 Water covers more than 75% of the Earth's surface. Even though humans have mastered travel over these vast expanses, every day an aircraft has to ditch. If you ever have to ditch, you will be faced with one of the most inhospitable environments on Earth. Being properly equipped and prepared is the best way to increase your chances for survival. For training purposes, we will concentrate on the hazards that are unique to open water survival. An important fact to remember is that a survival situation begins at the time of an in-flight emergency. Once it is apparent that ditching is inevitable, you should operate as though you are in a survival mode. The main objective is to get the aircraft safely into the water with as little damage as possible. There won't be much planning time, so it's important to consider some what-if situations ahead of time. Each crew member should have a specific task to perform. Use a checklist to ensure that all tasks are completed. A checklist also helps everyone to think and act in a rational and logical manner. A checklist is helpful in any emergency situation, including survival. Before ditching the aircraft, there are some fundamental steps to be considered. Communicate your distress signal early. Don't fall into the trap of denying what is happening to you. Delaying critical decisions like this can decrease your chance of being rescued. As soon as a problem arises, the pilot should report the identification of the aircraft, the aircraft's present position, the nature of the emergency, and the pilot's intentions. Life preservers should be donned before you make contact with the water. All passengers and crew members should be wearing an FAA-certified life preserver. Life vests should not be inflated until evacuation from the aircraft has occurred. Inflating life vests prior to evacuation may puncture the vest while also making it difficult to fit through the emergency exit. So wait until you have completely cleared the exit. It's important that your life vest fit properly. Properly means keeping your head high out of the water. The greatest loss of body heat is through your head and neck. You should also know how to inflate it manually in case the CO2 canister fails. Again, learn this maneuver prior to an emergency situation. The next step is to remove hatches or establish an emergency exit. If you know you are going to crash onto the open water, prop open a door or window, or remove a hatch. Once in the water, the pressure may prevent you from opening any exits. Also, upon impact, the airframe may twist and warp. If this happens, doors or hatches may be impossible to remove. All loose items should be stowed. Anything that is not secured could become a projectile. This also means you if you are not wearing a safety restraint. Make sure that you and all crew members are strapped in with the proper safety restraints. Locate and secure survival gear. Secure all survival gear near the emergency exit so you can access it quickly. Before we discuss survival techniques, let's review the principles of successful ditching. Wind direction. With smaller aircraft, wind is a primary consideration. At night time, it may be impossible to tell the wind direction. White caps on the ocean will give you some indication. Sea conditions. When ditching an aircraft, look below at the wave patterns on the water's surface. Try to look for the primary swell. Primary swells are described as large swells with some distance between them. Large swells become your primary targets for landing. Land parallel with the swells if you can and on the top or backside of a swell. At all costs, avoid the face of a swell. You may also see secondary swells. These are created by winds and may run a different direction than the primary swells. Touchdown during ditching should be at the lowest speed possible. It should be a rate of descent that permits safe handling and optimum nose-up attitude on impact. Once impact is made, there is little a pilot can do to control a land plane on the water. If your aircraft has retractable landing gear, keep the gear up and belly skid into the water. Be aware that high wing or low wing aircraft with non-retractable gear have a tendency to flip in the water. Because of this, it is important that you maintain a reference point inside the cockpit so you will know where the exit is after impact. This is much more difficult than you may realize. The best way to prepare for this maneuver is to practice it in an aviation dunk trainer. As soon as the aircraft stops, evacuate. Check all crew members and assist any injured. If time and conditions permit, gather as much survival equipment as you can. Next, locate the raft and get it out of the aircraft. The first person out of the aircraft should inflate the raft, making sure it is moored to the plane. Those exiting the aircraft should use the mooring line to get into the raft. This means getting into the water. The raft needs to be away from the aircraft so that it does not become punctured from the metal debris. The mooring line will break away from the aircraft as the aircraft begins to sink. It is best to be moored to the aircraft as long as possible. Once in the raft, ensure that all crew members and passengers are present. There are several basic raft actions that must be accomplished. One individual should assume command. In accordance with international law, the pilot in command will continue to be in command onboard the raft unless he or she is injured or prefers to appoint someone else to that leadership role. Retrieve accessory container tied to raft. This container will typically have items to help keep your raft in good repair. A hand pump, repair plugs or patches, a bailing bucket and sponge, a sea anchor and first aid kit are just a few of the items located in this container. This kit should be closed and tied to the raft. Retrieve hand pump. Keep the raft cells fully inflated as this will help the raft to be more rigid and stable. Dry the raft using the bailing bucket and sponge. If the inside of the raft gets wet with seawater, it will be very uncomfortable for all the occupants. Bail out as much water as possible using