As far as parachutes...it is not standard practice to don chutes for every emergency. Generally, a ditch is always preferred, if able, to a bail out. Realize there has never been an emergency bailout of a P-3. The chutes are extremely cumbersome and most P-3 missions require the crew to be able to move around the tube quickly and easily. Add ambient heat down low, plus SV2s, and you have a recipe for heat exhaustion. Bailout is only considered an option when there is no other recourse, i.e. a fire that will not go out. I think the time req from calling "Bailout" to first man out the door is supposed to be 2 minutes...but my memory is full of spanish grammar right now...
Leaving the aircraft is the ultimate option, but with 4 engines and the reduntant systems, it isn't really seen as a choice in most cases. My old Skipper used to do bailout drills on PPC checkrides, where he would just continue to pile emergencies on, until you had no choice to bail out. This required some thought, since there is no EP that ends with BAILOUT. It's the PPC's call, and a good way to evaluate someone's thought process and familiarity with NATOPS. Bail out requires the PPC to get his chute and helmet on, then have the entire crew jump, leaving him alone, to trim up the plane, stablize, and then sprint to the aft main cabin door in an attempt to exit. Who says Navy guys don't have to run fast?
There HAVE been ditches. I HIGHLY recommend the book "Adak", true story about a crew that had to ditch in the sea near Alaska. Not everyone lived in that one. F#cking scary.
