Yeah vaguely...I remember the first bit, didn't remember the outcome though. Lot of funny and not so funny stories at survival school. I still recall the classically good looking female interrogator and the look of utter disdain I got when I tried to chat her up in the mess.

Happy days.

Interesting reading the thread on PLBs...seems the whole subject is in focus at the moment, which has got to be good thing.

The person who teaches the underwater egress course which both BPF and I have taken, is himself an underwater egress crash survivor in his youth. This seems to be his inspiration, and rightly so.

Those who have not taken the course, just won't get it until they do. I had an inkling, during the several times I had to swim into inverted floatplanes during their recovery. When I took the coarse, I was a complete convert.

For those who are unconvinced, or lack easy access to an underwater egress course, I suggest the following, just to get the sense of what we're talking about:

On a very dark night, take your buddy to the airport. Climb into your aircraft, but upside down, so your head is on the floor and your legs are up or beside the seat back (it's uncomfortable, but the avionics tech people do it, so you can too). Latch the seatbelt across your waist. Turn out all lights, have your buddy close, latch, and then gently block the door. Your buddy tells you to hold your breath, and five seconds later yells at you "get out!, get out now!", while you find and open the seatbelt, unlatch the door, gently force the door against your buddy's slight effort at resistance, and feel your way out of the plane. Once your entire body is outside the aircraft, you can take a breath. Doing the forgoing will be easier than an undewater egress, as you will not be cold and wet, and water will not be floating you around inside the cabin.

If you fly a low wing RG, you have a chance of ditching, and remaining erect. Otherwise, if ditching is a risk for you, so is being upside down in a plane underwater, you'd better have a plan for yourself, and your passengers....

Cutting off the cuffs
 

CG quote:
When the big day came and he ejected over (I think) the North Sea, he got out safely, cleared his chute, but forgot the leg seals. He died of exposure due to wicking up the socks and onto his bunny suit. The shock TOFO refers too is real, and even in drills. He'd be alive if he had respected his kit over his comfort: end quote.
I was told that one by an RAF winchman, but in the early 70s.

Back then, I used to join a client to hop over to Le Touquet for cheap booze and tax free fuel. The approved LA channels across were at 3.500 & 1500 ft, so one had very little time at the low alt if things stopped. We wore the LJs and kept the dinghy in the cabin, not the hold.

I sail boats and have been in cold water a few times. One I won't forget, was a 400mt or so swim in the Atlantic in March (the boat was wind driven faster than I could swim) jeans, boots and thick pull over with waterproofs. LJ was mouth inflation. Lessons learned: Extremely difficult to inflate the LJ in choppy water, virtually impossible to get rid of excess clothing, even the boots. By the time I realised that I could not catch up, my clothes were pretty waterlogged and I was struggling to stay up. I then inflated the LJ, which then forces you to swim on your back. I really don't want to do that again.:sad:

It's a sad fact, but all the PPLs in our Group seem to think wearing a life jacket (of the less than £100 kind) and carrying a dinghy (in the 'back') somehow provides 'magical' protection in the event of a ditching around the UK.

Comments such as 'the engine doesn't know it's over water' lead these naive individuals into a false sense of security without ever considering many of the salient points raised in this article such as: panic, injury, hypothermia, ability to swim and chance of rescue (in time).

I promised my wife years ago I would never fly over the sea in a single.

What are the chances of an engine failure over the sea? Well I've never had an engine failure of any kind in over 40 years of flying.

However, the outcome if you do is likely to be death. You don't expect to die when you go out in your car if the engine fails. If the engine fails over land during daytime VFR you are trained to react and carry out a forced landing.

I've never had any training in ditching, either as a PPL or as a commercial pilot, other than swimming and getting into a dinghy in a warm, calm swimming pool. Not really the preparation you would need to survive a ditching in a choppy, cold sea just after the trauma of surviving a crash and possible injury and shock.

Trouble is no matter how hard you try as an instructor and examiner, the same 'it'll never happen to me' attitude prevails.

There probably is no evidence to suggest that there have been any more incidents over the sea than over the land.

Trouble is if your engine does quit the survival rate over land is probably well above 50%, whereas that over the sea is not much above 0%.

Placing your destiny in a 40 year old engine is not something I'm willing to do.

