Even though equipped with survival kits, pilots still have to work hard and have a strong spirit to ensure their lives.

French pilots train for survival at sea. Photo: Ministre de la Defense

When the distress signal flashes on the dashboard, the first thing that fighter pilots think about is to find a way to ensure the safety of their aircraft. However, if all efforts to save the plane are in vain, they will be forced to press the red button in front of the pilot's seat to activate the ejection seat.

But escaping does not mean the pilots' lives are guaranteed. They now face a difficult period of survival that only those who are well-trained and have a strong spirit can overcome, according to Aviations militaires.

The challenge becomes even more severe when the pilots have to parachute into the vast ocean, where human life becomes more fragile than ever.

According to the French Air Force Rescue and Survival Training Center, in order to save their lives when parachuting into the sea, pilots must follow a mandatory four-step procedure.

First, the pilot must do everything possible to stay calm and avoid unnecessary panic. They must attempt to land safely, remove their parachute, adjust their clothing to suit the seawater temperature (in hot weather, the pilot must remove some of their protective gear), and approach and stabilize themselves on the self-inflating life raft.

Next, they will quickly activate radio equipment or fire flares to signal their location to search and rescue forces, and prepare themselves mentally to be rescued at any time.

After settling on the float, pilots will have to think immediately about ensuring their body's hydration (in case there is no seawater purifier, pilots can mix the fresh water stored in the rescue kit with seawater in a certain ratio.

The final step is finding food sources. In fact, a healthy pilot can survive 15 days at sea without food.

A survival kit of a French fighter pilot. Photo: Ministre de la Defense

A vital aid to pilots in this four-step process is the survival kit, which is installed under the ejection seat. The components of the survival kit are specified based on the terrain in which the fighter aircraft operates, such as sea terrain, desert terrain, and tropical forest terrain.

Typically, a survival kit for pilots operating in maritime terrain includes a self-inflating life preserver, a self-inflating life preserver for radio equipment, waterproof flares, some protein tablets, glucose to ensure energy for the pilot, some 100 ml bottles of drinking water, a small seawater purifier, a sharp knife, fishing equipment and some items such as sunglasses and anti-chapping lip balm.

French experts say food is not a priority in this survival kit because humans can survive for days without food, but without sunglasses, pilots' eyes are easily damaged in the harsh sunlight, meaning they cannot perform life-sustaining skills.

With the above equipment and skills, the pilot's chance of survival when having to parachute into the sea is very high, however, they still have to maintain a strong spirit to be ready to endure the challenges ahead when having to fight alone at sea, possibly for many days.

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According to VNE