Can you imagine being strapped into a seat inside this section of a helo and then hitting the water after a major malfunction, then having to brace for impact, then find your way out of this huge washing machine (yes, you go upside down) with very limited visibility? That's what we did yesterday. Practice a lotttttt of water egress while feeling disorientation. I just have gotta say, that's a situation I don't ever want to find myself in (the aircraft crashing, of course).
We all had to familiarize and build up to that point, however, by learning how to unstrap ourselves from safety harnesses and find reference points which would eventually lead us to our exit. Turning and pulling knobs and handles in the dark is hard enough, all I have to say is that you definitely should be familiiar with your aircraft. Then we did the SWET (Survival Water Egress Trainer) where we sit in a set and then manually turn us upside down, teaching us how to brace for impact and find a way out despite the disorientation. That is when you start getting used to water going in your nose. 2 times and a third time with blackened goggles and then you move on to the helo dunker. The backseaters also got to practice the helo hoist... the "save me, save me" technique and then how to attach yourself without the help of a SAR swimmer.
All in a day's work. Oh, finally took the freakin class picture. Aren't we lovable?
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