the bailing bucket and dry the raft using the sponge. Inflate the floor. This will make the raft more rigid and stable as well as providing additional insulation from cooler waters. Check the sea anchor for proper release. A sea anchor will reduce drift and increase stability of the raft. The length of line should be adjusted according to the condition of the seas. Usually it is best to keep the sea anchor line long. Adjust its length so that when the raft is at the crest of a wave, the sea anchor will remain in the trough. Keep survivors distributed evenly and low in the raft. This will help to prevent your raft from capsizing. To prevent from falling out, no one should sit on the top or edge of the raft. Secure and adjust the canopy. Overhead protection from the hot sun and a barrier from the cool sea is a must. A protected environment can be provided by utilizing the raft's canopy. Protection is essential in helping to maintain the body's core temperature. If available, activate the Emergency Locator Transmitter or ELT. Once activated, allow it to run continuously. Otherwise, to potential rescuers, it may seem that the ELT was activated accidentally. Gather an inventory all survival equipment from the aircraft, the raft, and all personal survival kits. It's a good idea to categorize all equipment and have it ready and available for quick use. But more importantly, make sure all items are tied down in the event that the raft flips over. Any medical problems that arise during sea survival can be debilitating and life-threatening. These problems should be treated as soon as they arise. Shock. After experiencing the emergency situation and ditching, survivors may suffer from shock. Once in the raft, it is important to keep everybody as warm as possible without overheating. By erecting the raft's canopy and raising the spray shields, the temperature will increase quickly. Some survivors may suffer from shock more so than others. Watch for those who turn pale and have cool skin. Shock victims may sweat and breathe rapidly. Their pulse may be weak, but rapid. They may act dazed or be unconscious. If you notice any of these symptoms, suspect shock and treat it. Lay the victims flat with feet raised and keep them warm with extra clothing. Saltwater sores. These are produced from a combination of the saltwater environment and the constant rocking and shaping action of the raft. These sores have a blister-like appearance and feel like a mild burn. Do not open or squeeze these sores. Apply an antiseptic and try to keep the affected area dry. Immersion foot. Trench foot. Immersion foot is an injury caused by prolonged exposure to damp conditions. The feet will have a cracked and pruned appearance. They will be red in color and will then become pale. The foot will swell and become very sensitive to the touch. To prevent this problem, keep your raft and feet as dry as possible. Never wear wet socks for long periods of time. Use body heat to dry them. Promote good circulation in your feet by wiggling toes and ankles. Do not wear tight-fitting shoes. Immersion hypothermia. Hypothermia is the cooling of the body's core temperature. With immersion hypothermia, the rate of cooling is greatly accelerated. Sea water freezes at 28 to 29 degrees Fahrenheit. Water near icebergs is usually this cold. A person who comes in contact with water at such temperatures goes into an immediate form of shock. Upon submersion, smaller blood vessels and capillaries contract, causing the blood pressure and heart rate to increase. The victim will be unconscious in 7 minutes and could die in 20 minutes if not rescued from the cold water. Many individual factors affect survival time in cold water, age, body size, energy levels and type of clothing. All of these do influence survival time to some degree. The University of Victoria, British Columbia conducted a study to establish the correlation between water temperature and potential survival times. Subjects in this study were wearing life jackets and light clothing while remaining motionless. Swimming may seem to be the best way to keep warm in the water, but this is not the case. As a person swims, blood circulation increases in arms and legs, bringing more blood in contact with cooler water. As the blood cools and continues to circulate, it lowers the body's core temperature. Also when swimming, cold water is continuously being circulated outside the body, accelerating hypothermia. Studies have shown that swimming cools the body 25% faster than just remaining still. The average person can swim about 0.85 miles in 50 degree water before becoming incapacitated. As a general rule, if water temperature is 50 degrees or below and you have a flotation aid, don't swim. Instead, go into a fetal position and conserve your body heat. By remaining motionless in cold water, it will also heat the water around the body, which will help to insulate your body against the colder water. But if the raft is 100 feet or so from you, should you swim for it? Common sense would say yes, but this is going to be a judgment call. Dehydration. Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink. This old saying holds true even in an open water environment. Finding drinking water to fight dehydration while stranded at sea will be a challenge. You may find packaged water in the survival kits, but not in great quantities. The primary precaution to remember is that you should ration your sweat, not your drinking water. If there is water, drink it. It's better to have it in the body where it's doing some good. The temptation to drink seawater must be avoided. It could be lethal. Seawater is not a substitute for drinking water. If you drink seawater, you also consume large amounts of raw salt, which eventually poison the body's cells. The only safe substitute for drinking water is rainwater. Keep a lookout for rain showers. Prepare rain catchers, whatever you can find to collect rain, and have these ready for quick use in the event of a quick rain shower. In your raft accessory kit, you will find a reverse osmosis pump. This pump brings in seawater and removes the salt water from it, purifying it for consumption. By