PILOT ESCAPING THROUGH UNDERWATER EJECTION

Do you remember that some fighter pilots could safely eject from underwater back in 1965? Could it be survived? One may wonder but a few ejections were reported. The transcript is below the video. Look at that canopy, it looks like it came from an F-8 Crusader:

TRANSCRIPT:

If your aircraft has provision for underwater ejection, you have a ready-made, secondary escape route. Succesful underwater ejections can be made from any aircraft attitude – nose down, tail down, and inverted.

Escape by this method requires no preparation other than that recommended for normal seat ejection. There should be at least ten feet of water above you before you can safely eject. Never eject from the surface. With present systems, the chute cannot open with a zero-zero situation (which means at a height of 0 and at a speed of 0). The effect of free-falling 80 feet to water is little different than falling 80 feet to concrete. True, some lucky ones have lived to tell about it. But it is one hell of a gamble.

When you eject through the canopy underwater, the seat breaks through clearing the way for your body. Because water resistance imposes terrific forces on your head and neck, it is vital to hold the face curtain tight against your head for support. The forces of ejection might cause a momentary blackout. Immediately upon collecting your wits, disconnect yourself from the seat by pulling the emergency release handle breaking your restraints. Now, separate yourself from the seat. This is difficult. You will have to kick and swim violently even though you are disconnected.

If your chute gets hung up on the seat, do not waste time trying to clear it. Release your riser fittings and swim clear off the chute. Do not inflate flotation equipment until clear of the seat. Remember, surface slowly, exhaling as you go. Remove your oxygen mask.

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FUKUSHIMA NUCLEAR ACCIDENT FALLOUT

Firefighters, as well as military personnel might be involved in a CRO (Crisis Response Operation – WARNING as this acronym has many other meanings in the military).

To whom it may concern, a short vocabulary review could be useful in case of (let’s hope you won’t deal with it) either natural disasters or a nuclear powerplant accident.

For instance:

  • « Fallout » is used in the headline above, and it means « consequences » but it also means « fallout » like in « radioactive/radiological fallout » (retombees radioactives/radiologiques)
  • NRBC (Nuclear, Radiological, Biological, and Chemical) or CBRN (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear)
  • Meltdown scenario = scenario de fusion du coeur du reacteur
  • Plume of smoke = Panache de fumee
  • Tidal wave, tsunami = Tsunami
  • Earthquake, quake = Tremblement de terre
  • Tremor = Secousse, replique
  • Shake, shaking = Secousse
  • Mud slide (prononcez [meud slaïd])/Land slide = Coulee de boue/Glissement de terrain
  • Flood/Flooding (prononcez [fleud] ou [fleuding]) = innondation
  • Fire/Arson = Incendie/Incendie criminel

…and so on. Watch, and listen carefully to this PBS News-Hour video:

  

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Air Force SERE – Survival Evasion Resistance and Escape

SERE stands for Survival-Evasion-Resistance-Escape for the US Air Force, and Survive-Evade-Resist-Extract for the Royal Air Force. Watch the video shot at the USAF Survival School, Joint Personnel Recovery Agency (JPRA), Fairchild AFB, Washington:

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Hudson river ditching – January 15, 2009

Thanks to both Pierre, and Xavier who shared this link, you can see how the events unfolded, and how – thanks to the pilot Chesley « Sully » Sullenberg, the flight officer Jeffrey Skiles, and the air traffic controller’s self-control – the flight 1549 passengers remained unscathed: (you can read the radiocommunication transcript in the bottom right corner of the video hereafter)

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NASA finds out more water than expected on the moon

Moon in blue sky
Photo © Dominique Belasky

The argument that the moon is a dry, desolate place no longer holds water.

Secrets the moon has been holding, for perhaps billions of years, are now being revealed to the delight of scientists and space enthusiasts alike.

NASA today opened a new chapter in our understanding of the moon. Preliminary data from the Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS, indicates that the mission successfully uncovered water during the Oct. 9, 2009 impacts into the permanently shadowed region of Cabeus cater near the moon’s south pole.

The impact created by the LCROSS Centaur upper stage rocket created a two-part plume of material from the bottom of the crater. The first part was a high angle plume of vapor and fine dust and the second a lower angle ejecta curtain of heavier material. This material has not seen sunlight in billions of years.

READ FULL ARTICLE here >>>>>

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