If I was in a Cirrus over water and had an engine failure meaning gliding to a runway was not possible, I would also pull the chute.
We had a raft across the Atlantic but didn’t wear survival suits. You pay your money and take your chances. These sort of risks are entirely personal.
Muelli: thanks for the tip about the traffic at sea. Good suggestion.
172driver: there is a well reported account and testimonial of a Cirrus pulling the chute near the Bahamas and how they hit the water and were able to get out (easily) and get in their liferaft and wait for rescue services to arrive. I am not concerned about the hit of the Cirrus on the water when under the chute.
If you try to “stall” land the Cirrus in the water by approaching the water at near stall speeds and letting it sink in, you could hit the water first with your tail, which will tilt the aircraft forward with the nose down and might result in the aircraft sinking quite fast. Then, with some waves it will not be easy and I think it is much better to just go down under the chute into the water.
What I mean by the comparison with flying at night is that also there you can pull the chute, but it is all not an exact science and you never know what will happen exactly, however good you prepare ahead of time.
My focus is on recurrent pilot training and staying current (not the problem with the almost 400 hrs p/yr I fly) and I will accept some risk as I could also stay at home in bed and not do anything. That said, I will travel prepared: survival suits on, liferaft at hand, life vests on, personal PLB and the CAPS/chute system in the Cirrus and above hopefully a good engine (well maintained). That is all I can do and I do not see for myself the point to omit flying over sea having taken these measures.
Then, what do I do above land at night? Where do I land? Will I have more luck there? I doubt it.
No. But the undercarriage of your Cirrus will absorb a lot of the energy, should you come down under the chute. Landing on water, it will not. I’ve never flown a CIrrus, but I guess I would rather fly it to a controlled ditching (assuming this is possible), than deploy the chute. Discuss.
OK. Guys, Read the NTSB report which states that about 90% of the pilots, crew and passengers in GA aircraft that ditch survive. I posted the link above and it is taking into consideration that in most cases the crew of GA aircraft and its passengers are not prepared at all, with no liferaft on board and no life vests on.
In our case, we will be wearing survival suits (giving us 3 hours of survival time in water near freezing temps). We will be wearing a life vest each with our own PLB and we will have a life-fast at hand that can fit 4-6 people, will have a roof on it and of course which will not be stored in the luggage compartment. Above all, we would deploy the chute in the Cirrus, so from what I have understood, it will mean that we will land in the water with no forward movement and upside with the wheels down. We most likely will have time to get out.
My estimate is that our chances of survival now increased. Then, what do I do above land at night? Where do I land? Will I have more luck there? I doubt it.
A Helo has a lot of weight on top, so topples over immediately.
True but that hardly makes a difference. The point about egress training is that you don’t know what the position of the aircraft/helo is. It might be toppled, it might not be. But that hardly matters. What matters is to remain in your seat with the seatbelt fastened. From that position, and relative to your position, everything will probably still be in the same location – assuming no massive deformation has occurred during the ditching. The door will still be to your left or right, just as it was before. Whether “left” relative to your seat is now “up” or “down” relative to the earth doesn’t matter. Just close your eyes, remember where the door was, and open it. Or do something else to clear your escape path.
Then grab hold of the exit with one hand, so you know where the exit is. Only then, with your other hand, release the seat belt and pull yourself towards the exit. Once out of the aircraft, your natural buoyancy, possibly combined with the inflation of your life vest, will take you to the surface. (*)
This is what is taught and trained in egress training. There are a few secondary items, but the main issue is not to let yourself be confused by all the sensations. And this applies to every situation where you find yourself trapped under water in any type of vehicle (cars, aircraft, helo) and in any orientation (right side up, toppled, sideways, whatever).
Note (*): Never inflate your life vest while inside the aircraft. And this is also the reason that aero life vests should not automatically activate when in contact with water – so ordinary marine life vests should never be used in aviation.
Muelli,
The tip to use the marine traffic app is a great idea. I’ve downloaded it onto my IPad. I shall use that, the app is good. Thanks for passing it on.
The best is you open the door before you ditch on the water. If you don’t (or can’t) and the cabin is under water, you won’t be able to open the doors until the cabin is flooded.
You have to wait until the cabin is flooded and then open the door
What is the reasoning behind that?
Once the cabin is fully flooded, the aircraft will sink rapidly all the way to the bottom. At some point, probably a few seconds after it has departed the surface, the water pressure will blow your eardrums, not to mention everything else.
I think that advice is for a helicopter operation where you have floats, so the heli ends up inverted, flooded, but floating.
It may be true for ditchings where the aircraft ended up inverted and with the cockpit flooded to the ceiling, which is the scenario they do on the survival courses (an inverted ditched helicopter, usually). My view is that if you end up in that state, you are probably not getting out.
You need a Spare Air bottle which gives you 2-4 mins of air, depending on your panic level. You have to wait until the cabin is flooded and then open the door. We did this on the seminar. The helicopter mockup was flooded and then underwater turned top to bottom. I had this spare air bottle in my mouth but was in total lost of orientation and was near panic but I was able to get out of the open door. This was a training situation with 3 professional rescue divers within the cabin. I don’t know what happens if that is in a real situation in a rough sea with closed doors.
That’s why I recommend to attend such a seminar to build up some experience. It will change your mind.
Here are some pics and video clips from the seminar:
Aeroplus,
a tip I got on that seminar:
Just before you takeoff you may have a look at
to check the positions of ships that are on your route to ditch nearby. There’s also an app for that….