simply pumping one stroke per second for one hour, you will receive one quart of potable water. The sea is the greatest source of food on earth, but as a general rule, do not consume any food unless there is ample drinking water. Fish from the ocean can be eaten raw. Most all fish are edible, although there are a few that are poisonous to humans. As a general rule, if it looks like a typical fish, it is probably safe to consume. Fish that have the following characteristics should be avoided, brightly colored fish, fish having bristles or spines, fish that puff up or expand, or fish that have beak-like lips. Hazardous marine life in the ocean is more a psychological threat than a physical one. Most people who feel apprehension about what is down there do so primarily from fear of the unknown. A shark's primary role in the oceanic food chain is that of a scavenger. There are 300 or more species of sharks in the world's oceans, and of this number, only about nine are considered a threat to humans. Chances are you will probably never see a shark. Concentrate your mental energies on something more productive, such as being rescued or performing tasks instead of focusing on an unlikely shark attack. Sea snakes Sea snakes occasionally come to the surface. Do not try to capture or provoke them, as their bites are lethal. Jellyfish and the Portuguese man of war. These invertebrates have a bulbous-shaped body and long tentacles that can reach 100 feet in length. The tentacles have stinging cells used to stun small fish. If a person comes in contact with these tentacles, it can deliver a painful sting. Both species use water currents as transportation and float just under the water's surface. Watch for these and try to avoid them. Here are several ways you can avoid hazardous marine life. Do not splash water around your raft. This is an attraction to sharks. Throw all body waste far from your raft. If possible, enclose it in a plastic bag before discarding. Keep all hands and feet inside the raft. Try to keep all blood and wounds out of the water. Keep clothing on. Wear layers for protection. Do not fish if you know sharks are in the area. Stay in the raft at all times. Survival has but one goal. Rescue. The survivor's chief responsibility is to get the attention of the rescuer. Remember that extraction can be accomplished through many means. Rough seas can present a challenge to the most experienced of rescuers. If rescue by helicopter is evident, there are some precautions you need to take to ensure a safe rescue. Let the helicopter come to you. As it approaches, it will typically drop a pickup device in the water and drag it to your position. While this is occurring, you should partially deflate the cells of the raft. This will prevent the raft from becoming airborne and damaging the helicopter. As the device is being lowered, there will be a buildup of static electricity, so do not touch the device before it has made contact with the water. Once the helicopter gets in the optimum position, it will hover. You can then approach the device. Due to the downwash from the helicopter rotors, it will be very difficult to see. Try to keep the rescue device in sight. If possible, a rescue diver will be lowered with the device to assist you. If you have to don or enter the device on your own, look for simple one-word directions. When secured to the device, let rescue personnel know. Give a splashing thumbs up. But remember, rescue personnel may not be able to see due to the rotor wash, so exaggerate your signal. Remain still on the way up. There is a possibility that the device may start to spin. Try to keep your movements minimal. Do not assist when entering the helicopter. Listen for instructions. Let rescue personnel remove the device from you. The particular pickup devices used to extract survivors is dependent on the type of helicopter used. Rescue Strop Sometimes called the horse collar, the rescue strop is essentially a padded loop. The strop is designed to fit under the arms and around the torso. To don the strop, take the open strop and roll it around the torso. Make sure that the strop fits underneath the armpit area. Next, take the D-ring, the end that is not connected to the cable, and bring it to the front and insert it through the sliding buckle. Then connect it to the hook. Locate the safety strap and place it between the legs, attaching it to the sliding buckle. The safety strap should remain loose and not fit tightly. Prepare for ascent. Make sure that the cable and hook are in front of your face. Cross your arms on your chest and turn your head to one side. The penetrating rescue seat is a device designed to accommodate one to two downed rescue victims. The device is lowered with the seat arms in the closed or up position. Upon reaching the rescue victim, the seat arms are open to the down position. The victim straddles the seat arms, wraps the safety strap around the torso, and snaps it to the D-ring on the device body, and gives the rescue crew the ready-to-lift signal. The victim should hug the device body and turn their head to one side. If two persons are to be lifted, they should hug each other. Those being lifted should not attempt to separate from the device unless assisted by rescue personnel. Rescue basket or Stokes litter In the event of rescue involving untrained civilians at sea, a rescue basket or Stokes litter may be used. The procedure is safe and simple. The survivor climbs in, lies or sits down, and is then hoisted out of the sea. It is imperative that extremities remain inside the basket or litter. If the basket swings into the helicopter or door frame, injury could result. Hopefully you will never be faced with an open water survival situation. But don't take the attitude that it can't happen to you. Being prepared will increase your confidence, and it could save your life. If you're not sure about what you need or what to do, take the time to learn. There are excellent resources available on survival techniques. Share your knowledge and skills with others who fly with you. You'll then have the best chance for survival, not only in open water, but in any unfortunate situation.