Crossing the channel at its narrowest point should, according to the book, enable gliding to land. (What I have to admit I haven't worked out is whether one would reach land with enough height to clear the cliffs.)


And "it'll never happen to me" is the only practical response to the risk of a non-trivial fire other than not flying at all.

For very unlikely risks it almost certainly won't happen to me.

I try to increase my chances by looking after the aircraft, having plenty of fuel, a life jacket and a dingy but I accept that they may not save me.

As I have said before the sight of Greenland coming over the horizon on a clear day is well worth the very slight chance of death.

If someone else does not want to do it, that's fine, stay at home.

.... actually I see that I said it before in this thread .... apologies .... though what I said still stands

Well said. Still, it's heartening to see such genuine concern from the more risk-averse amongst us. Thank you all.:)

Romeo Tango I think your risk taking is applaudable as you have assessed the risk, appreciate and respect it and take the appropriate measures to try to ensure survival if the odds do unfortunately turn against you.

I think the OP is pointing out the consequences of over water flight that a lot of pilots do not take into account and, if they did have some appropriate training, might not take out-of-gliding-range-from-land flight so lightly especially low level. In the dim and distant past I have flown at low level over the Irish Sea (on both sides) but I was always within 500yds of the beach as I have done the North Sea induction course for offshore workers and know that escape from an inverted aircraft in cold water is so disoritenting and downright scary that I don't want my hobby flying to put me in that position again.

I would say that the low number of deaths at sea due to engine failure in SEP shows some combination of the following:
1. It is VERY unlikely to happen
2. People are frightened enough of the consequences to avoid the risk
3. Pilots are sensible and prepared when they do it.

Frankly I think it's mostly 1.

RT I think you're probably right.

To be honest how many singles fly over the sea each year and how many have problems - virtually none.

If it's going to happen it's going to happen and I don't think the best survival equipment in the World is guaranteed to help you.

You pays your money and you takes your chance.

Trouble is if your does quit the survival rate over land is probably well above 50%, whereas that over the sea is not much above 0%.

It's rather higher than 0% - perhaps not in a storm whilst flying the Atlantic. But in uk coastal waters with a lifejacket, plb and liferaft/dry suit your chanced are reasonable.

I seem to remember that the SAR people reckon to pick up well over half of those who ditch mid Atlantic.
Traditionally the way to die when crossing the Atlantic in a light aircraft is bad weather at a destination and not having fuel to go anywhere else. Things are better now with many more airfields in Greenland.

TBC, I completely concur with RT's philosophy towards risk, which is as I read it...

assess risk
mitigate risk
carry out the task.

Which is fundamentally the exact approach to risk which the vast majority of professional aviators will follow all their working lives, and it is sad that a significant number of leisure flyers do not follow this philosophy.

In this instance, the task in question appears to be life fulfilling...

...which is as worthy as any motivation derived from filthy lucre :)

Indeed, it is my motivation exactly when I take to the hills.

The reason I write on this topic is not to be a killjoy. It is to counteract the b****s & and b*****t one finds on this subject from people that know no more than what they have read somewhere, with the experience and knowledge of a trained pro, who has spent a fair bit of time upside down, inside out in the oggin.

What people do with that information, is of course entirely their own choice.

toodle pip

Yes, I have. And if you were a CSRO up there until 2003 it is quite possible that the vomit you could smell would have been mine :ok:

After forty seven years of flying which has mostly avoided flight over water in SEP's I had reason to visit friends abroad. Whilst not comfortable with the idea I figured that the statistical chances of silence settling in on the last 70 miles of a 270 mile trip were about the same as having a car accident driving to the airfield.

As previously mentioned. Once risk has been assessed then it should be mitigated as much as possible before being undertaken so I set about sourcing a raft, flares, marker dye, specialist food and water along with water proof bags for the phones, multi tool, space blankets (to double as radar reflectors) and making sure the first aid kit was part of the ditching kit and then spent several days researching videos and reading rather harrowing tales of survival...........and I was only going to Jersey!

Which brings me to a more type specific question.

Where do you carry a liferaft in a PA28 or any low wing one door aircraft?

I have a Survival Equipment Inc TSO approved four person raft (Type II) along with a grab bag for the survival kit.

