35 Miles from Shore (14 page)

When the controller heard this transmission, he immediately notified his supervisor who in turn called the Coast Guard to alert them of the possible ditching.

Balsey began the process of mentally preparing himself for putting the plane in the water. Normally, if a ditching is imminent, it is
preferable to be at a higher altitude to allow for a better approach to the water. The DC-9, however, is not the best glider. A higher altitude would require a pronounced nose-down attitude in order to maintain enough airspeed to prevent the aircraft from stalling, not the best attitude for ditching. More importantly, however, they were in instrument conditions and unable to see the water.

Balsey also had to decide whether to go in with the gear up or down. The recommended procedure is to ditch with the gear in the up position. There are, however, proponents who say that ditching with the gear down is preferred because it prevents the aircraft from skipping over the water, which leads to secondary impacts.

Sea conditions were another important consideration. In calm winds, it is preferable to land parallel to the swells. In stronger winds, it is best to crab slightly into the wind while still trying to land parallel to the swells. Say, for example, the winds are out of the west and the swell movement is west to east; the aircraft should be headed north or south with an appropriate crab for the wind. In addition, the goal is to land on the crest or back side of the swell. The worst way to ditch an aircraft is to land in the face of a swell.
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All of these things were running through Balsey's mind while at the same time he was still hand-flying the aircraft, navigating to St. Croix, and talking on the radio. He was doing exactly what every pilot is taught to do in an emergency: aviate, navigate, and communicate. It could also be argued, though, that he was doing too much and that he should have delegated more of the workload to the other two crewmembers.

Passing through four thousand feet, they were still in the clouds and on instruments. Balsey started to slow his descent. He didn't want to be in a steep descent when he broke out of the overcast.

“I'm going to fly this until we get the first dry tank indication,” Balsey announced. While he still had hopes of making it to St. Croix,
there were some advantages to ditching with power. It would give him a little maneuvering flexibility. But if he ditched the aircraft with the engines still running, how would he explain that to investigators?

Hugh reached over the center console to tilt the radar down, hoping to pick out St. Croix. There was still too much precipitation to see much of anything.

“You better get back to the cabin and see if you can help out,” Balsey told Hugh.

Hugh reached for the cockpit door but hesitated. He was considering whether or not to don his life vest. He didn't want to alarm the passengers, but at the same time, he didn't want to get caught without a life vest should they actually have to ditch. He put the vest over his head and secured the straps around his waist. When he opened the cockpit door, he saw Tobias standing in the aisle giving the life vest demonstration. He couldn't see into the cabin past Tobias, so he went to the galley to make sure everything was secure and that there weren't any loose items lying around. He returned briefly to the cockpit and removed Balsey's flight bag and his own briefcase from behind Balsey's seat, placing them in a coat closet. He noticed Balsey was having some difficulty with his shoulder harness, so he extended it for him and placed it on his lap. He turned around to check on the progress in the cabin and spotted Wilfred walking up the aisle. “Are they ready?” Hugh asked Wilfred. When Wilfred indicated that they were, Hugh passed it on to Balsey that the cabin was ready.
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A
S
W
ILFRED WAS LEAVING THE COCKPIT TO PREPARE
the cabin for the possible ditching, Hugh Hart asked him if it was okay to use the life vest that he was holding in his hands. The oddly-colored pink life vest had the note “Do Not Remove” imprinted on the plastic covering. Wilfred assured him that it was okay to use the vest. He left the cockpit and walked down the aisle toward the rear of the aircraft. He called to Tobias as he passed the overwing exit where Tobias was sitting. “
Tito, nos tin ku duna demonstrashon di life vest awor unbes,
” he said in Papiamento. Papiamento was the language the flight attendants most often used when conversing with each other. The English translation of what he said was: “Tito, we have to give the life vest demonstration right away.” A passenger sitting nearby would later testify that Wilfred had said something to the effect of, “Come with me, something's cooking.”

When Wilfred was told to prepare for a possible ditching, he had several important decisions to make. Since the captain hadn't given
him a specific timeframe, he had to determine which tasks to perform first. Preparing the cabin for an emergency landing involves many steps: informing the remaining flight attendants of the emergency; informing the passengers; going through the cabin to make sure there are no loose items; making sure everyone has their seat belts secured; making sure that all the window shades are opened (this allows crew members and passengers to see outside as well as allow emergency crews to see inside). Time permitting, the flight attendants must also demonstrate and explain the brace position; have the passengers remove sharp objects such as pens, tie clasps, hair pins, as well as remove ties, high heeled shoes and eyeglasses; secure the galleys; and reposition passengers who can help with the opening of emergency exits. This particular emergency had the added necessity of getting the passengers into their life vests. Since some of the items related to preparing the cabin had already been accomplished prior to the planned landing in St. Maarten, Wilfred decided that the first task to be accomplished was to get everyone into their life vests. The other tasks could be accomplished as time permitted.

Wilfred gathered Tobias and Margareth in the back of the cabin and gave them a quick run-down of the situation as he understood it, telling them that they were running low on fuel and that they were to prepare the cabin for a possible ditching. He told them to use their own life vests and not to use the demonstration life vests, which had no compressed air. Margareth and Tobias already knew this, but it was Wilfred's job to remind them.
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When Tobias first heard that they were running low on fuel, he thought about a remark that he had heard from another flight attendant concerning the New York–St. Maarten flights. Tobias had worked several ONA flights prior to this one. It wasn't his job to know how much fuel the plane carried. But the flight attendants
who worked the ONA trips knew that it was a fuel-critical flight. For one thing, they all knew of the possibility of having to stop in Bermuda for fuel. They had also heard rumors about an extra fuel tank that was supposed to have been installed. More alarming, though, were the remarks made by some of the ALM pilots who quietly referred to the ONA flights as “suicide missions.” The ALM pilots felt that there was a good possibility that the plane would run out of fuel. They felt if it were going to happen, it would most likely happen on the return flight to New York, where traffic congestion might delay the arrival.

