From: kozelsm@comcast.net   
      
   Bertie the Bunyip  wrote:   
   >   
   > "Scott M. Kozel"  wrote in   
   >   
   >> I didn't know that either ... is it an urban legend?  After all, most   
   >> ditchings result in (at the minimum) cracks in the fuselage, which   
   >> would let in a lot more water than open valves.   
   >>   
   >> Besides, "waterline" is a nautical term, not an aviation term (unless   
   >> talking about a flying boat, i.e. an aircraft that has a hull designed   
   >> to land on water).  That would exclude the A-320.   
   >   
   > Actually, wrong on both counts. There is a term waterline" used in aircraft   
   > ( as well as keel!) but it actually has nothing to do with the way the   
   > thing sits in the water. That is considered, however, for th epsecific   
   > purpose of figuring how the thing is going to sit during a ditching.   
   >   
   > And all Busses have ditching swtiches. Closes all the various holes in the   
   > belly to slow th eingresss of water. Theyre not the first or only   
   > manufacturer to do so either. With Boeings an some others, similar   
   > consideration is given but not to the same degree. In any case, as has been   
   > seen, they float anyhow.   
      
   I stand corrected, then.  It did indeed float, even though heavily   
   loaded, as it had just taken off with a full load of pax.  It also   
   showed that it is possible to successfully ditch a jet airliner,   
   something that had only rarely been tried.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)