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Too true! As a keen scuba diver I sometimes wonder if those pilots who are not used to the the sea close too ie either sailors or divers or watersport fanatics really appreciate what a real ditching would be like.
One minute your snug in your aircraft at 3000 feet looking down at what looks like a fairly flat surface covered with white splodges next your facing 15 to 30 foot walls of pure energy and foam.
Not exaggerated as I have seen and heard many singles crossing the irish sea with those conditions below.
Ignorance is bliss but far removed from the initial shock of freezing salt water hitting your body to the point you cannot get your breath never mind think clearly!
There has to be preparation! Only cross large expanses with fairly calm seas! Try to cross high 8-10 K gives you more time to not only glide near some ship but to talk with ATC.
Do not take off an hour before darkness as no one will find you etc.
False security snug as a bug in a rug at 3000 feet is very different from reality when you hit that sea.
Pace
Last edited by Pace; 12th Oct 2012 at 11:49.