If recent news coverage of pilots forced to ditch their aircraft has you rattled, you can train for the possibility that you might be in the same situation through a new course offered by Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
Embry-Riddle has partnered with Antipodean Aviation of Australia to offer survival training in emergency water landings for fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft. Once enrolled, participants have 30 days to complete a theory-based online course, and then receive one day of practical training in a pool, using a simulator known as a portable shallow-water egress trainer. The practical training takes place at Embry-Riddle’s Prescott, Ariz., campus.
Participants can choose one of two options: aircraft ditching, escape, and survival, a class aimed at general aviation pilots that is said to be similar to a helicopter underwater escape training course but more comprehensive; and aircraft ditching, escape, and survival with emergency breathing systems, designed for flight crews who use emergency breathing systems such as a helicopter aircrew breathing device, a helicopter emergency egress device, or a survival egress air device.
Both versions are priced at $750 per person. For more information, contact Albert Astbury, interim director of the Office of Professional Education, at 386/226-7694 or by email.
Embry-Riddle’s partnership with Antipodean Aviation will develop more than 50 courses on advanced aviation topics for pilots, flight nurses, flight paramedics, and public safety officers, the university said in a press release.