Alexander Gerst during helicopter underwater escape training

ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst during helicopter underwater escape training.

Members of ESA’s astronaut support teams participated in a helicopter underwater escape training which is mandatory for people involved in astronaut landing operations, including flight surgeons and photographers.

The course lasts for a full day, divided into theoretical and practical components. Trainees spend half a day in the classroom to learn procedures, what to do during a helicopter ditching, and using compressed air emergency breathing systems.

The second half of the day is dedicated to the practical part of the underwater escape training, which grows in intensity after the first introduction to the water. On the first round, a helicopter replica is gently submerged into the water and then increasing speed and even adding rotations on next attempts.

Once escaping from a submerged helicopter, participants receive training on further survival techniques such as boarding a life raft and mitigating the risk of hypothermia. 

A successful certification for helicopter emergency water landings is valid for two years.