Plane plunges into sewage tank, disappears

On 2006-12-20, Greg Farris wrote:
Actually, in a small plane, you would -usually- rather hit the ground.
Water landings tend to be unhappy events in light aircraft, especially
fixed gear singles. Some are unhappier than others though - man!

They are unhappy events as in you don't get to use the plane afterwards
- but water landings are surprisingly survivable. Fixed gear or
retractible gear doesn't seem to make a lot of difference in ditchings.

http://www.equipped.com/ditchingmyths.htm

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In article ,
says...


They are unhappy events as in you don't get to use the plane afterwards
- but water landings are surprisingly survivable. Fixed gear or
retractible gear doesn't seem to make a lot of difference in ditchings.

http://www.equipped.com/ditchingmyths.htm


Good link - good response.
I am one of those who has read articles on the subject, over many years,
and formed what appears to be an uninformed opinion. The case here is well
enough presented to merit a review of some of those widely-circulated
ideas.

GF

Actually, in a small plane, you would -usually- rather hit the ground.
Water landings tend to be unhappy events in light aircraft, especially
fixed gear singles. Some are unhappier than others though - man!

They are unhappy events as in you don't get to use the plane afterwards
- but water landings are surprisingly survivable. Fixed gear or
retractible gear doesn't seem to make a lot of difference in ditchings.

http://www.equipped.com/ditchingmyths.htm

Very good info. I now see that much less water is needed before you should
carry floatation equepment--expecially since that can may the water a far
better emergency landing choice in a lot of situations.

Peter

On Wed, 20 Dec 2006 10:45:47 -0000, Dylan Smith
wrote:

On 2006-12-20, Greg Farris wrote:
Actually, in a small plane, you would -usually- rather hit the ground.
Water landings tend to be unhappy events in light aircraft, especially
fixed gear singles. Some are unhappier than others though - man!

They are unhappy events as in you don't get to use the plane afterwards
- but water landings are surprisingly survivable. Fixed gear or
retractible gear doesn't seem to make a lot of difference in ditchings.

http://www.equipped.com/ditchingmyths.htm

Maybe so and maybe not. You are playing the odds. I lost a good
friend just a couple weeks ago when he apparently dug a float in while
landing.

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com

On 2006-12-20, Roger wrote:
Maybe so and maybe not. You are playing the odds. I lost a good
friend just a couple weeks ago when he apparently dug a float in while
landing.

People have been lost when they've botched landings on dry land too. Are
we "playing the odds" when landing on dry land? Well, some people would
say so about any flying!

The point is (and made by this article) - ditching isn't nearly the
"certain death" that it's painted to be, and indeed in most cases it's
survivable with little enough injury that egress is possible (around 90%
of inshore water ditchings). One person dying when botching a water
landing does not change this.

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