June 2012 - Indian Airforce

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At present on our couriers flying oceanic routes, the sole means of communication is the HF for obtaining weather and other information. The HF system employed suffers many limitations due to ageing and interference. This places additional work load on aircrew in terms of updating of information for diversion. Diversion. A major consideration when flying overseas is the non-availability of diversions en-route. There may only be a few routes that have an island en-route with an airfield that could serve as a diversion. Otherwise, there are none available on most of the routes. Therefore any critical emergency which otherwise requires aircraft to divert, would require ditching over sea due to lack of diversions. Calculations of Critical Point and Point of No Return assume greater significance in oceanic route flying. alike for decades. Most of the convective weather phenomena that occur over land originate over the sea. The large amount of moisture available over oceans gives rise to weather developing in a short span of time, making it unpredictable and intense in nature. Weather radar is therefore a pre-requisite on oceanic routes. Weather check through R/T from other aircraft ahead / behind on the same route also helps. Briefings must take into account sea surface temperature and lapse rate over the areas being flown as they give an idea of the build up expected. Ditching. The term ditching is synonymous with forced landing on land. Ditching is also a procedure to recover aircraft on water. The statistical chances of surviving a ditching are high. It is estimated that 88% of controlled ditchings result in few injuries to pilots or passengers. You are more likely to die Weather. Ocean climatology has always been a subject of mystery to the aviator and meteorologist 14 Aerospace Safety J u n e 2 0 1 2 INDIAN AIR FORCE
after ditching by drowning, usually hastened by hypothermia and exhaustion. By wearing a life jacket in the aeroplane your survival prospects are greatly improved. However, in cold water, that is 15 degrees Celsius or less, or life expectancy in the water is only about one hour. There are various other issues that have to be borne in mind while ditching. One of the most difficult things to get right in a ditching is judging the height for the round off. Most aircrew would not have experienced landings without an undercarriage. Thus you will be used to seeing a particular attitude at the round off. In the ditching case that attitude will be a little different because the aeroplane should be a little closer to the surface, to cater for the lack of an undercarriage. In general terms it is always preferable to impact the water as slowly as possible, under full control; but do not stall the aeroplane. Keep the wings parallel to the surface of the water on impact, i.e. wings level in calm conditions. One wing tip striking the water first will cause a violent uncontrollable slewing action. Ditching into the face of the swell or into waves should be avoided because the aeroplane will behave in a similar manner to one impacting a cliff face. There are many other factors that go into a successful ditching like the design, condition of sea, winds etc at the time of ditching. It will suffice to say that there is a fair amount of risk involved. After a successful ditching, the next task will be of survival. Needless to say, it isn’t easy and is inversely proportional to the amount of time spent at sea. Type of survival equipment, proximity to the coast and rescue team’s equipment would all affect your chances of survival. Regularly and (more importantly) seriously practising ditching drills helps keep presence of mind in actual situations. -Sqn Ldr Binu Venugopal INDIAN AIR FORCE 2 0 1 2 J u n e Aerospace Safety 15
Page 4 and 5: Gp Capt (Retd) Rajesh Kumar 2 Aeros
Page 6 and 7: well and he decided to clear the pi
Page 8 and 9: Wg Cdr Juhi Borgohain 6 Aerospace S
Page 10 and 11: World Health Organisation The WHO e
Page 12 and 13: Sqn Ldr R Kadyan Since the dawn of
Page 14 and 15: Sqn Ldr Binu Venugopal 12 Aerospace
Page 18 and 19: Flt Lt UB Singh 16 Aerospace Safety
Page 20 and 21: Flt Lt K Sharma Lessons Learnt in F
Page 22 and 23: Sqn Ldr NK Rath 20 Aerospace Safety
Page 24 and 25: Flt Lt Anoop SL 22 Aerospace Safety
Page 26 and 27: Sqn Ldr Vikram Chhibber It was Oct
Page 28 and 29: further enhancing the jovial atmosp
Page 30 and 31: Cdr Sunil Chungath Somebody asked m
Page 32 and 33: On 28 Oct 11, 786517-A Cpl P R Deor
Page 34 and 35: On 16 Nov 11, 913796-F Cpl TB Sriva
Page 36: 36 Aerospace Safety J u n e 2 0 1 2

June 2012 - Indian Airforce

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