The best solution I have come up with is to stow the raft on the floor behind the front passenger seat with a bungee cord (using caribiners each end) attached between the chair leg and inflation handle so that my wife can open the door, roll right, kneel on the walkway and use the seat back for support as she moves it forward enough to extract the raft and hurl it backwards before pulling the final notch to inflate just aft of the wing.

I follow and lift the grab bag from the rear seat lifting it over the seat belt (which has been restraining it) and throw it into the raft before joining her.
We have practiced this blindfolded and fully realize that we are still hoping for miracles but as both of us are ex-airline crew used to SEP drills and procedures we feel we have done our best bar doing a full inverted dunking course (which my wife did many years ago)

Your thoughts are appreciated.

IMHO having more than one item that you need to get out of the aircraft is asking for trouble. Any survival equipment you need on/in water should be in the dinghy or attached to your person. I have the ELT attached to me/pax and the dinghy on the back seat. If there is a passenger he hugs the dinghy on the way down.

If there is a grab bag perhaps this contains items that would be nice to have but are less essential at sea.

I agree that having the grab bag separate from the dinghy is not ideal but the weight of the bag is quite high and when you consider that the dinghy pack is capable of floating before inflation I didn't want to jeapardise that. Also my wife is not that strong and with lifting the bag from the floor behind the seat it would have hindered her to have to lift the grab bag along with it.

Some of the advice online suggested that for coastal waters the priorities were to exit the plane, board the raft and fire up the PLB. Frankly after that everything is a bonus.

I forgot to mention that like you, I had the PLB attached to my vest.

Me, I'd go for the immersion suit. It's difficult to leave behind when you're wearing it. That gives you usually enough hours for SAR to find a live body, especially if the PLB is on your person.

Aviation immersion suits are expensive; suits for the surfing and kayak folks might be adequate for a lower price.

A raft is a bonus, but there's lots of ditching stories where they don't make it into the raft.

Do check the marine forecast for water temperature, wind and wave height.

This was quote in one of the mags recently. They had the decency to retract when it was pointed out what a load of tosh it was. In real live there is a very good chance of survival, with a life jacket and protection from the cold if needed.

Mine is a Cirrus SR22.

If I am on my own: I keep the life raft and an emergency grab bag secured in the front passenger seat with the seat belt.

If I have one passenger, I keep these items on the back seats with the life raft diagonally across from me and the grab bag across from my front seat passenger so that I can grab and deploy the life raft.

If I have more than one passenger, I delegate the back seat passenger (or the bigger / stronger if there are two of them) to hand the life raft to me and to manage the grab bag.

Wanna live
 

Open cockpit gyro to Isle of Man.
Fladen flotation suit
Life vest
PLB
Transit over water speaking to Scottish Info & eyeballing boat stepping stones 👍🏻. Preparation includes appreciation of water temp; survivability etc as no space for dinghy so immersion inevitable & accepted.
Favourable weather conditions, a horizon & visual on the destination 28 miles away a must/decision point.
This year, added a hand-held marine VHF set to Channel 16 for 2nd pilot & I wore a wetsuit from previous life windsurfing !
Minor inconvenience donning kit in the big scheme of things for a 1hr trip, half over water. RAF/SAR training from over 30 years ago also still relevant if not fresh. Would still like to test myself & kit in immersion scenario to learn more. Any facility/course at GA disposal ?
I wanna live to see the bike racing & my family.

Last year some friends of mine were flying across the channel in a 2 seater glider. For safety they were wearing lifejackets, then parachutes and finally the seat belts. Half way across the channel the rear pilot had the lifejacket inflate underneath the straps and parachute harness. Luckily it did not interfere with the stick so they were able to land safely.

In the light of unfolding events I hope nobody minds if I bump this. The opening post is my main contribution, there is some healthy discussion and debate following it. All of which is good. The aim is "awareness"...before, not after, you get lunged into a cold, dark, and very cruel sea.

I do 99% of my flying in a PA28 over the ocean - the 1% being the few minutes on approach and on departure.

Of course I have the life jackets, the four man raft and the GPS PLB.

My ocean is the Atlantic and the Eastern Caribbean sea - so warm water in the main.

That said, I have no great expectations of surviving a water landing even if I manage to exit, get my raft out (I have it on the px sear behind P1, not strapped, figuring I will have time to reach back put in on P2 and lap strap it) and my PLB operating - even with warm water I think the exposure will finish me off before help arrives. I would expect to be in the water, grest to have the raft but since I usually fly alone I doubt I would be able to get in it, the PBL would operate but could I hold it upright for hours (or even minutes) then down here there are no rescue helicopters - even if the PLB worked it could take four or five hours for them to come get me on a good day, statistically probability is it would be dark by then.

