YOU may end up feeling like your head is under water during Christmas party season but for the men and women of the Irish Air Corps it’s all in a day’s work.
The airborne service has uploaded a short video on Facebook showing personnel simulating an accident where a helicopter and its crew end up beneath the waves.
During Helicopter Underwater Escape Training (HUET) session crew members are seen preparing for landing in the water and then working to escape from the submerged aircraft.
“Many air corps missions involve flying over large expanses of water. Whether that be a Casa patrolling hundreds of miles off the west coast or an AW139 traveling to the UK on an aeromedical mission. This long exposure over the water brings with it a risk of having to ditch the aircraft should it suffer a significant failure," the air corps says.
“Air corps crews regularly train for this type of scenario in the National Maritime College of Ireland. There, we are put through our paces by instructors from the Irish Naval Service, in a setting that can imitate the high seas with environmental effects including waves, wind, lightning and pitch-black darkness.
“One of our drills is to practice escaping from an aircraft that has been submerged and inverted. Like many military drills, this exercise is designed to instill a “muscle memory” or reflex that will overcome the inevitable panic following a traumatic event," it added.
Many Air Corps missions involve flying over large expanses of water. Whether that be a Casa patrolling hundreds of miles... Posted by Irish Air Corps on Wednesday, December 16, 2015