Tobias was concerned but not frightened. Even though he had been a flight steward for less than a year, he had already experienced several non-routine flights. He was on one flight in which the pilots had an indication that the landing gear wasn't down. He and the other flight attendants had to prepare for a possible emergency landing. It turned out to be a faulty indication. He was on another flight in which the plane was set to land during a heavy snowstorm in New York but had to go around at the last minute due to poor visibility. In every case the plane had always landed safely without incident. It was the nature of the business to be cautious. This confidence that things would work out allowed the three flight attendants to do their jobs calmly and professionally. The passengers likewise took their cues from the flight attendants. There was no panic in the cabin.

Tobias and Margareth grabbed their life vests from under the flight attendant jump seats and took their positions in the cabin—Margareth in front and Tobias in the middle. Wilfred used the PA system in the rear of the cabin. Wilfred had had his share of non-routine flights himself. This one, however, he sensed was different. He had seen the navigator holding his life vest. He heard the tension in the voices of the crew members. Still, there was no indication that a ditching was imminent. He proceeded under the assumption
that there would at least be a warning should the aircraft actually be forced to ditch.
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He told the passengers that the plane was running low on fuel and that the captain had requested that they prepare for a possible ditching as a “precautionary measure.” He gave the instructions in English and from memory. He instructed them to not inflate their life vests until they were in the water. There are several reasons for this: An inflated life vest is constraining and could interfere with the person's ability to exit the aircraft. An inflated life vest is also vulnerable to puncture inside the aircraft. The most valid reason for not inflating the life vest inside the aircraft is that if the cabin were to rapidly fill up with water, the wearer might be unable to reach the exit.
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The passengers were also told to tighten the straps around their waists, but not too tightly. The rationale behind this policy was to prevent a feeling of constraint. But many passengers were rightfully confused by this instruction. How tight is too tight? Why wouldn't you want the straps as tight as possible?

Nothing was said about life rafts. Wilfred also failed to mention where the life vests were located. Most passengers knew to look under their seats either from the previous briefing or from the emergency briefing cards. Those who didn't know where to find their vests quickly observed the other passengers or were assisted by the flight attendants. There was also no attempt made to enlist the help of passengers by placing them in seats where they could help with
the launching of life rafts. In Wilfred's defense, after he made the announcement about the life vests, he was immediately preoccupied with helping passengers. He also had other duties to perform—such as positioning the forward life raft and removing the slide bars from the two front doors. He did what he thought was the most prudent thing to do with the information he had at the time, and that was to get the passengers into their vests as soon as possible.

The life vests were located in a pouch beneath each passenger seat. The pouch had a strap-and-snap fastener holding the life vest in place. The pouch and strap were designed so that passengers could easily remove the vests while seated without having to remove their seatbelts. Although a few passengers were able to accomplish this task, most had difficulty. Some had to undo their seatbelts in order to reach far enough beneath them to reach the pouch. Some couldn't undo the snap. One passenger actually ripped the snap off in an attempt to free his life vest. More than a few people were forced to get out of their seats and onto their knees. Even then some had difficulty undoing the snaps, which had to be pulled down to open. At least one passenger testified that there was no vest in the pouch beneath his seat and that he was forced to remove one from an adjacent seat.

The life vests were sealed inside a protective plastic cover. Many passengers had difficulty with the pull tabs on the covers. Some were easier to open than others. One passenger used a pocket knife to free his vest.

Donning the life vest presented additional problems for the passengers, despite their having had two prior demonstrations. Part of the difficulty was due to the fact that there were two different types of vests on board, each with different methods of donning and securing. One type of vest required the wearer to connect the waist straps to a D-ring located in the front of the vest. The second type of vest
had permanent attachments to the waist straps. Many passengers put their vests on correctly and secured the waist straps but neglected to tighten the straps around their waist.
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One passenger, after successfully donning and securing his life vest, asked Margareth if it would be better to not fasten his seatbelt, arguing that he would be able to get out faster if the seatbelt wasn't fastened. Margareth assured him that it was best to fasten his seatbelt.
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Wilfred walked from the rear of the plane toward the front, helping passengers as he made his way up the aisle. One man had his vest on backwards. Another man asked Wilfred for help with his two little girls. The life vests were obviously too big, and the waist straps hung below the girls' knees. Wilfred tightened the straps between their legs as he had been instructed and then inflated both vests. This was the proper procedure for children who were too young to inflate the vests on their own.

When he reached the front of the cabin, he was met by Hugh, who wanted to know where the life rafts were located. Hugh hadn't had any formal emergency training on the DC-9; his natural instinct was to revert to his training on the DC-8. Hugh had been shown the raft locations on one of his two prior flights in the DC-9 but didn't want to rely on his memory now. When Wilfred told Hugh about the raft in the coat closet, Hugh asked Wilfred if it was the raft that needed to be repositioned. Wilfred told him yes, and together they went to the coat closet to remove the raft. There were a few loose items resting on top of the raft: some coats, newspapers, and one
or two small bags. Hugh shoved those items to the back then grabbed the raft package and started to pull on it. The raft barely budged. The raft had flattened over time and was wedged in tightly. Hugh abandoned the task and returned to the cockpit. A passenger, Emerson Ussery, saw Wilfred struggling with the raft and got out of his seat to assist. Together they were able to pull the raft from the closet.
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