to the rear lower fuselage, so it is not obvious how much water intrusion the ditch switch would have prevented anyway: flyian.net/aircraft/museum/ncam/1549/1549.htm
$endgroup$
– Adam
2 hours ago
$begingroup$
US-1549 was floating for two days after the landing into water even without the switch.
$endgroup$
– h22
57 mins ago
$begingroup$
US-1549 was floating for two days after the landing into water even without the switch.
$endgroup$
– h22
57 mins ago
add a comment |
1 Answer
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The answer is no, not totally, but it would really slow things down. I don't think anybody knows the precise answer because only flat water ditchings seem to result in the airplane stopping in the water in one piece (such as 1549 and a similar one in Malaysia) and flat water incidents (like Malaysia and some airport overruns) are usually in shallows where the ditching valve is moot.
But assuming an A320 was able to ditch on open ocean swells without breaking somewhere, certainly it would float for a much longer time, but not forever. Pressure hulls are never absolutely fluid tight; door/hatch seals leak a little bit, and there may be tiny leaks through various entry points below the water line like bleed air shutoff valves, fay-sealed skin laps, rivets, control cable pressure bulkhead fairleads, etc (the older the airframe the leakier).
Wing dry bays may be sealed off with a tape made for the purpose but they are not usually totally water tight. Water can migrate into the fuel tanks through the vents. Full fuel or nearly full fuel would be a bonus, fuel being buoyant.
You certainly would have a lot more time to get onto the rafts (perhaps Airbus has estimated the theoretical sink time by calculation), but it would sink eventually (it would take quite a few hours, maybe even a day or two), and you aren't going to be staying on board any longer than necessary regardless.
(Now, if you ditch in a composite foam sandwich sailplane, well you've got yourself an unsinkable boat right there, and if you took a paddle along, you could actually go places. If I'm in a glider that gets low over rough forested terrain, and there are lakes around, I'm putting it in the water and paddling it to shore with whatever I have at hand).
answered 6 hours ago
John KJohn K
19.4k12356
$endgroup$
add a comment |
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The answer is no, not totally, but it would really slow things down. I don't think anybody knows the precise answer because only flat water ditchings seem to result in the airplane stopping in the water in one piece (such as 1549 and a similar one in Malaysia) and flat water incidents (like Malaysia and some airport overruns) are usually in shallows where the ditching valve is moot.
But assuming an A320 was able to ditch on open ocean swells without breaking somewhere, certainly it would float for a much longer time, but not forever. Pressure hulls are never absolutely fluid tight; door/hatch seals leak a little bit, and there may be tiny leaks through various entry points below the water line like bleed air shutoff valves, fay-sealed skin laps, rivets, control cable pressure bulkhead fairleads, etc (the older the airframe the leakier).
Wing dry bays may be sealed off with a tape made for the purpose but they are not usually totally water tight. Water can migrate into the fuel tanks through the vents. Full fuel or nearly full fuel would be a bonus, fuel being buoyant.
You certainly would have a lot more time to get onto the rafts (perhaps Airbus has estimated the theoretical sink time by calculation), but it would sink eventually (it would take quite a few hours, maybe even a day or two), and you aren't going to be staying on board any longer than necessary regardless.
(Now, if you ditch in a composite foam sandwich sailplane, well you've got yourself an unsinkable boat right there, and if you took a paddle along, you could actually go places. If I'm in a glider that gets low over rough forested terrain, and there are lakes around, I'm putting it in the water and paddling it to shore with whatever I have at hand).
answered 6 hours ago
John KJohn K
19.4k12356
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
The answer is no, not totally, but it would really slow things down. I don't think anybody knows the precise answer because only flat water ditchings seem to result in the airplane stopping in the water in one piece (such as 1549 and a similar one in Malaysia) and flat water incidents (like Malaysia and some airport overruns) are usually in shallows where the ditching valve is moot.
But assuming an A320 was able to ditch on open ocean swells without breaking somewhere, certainly it would float for a much longer time, but not forever. Pressure hulls are never absolutely fluid tight; door/hatch seals leak a little bit, and there may be tiny leaks through various entry points below the water line like bleed air shutoff valves, fay-sealed skin laps, rivets, control cable pressure bulkhead fairleads, etc (the older the airframe the leakier).
Wing dry bays may be sealed off with a tape made for the purpose but they are not usually totally water tight. Water can migrate into the fuel tanks through the vents. Full fuel or nearly full fuel would be a bonus, fuel being buoyant.
