flotation bags

plural noun

1. bags inflated to keep a spacecraft or helicopter afloat and upright when it lands in the sea

Example Sentences

Once out of its natural element, Casper immediately capsized; it bobbed nose down in the choppy South Pacific for five minutes until the astronauts�strapped in upside-down and rapidly becoming queasy�righted it with three flotation bags.

From Time Magazine Archive

Although Yankee Clipper capsized as it hit the water, the astronauts quickly righted their craft by inflating three large flotation bags attached to its tip.

From Time Magazine Archive

But it was quickly righted by large flotation bags, or balloons, released from its submerged tip.

From Time Magazine Archive

But the astronauts, trained for such contingencies, had to inflate three flotation bags attached to Apollo's nose.

From Time Magazine Archive