https://twitter.com/CBSMiami/status/944313960320458754
Looks like a Piper Pawnee (banner tow operation).
Things to take away: fixed gear but contrary to popular opinion – it did not flip, and did not get anywhere near flipping when the wheels went in.
Aircraft has a low stall speed and good low speed handling characteristics: it looks like the pilot basically got it to a slow speed and let it just settle rather than doing a proper flare. The aircraft comes to a rapid, very wet, but not particularly violent halt and floats for long enough for the pilot to get out barely getting wet.
Good job.
I reckon the G (the deceleration) in that event was substantial. From initial water contact to zero in about 2m. Without good seat belts you would need a new set of teeth 
But yes a job well done and we all hope to do as well if the time comes
When such deceleration occurs with belts on (obviously !), do you fear any deformation of the belt locker, which would prevent you from unleashing it ?
For the short story, I remember that the C210 which went into water few years ago, between STP and Calvi, had six persons on board. The PIC had unfastened its seatbelt before ditching, and almost lost consciousness on impact.
The six persons survived, and this could have cost the live of one.
PetitCessnaVoyageur wrote:
When such deceleration occurs with belts on (obviously !), do you fear any deformation of the belt locker, which would prevent you from unleashing it ?No. That is one advantage of certification. You can rely on the belt and buckle being crashworthy.
Airborne_Again wrote:
That is one advantage of certification.
That’s cool
Peter wrote:
Without good seat belts you would need a new set of teeth
I don’t think many fly with just lap belts any more (and I suspect most Pawnees have at least a 4 point harness).
In any case the pilot hardly got wet (at least till he jumped in and swam) – the full news broadcast shows him getting out pretty much as soon as the plane stopped, and he was interviewed by the TV news, but didn’t want to say a lot!
Things to take away: fixed gear but contrary to popular opinion – it did not flip
IME, that isn’t a “popular” belief at all, and it isn’t backed with numbers anyway.
The PIC had unfastened its seatbelt before ditching, and almost lost consciousness on impact.
That is one of the utmost stupidest things to do. The seatbelts are there for you to stay put in case of a crash. On the contrary, normal emergency landing procedures call to tighten the seat belt. After all, your body can take quite a beating “eyes out”.
mh wrote:
IME, that isn’t a “popular” belief at all, and it isn’t backed with numbers anyway.
I’d agree with your second part, but not the first part: it’s an incredibly common assertion for pilots who have never studied ditching (i.e. the majority) that a fixed gear plane is bound to flip when ditching.
(Of the few ditchings that have video or photo sequences that I’ve seen – all have been fixed gear, and only one flipped, and the one that flipped was “ditched” in water so shallow the main wheels would have been on the sand by the time the fuselage was getting wet)
Peter wrote:
From initial water contact to zero in about 2m
Looking closely, it looks like initial contact to stopped in slightly under 2 aircraft lengths.
I found a YouTube video of the ditching and counted the frames. It takes 26 video frames (at 30fps) from the main wheels touching to a complete stop. The upper bound for the stalling speed is 61 knots (that would be at gross weight, and he would be well below gross – so he should be able to go slower, but 61kt will be the upper bound). 61 knots is about 31 m/s. 26 frames at 30fps is about 0.87 seconds, which would mean a deceleration of about 36 m/s^2, or about 3.6g deceleration.
Looking at the video closely, it takes a little under 2 aircraft lengths to stop (a bit more than 2m in fact – the Pawnee is 7.6m long). Doing a quick back of the envelope calculation shows that a deceleration of 36m/s^2 over 0.87 seconds, you’ll travel about 13m, which looks about right from the video. (The moment the left main touches down you can see two boat masts in the background in front of the canopy, the relative position of the masts is approximately a plane length behind the tail when all forward motion has stopped), and thus the above calculation is sanity checked :-)
3.6g isn’t particlarly severe, and a servicable seatbelt with at least a diagonal belt across the body (like a car seat belt) would almost certainly prevent you from receiving any serious injury.
