Assuming you had floats.....and Cook Inlet was laying down....ditching is not too bad a risk. Going into Cook Inlet without survival suits even in the middle of the Summer is not a good Idea. The Coast Guard is all the way down to Kodiak unless things have changed....and that is a very long wait for them to show up to winch you up out of the water. Likewise....waiting on a Supply boat out of Nikiski to the south would be a long wait too. Perhaps some fishing boats might be in the area....but don't count on it.
In a non-float equipped helicopter....I much preferred to take the Chicken route.....go northwest from Anchorage and cross over the skinny bit then head on down to the Pass.
As the only other noise you might hear being a big bang or similar one time sound as you have a catastrophic failure of the gear box.....worst case scenario.....as low as you can get to the water.....and at a forward speed that will ensure you survive a collision with old Ma Earth.
As the Cops say....."Speed Kills!" Speed horizontally and vertically counts in this equation.
A Chip indication all by itself is not something to get too concerned about. Add in Oil Temp or Oil Pressure changes then yes.....it is a serious situation. When it comes to a MGB problem.....one with multiple indications....procrastination is not recommended. Park it like a Woman in a Shopping Mall on Sale Day! Anywhere, any way....but do so quickly!
Know how your Gearbox measures Oil Temp and Pressure.....and how the system will react to a loss in fluid contents. It might be with a loss of fluid the Temp Sensors will not accurately sense the correct Temp and thus give you a false reading. Likewise, pressure may stay in the normal range until the fluid gets so low that pressure is affected.
Any sudden increase in sound or vibration.....even absent other indications.....I land immediately. If you can hear the change in noise and feel the difference in vibration....that portends trouble of some kind.
I complained about a transmission and was told I was just getting paranoid. When I insisted and the engineers split the case on the gearbox....we discovered two bolts lying in the sump where they had backed out of the gear and thus caused an out of balance situation strong enough to be heard. In that case I was very lucky that I was hard headed.
Last edited by SASless; 14th Jun 2012 at 13:26.