Above The Clouds
Yes, as you point out with the correct equipment.
How many people have that - and know instinctively and effectively how to operate it?
A ditching is no time to read the operating instructions!
I know when I was flying with the airlines and ditching was discussed, we all thought the training techniques were less than ideal and effective - leave the aircraft by the emergency exits, inflate your lifejacket, form a circle joining hands/tieing your lifejackets together, assist the passengers ... whatever?!
All designed - as with all things in aviation - to provide an 'option'. No disaster in aviation is trained for with anything other than a 'happy ending' - not even two engines falling off your B737!
Maybe if the true statistics of ditching a light single in Northern waters was made clear an engine failure might be taken more seriously. Personally, I don't think many people take the risks too seriously. I flew to the TT Races in the IOM this year and was one of (I think) only two or three twins there. Most people were in shirt sleeves and no sign of one immersion suit. I'm sure many had dinghies and (I hope) all had lifejackets - luckily none had an engine failure.
What would have happened if the friend of Above The Clouds hadn't been found in 18 hours - but not for days?
I'll never fly a single across water again - the same friend who I flew to France with the first time flew another C172 years later the flight after the aircraft had returned from the IOM. He had an engine failure/fire and managed to glide into Sywell. Had that happened to the pilot a flying hour before, who knows?
FOK