I passed the Dunker test today. Since I've been talking about it and all my nervousness and panic is gone I thought I would talk you through the training. The Dunker training is designed to teach how to survive if you your plane crashes into the water. We were taught seven basic steps that will save your life if this should happen.
Step 1: Say I am a survivor. This step is first because we were told that in any emergency having your mind be in control is the first step to surviving.
Step 2: Unplug your radio. When flying in a helicopter or a one engine plane you may be required to wear a helmet. In the helmet is a radio to talk to the rest of the crew. There is a cord in the back of the helmet that is hooked into the plane. You need to unhook this before you hit the water.
Step 3: Open the door, lock the door, close the door and brace for impact. When you are about the crash you want to make sure that the lock on the door does not jam so you can't get out of the plane. So you open the door. We were told this is possible, then you set the locking mechanism so that the door can not completely shut. Another example of this principle is if your in a hotel room and you want to keep the door open when your in the hall you use the secruity lock to block the door from being able to lock shut. Same type of thing.
Step 4: Count 1 one thousand, 2 one thousand, 3 one thousand, 4 one thousand.. There are two reasons for this, by the time you get to 4 one thousand the plane should have stopped moving violently. You do not want to try to excape until all violet movement has stopped. Second reason is that it helps you to remain calm.
Step 5: Find your exit and clear away any debre then grab your reference point. A reference point is a fixed item on the plane close to the exit that won't move when you release your seat belt. My reference point was the bottom side of the seat. Never let go of your reference point unless you have exited the plane or moved to the next reference point.
Step 6: Release your seat belt, duck down and follow your reference point out of the plane. The reason you duck down is because your helmet is filled with foam and will cause you to rise, if you don't duck down you will hit your head on the frame of the door while trying to get out.
Step 7: Hand ( raise your hand up as you rise to protect yourself from any obsticles that might be in the way.),head,(let your head follow your hand),investigate, (look around to make sure that your in a safe spot, there are no fires, and to see where the rest of your team is. Inflat your vest. You don't want to inflate your vest inside the plane as it will rise quickly and you might float to back of the plane where you can't get out. Second a lifevest will inflate fast and rise quickly so you can not protect yourself from any obsticles. Once you reach the top you may want to try to get the survival bag out of the plane. You can't do that if your vest is inflated.
Now that you know the seven steps here is what a dunker test involves. First we had to wear normal clothes. I had wool socks, a pair of jean and a turtle neck on, and undergarments. We then had to get in the pool. Next step we had to prove that we could hold our breath for at least 15 seconds. That is supposedly the amount of time you will need to get out of the plane. Next test was to swim the length of the pool. This was harder in clothes than I thought and I was tired by the time I got to the end. Next part, we had to put on a life jacket while treading water. This was also challenging for me as the life jacket thrown at me was too small and I had a hard time loosening it up when I could not see the straps. The next part involves what do to when your in the water to keep warm and make yourself visible to search parties. I won't go into details about that. Now it is time for the final part the dunker itself. It doesn't look like much it is mainly PVC pipe in a square with seats and areas that are made to be the door, windshield, etc... There are 2 seats in the dunker which is called the pig. I am not sure why. You are in your flight vest, but you never actually inflate it. And you have your helmet on. You get into the pig fasten your selt belt and you go through steps 1-3 When you are braced for impact the dunker is tossed into the pool. You must do this four times with each time being a different scenario. The first scenario is that you fall lightly face first into the water and the pig is righted so you are in a normal sitting position just at the bottom of the pool. My second scenario was that we ended up upside down at the bottom of the pool. My third scenario was the the plane rolled 2 1/2 times on the bottom of the pool. The last scenario was that you crashed going in backwards and rolled. (In case your wondering if a plane can go backwards into water it can be rolled back on occassions and a helicoptor definately can hit the water backwards.) If you or your partner failed to follow the seven steps you were required to do another scenario. I am very pleased to say that my partner and I went through our four scenarios successfully.
I am very glad I went through the training. I am very glad I passed. I will never ignore a preflight safety briefing ever again. Especially if I am flying over the ocean.
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