You certainly would have a lot more time to get onto the rafts (perhaps Airbus has estimated the theoretical sink time by calculation), but it would sink eventually (it would take quite a few hours, maybe even a day or two), and you aren't going to be staying on board any longer than necessary regardless.
(Now, if you ditch in a composite foam sandwich sailplane, well you've got yourself an unsinkable boat right there, and if you took a paddle along, you could actually go places. If I'm in a glider that gets low over rough forested terrain, and there are lakes around, I'm putting it in the water and paddling it to shore with whatever I have at hand).
answered 6 hours ago
John KJohn K
19.4k12356
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
The answer is no, not totally, but it would really slow things down. I don't think anybody knows the precise answer because only flat water ditchings seem to result in the airplane stopping in the water in one piece (such as 1549 and a similar one in Malaysia) and flat water incidents (like Malaysia and some airport overruns) are usually in shallows where the ditching valve is moot.
But assuming an A320 was able to ditch on open ocean swells without breaking somewhere, certainly it would float for a much longer time, but not forever. Pressure hulls are never absolutely fluid tight; door/hatch seals leak a little bit, and there may be tiny leaks through various entry points below the water line like bleed air shutoff valves, fay-sealed skin laps, rivets, control cable pressure bulkhead fairleads, etc (the older the airframe the leakier).
Wing dry bays may be sealed off with a tape made for the purpose but they are not usually totally water tight. Water can migrate into the fuel tanks through the vents. Full fuel or nearly full fuel would be a bonus, fuel being buoyant.
You certainly would have a lot more time to get onto the rafts (perhaps Airbus has estimated the theoretical sink time by calculation), but it would sink eventually (it would take quite a few hours, maybe even a day or two), and you aren't going to be staying on board any longer than necessary regardless.
(Now, if you ditch in a composite foam sandwich sailplane, well you've got yourself an unsinkable boat right there, and if you took a paddle along, you could actually go places. If I'm in a glider that gets low over rough forested terrain, and there are lakes around, I'm putting it in the water and paddling it to shore with whatever I have at hand).
answered 6 hours ago
John KJohn K
19.4k12356
$endgroup$
The answer is no, not totally, but it would really slow things down. I don't think anybody knows the precise answer because only flat water ditchings seem to result in the airplane stopping in the water in one piece (such as 1549 and a similar one in Malaysia) and flat water incidents (like Malaysia and some airport overruns) are usually in shallows where the ditching valve is moot.
But assuming an A320 was able to ditch on open ocean swells without breaking somewhere, certainly it would float for a much longer time, but not forever. Pressure hulls are never absolutely fluid tight; door/hatch seals leak a little bit, and there may be tiny leaks through various entry points below the water line like bleed air shutoff valves, fay-sealed skin laps, rivets, control cable pressure bulkhead fairleads, etc (the older the airframe the leakier).
Wing dry bays may be sealed off with a tape made for the purpose but they are not usually totally water tight. Water can migrate into the fuel tanks through the vents. Full fuel or nearly full fuel would be a bonus, fuel being buoyant.
You certainly would have a lot more time to get onto the rafts (perhaps Airbus has estimated the theoretical sink time by calculation), but it would sink eventually (it would take quite a few hours, maybe even a day or two), and you aren't going to be staying on board any longer than necessary regardless.
(Now, if you ditch in a composite foam sandwich sailplane, well you've got yourself an unsinkable boat right there, and if you took a paddle along, you could actually go places. If I'm in a glider that gets low over rough forested terrain, and there are lakes around, I'm putting it in the water and paddling it to shore with whatever I have at hand).
answered 6 hours ago
John KJohn K
19.4k12356
edited 1 hour ago
answered 6 hours ago
John KJohn K
19.4k12356
answered 6 hours ago
John KJohn K
19.4k12356
answered 6 hours ago
John KJohn K
19.4k12356
19.4k12356
add a comment |
add a comment |
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2
$begingroup$
Actual boats won't stay afloat forever without additional help! But "long enough for rescue" is a good criterion for this scenario.
$endgroup$
– Toby Speight
4 hours ago
$begingroup$
There was significant damage to the rear lower fuselage, so it is not obvious how much water intrusion the ditch switch would have prevented anyway: flyian.net/aircraft/museum/ncam/1549/1549.htm
$endgroup$
– Adam
2 hours ago
$begingroup$
US-1549 was floating for two days after the landing into water even without the switch.
$endgroup$
– h22
57 mins ago