So, you know how on commercial flights they do the pre-flight briefing that hardly anyone pays attention to? There is really only one part that I perk up for and that’s the life vest demonstration. They show this video on some flights of a person inflating their life vests and it is hilarious – at least, from the perspective of my brother and I in our teenage years. Anyways, the point of this rambling is to tell you about Brent’s recent training experience that involves life vests, lifeboats, and simulated ocean water.
Part of his training here involves learning how to deal with all sorts of emergencies he may face during his flights. Considering the amount of flying he will be doing over water – to go to Australia and some of the outlying PNG islands – the instructors here decided to prep Brent and Ryan (the other trainee pilot) for a water emergency. They went to an indoor pool, complete with a wave machine, and practiced recovering from a water landing. Some of the “passengers” were instructed to pretend they were unconscious, some to play dumb, and some to act hysterical and Brent’s job was to get them all safely in the lifeboat. These pictures will show you what that was like…