My father's old flying buddies always said, "Any landing you can walk away from is a good landing".

I think they did a good job, given the circumstances.

The article says they climbed through a window to get out of the plane, so it may not have been possible for them to get the life raft out, or there just wasn't time. There's no real indication that the plane was upright at the time -- it might have been on it's side or something. If I had the choice between getting out directly onto ice and staying dry vs. diving into the water to get the raft, forget the raft.

Being someone who left my purse and paycheck on the seat when my car caught fire (many years ago), I can attest to the single thought of "GET OUT!" It's all that is in your mind.

Sue