So pretty much every time I land I'm happy.

On Friday I will be doing Barbados, Martinique, Bequia - back to Barbados Sat or Sun; usual lot of water but good weather expected.

Having read most of this, I have to agree. Firstly let me introduce myself; I am an old but not bold pilot with over 10,000 hours, mostly single seat.. There are no old, bold pilots. I have 'survived' many survival courses, incl sea, & winter; all run by the RAF Sea Survival School. They were pros!. I presently fly a single engine puddle-jump aeroplane. Unlike my other past single engine aeroplanes it does not have a bang seat, dingy or ballistic parachute. If I ditch, I will be struggling. I do not fly over water out of sight of land. Skye Demon will show me my gliding range over water and I try to stay within that boundary. If I cross the Channel it is at the narrowest point and as high as ATC allow, I carry a LSJ over water, but no dinghy (weight reasons). I carry a PLB and a mini survival pack, but no shark repellant :).

Many pilots are bold. They will not grow old bones. As the man says, you only get one chance of sea survival. My advice if you have to cross lots of water, have two engines, fly high, have a PLB, LSJ and a dingy. Do not fly in icing, even if you have an aeroplane with a de-icing system.

I have flown the Atlantic 5 times and and many other oceans seas and lakes in a SEP with and without GPS. I have been doing it for 40 years. It is a very good risk if one takes a few basic precautions like having enough fuel. I have never got wet.
I expect to make old bones.

As has been said before its up to the pilot. I think it's a good risk, maybe you don't. We are both right.

Absolutely. It is all about risk assessment. The chances of an engine failure are slim indeed. And the aeroplane does not know you are over water. But a smart pilot uses his smart brains to avoid having to use his smart skill. As the man said, fly at 50 feet over the ships or whales, wearing a t-shirt and shorts (yes some do!) is adding to the risk. I am probably ultra careful, not because I am a coward but I seek to minimise the risks, but at the same time enjoy my flying. This year, we are yet again touring the Highlands & Islands in our puddle-jumper. We will cross short stretches of water, but the increased risk is offset by the fun. Interestingly though, most experienced pilots are risk adverse.

I have had engine failures in single engine aeroplanes. I have had an engine stop over water in a Bulldog, but got it going again. I actually think one of the main problems ditching (as apposed to force landing on land) in an aeroplane with a fixed undercarriage is that the aircraft is likely to tip upside down. That will certainly be a problem, especially in an aeroplane with a bubble canopy. Most pilots will never have done the RN 'dunker' so may quite well drown. The chances of the engine stopping are slim; you pays your money and you takes your chances.

As single engined airplanes become more advanced, they temp us away from realizing that even with their comfort and advanced technology, the safety of the flight is still dependent upon a few single point failures not occurring, and lots of preparedness if such a failure occurs in the most favourable circumstances.

I have landed in the water deliberately thousands of times, and it's been just fine - the plane was designed to do it. I have landed in the water once as a passenger when the landing did not go as planned, and the result was a life threatening dunking, surrounded by bits of sinking airplane, from which I'd been ejected underwater moments earlier - so I speak from some experience. I was wearing a life jacket, which I managed to partly inflate, and the water weather, and light conditions were as favourable as possible. The site of the crash was a two minute boat ride from shore, so the rescue was as prompt as imaginable. I survived - just.

I have taken the underwater egress course, I have been an ice water rescue trainer for more than 20 years (lots of immersion suit and cold water practice), I was properly equipped and prepared to have a collision with the water that day, and the airplane first contacted the water is a decent landing attitude and speed - and it was only just survivable.

If you ditch a fixed gear landplane, you're most likely going to end up upside down in the water - not good, but survivable if everything else goes well for you. If you ditch a retractable low wing, floatplane, or flying boat in fairly calm water, with skill, you might find yourself floating upright. In more than two foot waves, you'll either be upside down, or break up the plane. If you are ditching a plane whose flying characteristics have been degraded (airframe ice can do that), your chances of a survivable ditching have gone way down.

