Monday, January 19, 2009

Ditch button on Airbus overhead panel

Anyone ever wondered what the ditch button, present on the overhead of Airbus airplanes, does?
Simple: in case of ditching the airplane (ditch = water landing in case of emergency) that button closes any outside openings (air vents, air outlet, etc.) to make it as water tight as possible in order to float.
Of course if the airplane disintegrate on impact that wouldn't be of much use, but in accidents, as the one on Hudson River, that button may have proved useful. From a procedure point of view it takes a lot less time to press one button than manually closing the openings separately. Time that can make the diffrence.

No comments: