Ditching?
Hi all,
This is just a query.
Imagine if me and another person set out, in say a PA-28 type aircraft (i.e. with only one door/hatch), across a large stretch of water (perhaps the Irish Sea) and then the unimaginable happens - the engine conks out!
Okay then, because me and the passenger (who also happens to be a fellow PPL) are good pilots, we have been routing along a Class F advisory route, and we are both wearing (uninflated lifejackets.)
Whilst I (as P1) trim for 80 knots, and try to restart the engine (to no avail), my friend, makes the mayday call and then we prepare for the ditching.
We can see some ships below us, and also a couple of oilrigs, and so we head for them. As we approach the water, we try to look for the swell of the waves (as mentioned in the manuals) so that we can touch down on the crest of one.
And now we are only about twenty feet above the surface of the water.
So what would we do now?
Would the passenger unlatch the door and then sit and wait for the impact?
Or should he attempt to get out, and maybe climb onto the wing - which would leave me (as LHS pilot) more room and time to escape once we make contact with the water?
Would it be a good idea for my passenger (who is on the wing and gripping on hard with his by now inflated life jacket) to perhaps jump in the sea at the last moment?
Or would we both remain in the plane until we 'land'.
The only reason I'm asking all of this, is because my friend and I are planning such a trip in the near future, and we have talked about what we would both do.
Cheers in advance for any replies.
Flock1