If your contact with the water is not a well controlled ditching (like landing on runway smoothly), you're going to have a very sudden stop, and likely break up the plane (my stop was 14G+, and I ripped the seatbelts out of the airplane as I was ejected). It is not possible to properly judge a flare for ditching over glassy water or at night. If power off, you only had one chance to guess it right, 'cause you cannot stretch your flare like a soft field landing. A power off glassy water landing will be destructive.

If you ditch into cold water, your useful life is terribly shortened before hypothermia incapacitates you. If you have wisely worn an immersion suit, your chances are much better - if you got out of the plane, and were not injured.

If you have not practiced exiting the plane, you'll drown as you go down with it. If it's daylight, you might see your way to an exit and operate it. If it's night, you won't succeed in feeling your way out, unless the door is right beside you, and operating it is instinctive for you. Have you ever been in a GA plane which was upside down? It is very disorienting, let alone being in the water. I have had to swim into an inverted floating Cessna 185 floatplane during recovery, I had to keep skimming back out to orient myself, 'cause nothing was where it should have been!

If you end up in the water, the chances are slim that anyone will help you at all in the first many minutes. If you were not wearing your lifejacket/immersion suit when you began your exit, you don't have it, and drowning or hypothermia death are very likely - particularly if you are injured. If you're in the water at night, no one will see you in time, unless you're floating safely in a raft or immersion suit - with a working light. If you're in water warm enough to not suffer hypothermia, some sea creature is probably eyeing you for dinner.

Extended over water flights in singles must be well prepared to mitigate the dangers. Pilot very well prepared as above, and self briefed. Passengers entirely aware of the risks and their duties in their own survival, and WEARING their life jacket. If an immersion suit is appropriate, only suitably trained persons (in underwater egress and immersion suit use) should be aboard at all. If you're contemplating a night flight over water in a single, you, and any other occupant of the plane must understand that no matter how well you'e prepared and briefed, the chances of surviving a water crash are about zero. You're carrying a life raft, great thinking! Hands up for pilots who have practiced and succeeded in getting into an inflated raft solo - it is nowhere near as easy as you imagine - you just keep ending up with an overturned raft over your head! Egress training!

I know that water is a fluid, but I assure everyone that when you hit it at 60 MPH, it behaves as a solid. Those one foot waves will damage a Cessna 100 sized floatplane if the landing is not excellent. If the waves are two feet plus, they will destroy a Cessna 100 sized floatplane (I've helped clean up the wrecks).

Pilots might approach an over water flight in a Tiger Moth with justified nervousness. They might be more relaxed in an advanced single with all the gadgets. The only possible two aspect of the advanced single which could improve safety would be it's retractable, so a more successful ditching in calm water and good visibility is possible, and its speed reduces your exposure time for a ditching. Otherwise, you'r chances are probably the same or a bit better in the Moth - it'll ditch at a slower speed, be easy to get out of, and will probably float displaying lots of highly visible yellow for longer! So, if you would not fly the flight over water in the Tiger Moth, probably don't fly it in any other single either!

Surviving the crash is only the first step, if drowning, becoming hypothermic, and not being found are also risks. If you choose the over water flight, think about what you're going to do, the risks, and your plan for each. If you're thinking to take a passenger (or magnitudes worse, several), as a pilot of honour, you must determine their solo capability for survival, equip them properly, and brief them before and during the flight. If you can't know for certain how you and they will survive a ditching, you and they will not. I did not plan to be ejected into the water during a crash, but I did plan for the risk of entering the water unexpectedly. I, and the pilot I was training wore our lifejackets, and survived. In both our cases, injury very certainly prevented our self rescue - floating waiting for help was the very most we could manage - help came quickly.

Correct and I agree. However, one thing alters the equation completely. And that is when the pilot has taken responsibility for the life of another - especially in any form of commercial arrangement. Now it becomes a matter of compliance with all regulations, and in moments of ambiguity, a professional judgement with the welfare of the passenger(s) paramount.

Pilot DAR - excellent post.

I remember the quote from my cfi on the air squadron, a very experienced hunter pilot telling us in line with Sharpend has said, 'there are old pilots and there are bold pilots. There are no old, bold pilots'
As for planning to fly over large bodies of water with a fixed undercarriage sep, he said the very 1st thing is to do make sure your affairs are in order.
I know engine failures are vrare but i see people taking family or friends to alderney or scilly in a PA28 etc. and to me thats madness. High probabily of the plane flipping over and i'd bet my house the child/adult in the rear left had seat is not getting out alive, if any one does.
And for me its the 3-4 minutes after its all gone quiet up front knowing that you are probably about to kill everyone on board.

