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Has a life rift ever been successfully deployed in the event of an air accident?

By successfully I mean removed from the aircraft, placed on the water, inflated and used by passengers/crew as a life raft.

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  • $\begingroup$ This question is too broad. The answer is yes, many, many, many times. You need to narrow it down in scope to get a reasonable answer. $\endgroup$
    – Juan Jimenez
    Jun 17, 2019 at 12:15
  • $\begingroup$ It's really not all that broad and it is singularly answerable. Might not be the answer the OP is after, but it's a simple, concrete answer to the question. $\endgroup$
    – FreeMan
    Jun 17, 2019 at 12:23
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    $\begingroup$ Actually I should have limited it to commercial airliners. Pants. $\endgroup$
    – user
    Jun 17, 2019 at 12:26
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    $\begingroup$ It's typically not well-received when an edit invalidates an answer. Please consider reverting back to the original question, and ask a new one with more details if you want. Before you do, a Cessna 152 can be flown commercially, so be sure to properly limit the scope, to say, jet-liners than are heavier than x kg, flying over oceans and not rivers, etc. Whatever you have in mind, but in detail. $\endgroup$
    – user14897
    Jun 17, 2019 at 12:42
  • $\begingroup$ Voted to close, I'll try again, but it's frustrating that there is no way to fix it and keep the existing answers that are appreciated. $\endgroup$
    – user
    Jun 17, 2019 at 12:47

2 Answers 2

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Sure. For example, Eddie Rickenbacker and 6 other people spent 3 weeks adrift aboard life rafts after their B-17 ditched in WW2.

Read more -- https://www.historynet.com/eddie-rickenbacker-and-six-other-people-survive-a-b-17-crash-and-three-weeks-lost-in-the-pacific-ocean.htm

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  • $\begingroup$ I'm not sure if a WW2 bomber qualify as commercial $\endgroup$
    – Quentin H
    Jun 17, 2019 at 12:28
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    $\begingroup$ @QuentinH that qualification was edited in after this answer. Hate it when an edit invalidates an answer. $\endgroup$
    – Jamiec ♦
    Jun 17, 2019 at 12:30
  • $\begingroup$ @Jamiec nicely spotted, I should have checked. Maybe the other guys did order some US "carpets" with next-day delivery though... that would make the answer valid. $\endgroup$
    – Quentin H
    Jun 17, 2019 at 12:33
  • $\begingroup$ Btw the linked article could be used as the basis for other questions. Specifically-- . "In the end, however, all Y could provide was a compass course reading, which was worthless since that did not tell the crew whether they were flying toward or away from their destination. Without a bearing the pilot did not know in which direction to fly." -- How is this plausible? The author would have us believe "island Y" could tell the B-17 which direction it was flying but could not provide a bearing? This makes no sense. Actually, it's so nonsensical that it's probably not a good subject for a q $\endgroup$
    – quiet flyer
    Jun 17, 2019 at 12:57
  • $\begingroup$ "An hour before the estimated arrival time, Captain Cherry throttled back, slowly descended to about 1,000 feet and began looking for Canton Island." -- this makes no sense either, unless there was an overcast above this level -- you've been flying over the ocean for almost 2000 miles and you don't know exactly where you are so your strategy is to descend to a thousand feet, where your field of view will be greatly limited-- a whole hour before your ETA? Interesting. I don't think the author was a pilot. $\endgroup$
    – quiet flyer
    Jun 17, 2019 at 13:02
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US Airways Flight 1549 ditched in the Hudson river after a multi-engine bird strike on January 15, 2009.
According to these pictures, they did deploy the emergency slides which were eventually detached and used as emergency rafts:

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Emergency slides in airliners are actual life rafts. They are designed for that and often include survival kits and canopies:

enter image description here

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  • $\begingroup$ I agree with @ymb, the criteria (from the start) was that the life rafts be deployed. Make-shift rafts make out of slides don't count I'm afraid. $\endgroup$
    – user
    Jun 17, 2019 at 12:48
  • $\begingroup$ Slides are NOT make-shift rafts. They are designed to be rafts once everyone is out of the aircraft. $\endgroup$
    – Quentin H
    Jun 17, 2019 at 12:49
  • $\begingroup$ Some even have sun canopies i.pinimg.com/originals/ad/08/40/… $\endgroup$
    – Quentin H
    Jun 17, 2019 at 12:50

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