But each to their own as long as they (and their family) are aware of the risks.

I agree with all the above and I do carry and wear the kit. BUT the most useful thing you can carry is fuel. The traditional way to die in a small aircraft over the north Atlantic is to arrive somewhere, discover the weather is bad, not have fuel to go anywhere else and kill yourself trying an approach. You may say things about alternates but there are not alternates in many places (though the situation is much better now around Greenland etc).

If you need to worry about ditching a fixed undercarriage aircraft you have probably cocked it up already. I would expend more effort trying to avoid ditching in the first place.
eg better comms, real time weather, engine maintenance, better knowledge and MORE FUEL

My longest legs over water in my PA28 have been Barbados to Antigua and St. Croix to Barbados (passed over Mustique on the way) - not that the distance is really the issue.

Here a, I believe and Arrow, went down watched from the tower about 20 years ago - not one survived, the airplane was never found - in the past year or so a twin (Commander I believe) from Union to Argyle crashed just off Bequia - nothing ever found (pilot and one px) - that by the way is a twelve, yes twelve minute flight.

The conditions here are probably ideal from December to May for a water landing but the survival rate here is not good - off the US though I believe it is 80%, all those lovely SAR helicopters, boats and whizzy whiz radars - ours from Barbados pick us up about 60/70 miles out on a good day - although the French ones on Martinique cover all the way past Barbados.

On Saturday I will be going to Martinique then Bequia - if the weather is good and there is nothing odd with the airplane:)

Speaking as an ex-CSRO, I would say most private pilots have little or no appreciation of sea survival issues. Getting out of the aircraft and into a dinghy is something seldom planned and very rarely practiced. I would suggest survival chances are quite slim, especially when the water is cold and the procedure un-practiced.

Having said that, I do like to relate the experience of a colleague of mine who used to ferry aircraft for a living before deciding flying airliners was safer. He was ferrying a light twin across the Pacific when an engine failed about 600 likes out of Hawaii. Being heavy with ferry tanks, the aircraft slowly descended as they limped back to safety, finally ending up in 'ground effect' hopping over waves. Eventually they got it wrong and clipped a wave which sent the aircraft nose down into the sea about 350 miles away from land. The impact was very violent and my mate broke his nose on the coaming, but luckily remined conscious. He and the other pilot clambered over the ferry tanks out of the rear door, taking the dinghy with them. Once inflated, the tailplane of the sinking aircraft split it in two. My mate had taken a second out of date dinghy along and he dived into the sinking airframe to retrieve it. He managed to get it out and once inflated, only one chamber held pressure. They had the 'grab bag' which had an early 406mhz beacon. Subsequently, a B737 was diverted to find them and actually found them - a passenger spotted the dinghy after the Captain had made a PA asking everyone to look out for them. A Coastguard C130 later dropped them a new dingy and supplies and about 24 hours after ditching, they were picked up by a helicopter dispatched from a Coast Guard cutter.

He makes the point that they were extremely lucky to get recued. The second dinghy saved them. But they struggled to get into that dinghy, were tired and hypothermic when they eventually did, despite the Pacific off Hawaii being relatively warm. Both had survival training. This, and their preparation saved them, but on reflection he wished they had been wearing immersion suits. . When they got into the Coast Guard dinghy, they scoffed most of the rations in one go! This was also the first ever recue using a 406 beacon.

That is a contradiction in itself. If there is no alternate available then by definition you do not have fuel to go anywhere else.

Grumman Tigers and Cheetahs Float
 

I know of two cases: one off Greenland where the abandoned aircraft was found floating days later; another in Louisiana where there's a water runway adjacent to a dry runway. The pilot landed at night on the wet runway and did not realize his mistake until he stepped off the wing:}

You keep repeating that point but nobody has argued against it. It goes without saying that a pilot "spends the time and effort on avoiding ditching in the first place". The point about preparing to survive is that it will save your neck in the event that a ditching becomes unavoidable. It is nothing whatsoever to do with keeping an aircraft in the air.

This thread is "ditching and sea survival" not "flight planning".