111
votes
Accepted
Why don't commercial aircraft adopt a slightly more seaplane-like design to allow safer ditching in case of emergency?
Because ditching is extremely, extremely rare, so the costs of redesigning aircraft along with the extra drag and weight (increased fuel burn) it would no doubt add to the airframe far outweighs the ...
- 37k
58
votes
Accepted
Why choose to ditch in the sea over bailing out?
Bailing out the cockpit during that era was neither an easy nor always a successful task. The pilot had to either roll the plane, open the canopy, and release themselves to the void, or if rolling ...
- 7,030
49
votes
Accepted
Is it recommended to get a life raft for short overwater operations?
I used to be a bush pilot flying Cessna 180s on floats. If you ditch in a 172 on wheels with a life raft in the back seat, it's going to flip inverted when it contacts the water and start to sink ...
- 136k
45
votes
Accepted
Why can't you ditch your aircraft in the sea?
The writer was dramatizing things a bit maybe, it's possible to ditch a jet fighter and survive, however your chances are much better ejecting.
Ditching is an option for any aircraft, with some ...
- 54.4k
34
votes
Why choose to ditch in the sea over bailing out?
In case of Spitfire, ditching in sea is not safer than bailing out. Spitfire XIV & XIX pilot's notes specifically states:
71 Ditching
(i) Whenever possible, the aircraft should be abandoned by ...
- 101k
33
votes
Accepted
Does the ditching switch allow an A320 to float indefinitely?
The answer is no, not totally, but it would really slow things down. I don't think anybody knows the precise answer because only flat water ditchings seem to result in the airplane stopping in the ...
- 136k
32
votes
Why don't commercial aircraft adopt a slightly more seaplane-like design to allow safer ditching in case of emergency?
On top of the previous good answers, I would like to add that the aerospace industry does take ditching seriously. 14CFR Part 25 and regulations from other agencies require that transport category ...
- 11.1k
28
votes
Why choose to ditch in the sea over bailing out?
Airplanes tend to float after ditching due to the air trapped in fuel tanks, wings and fuselage spaces, acting as a life raft which is very valuable. A ditched plane is also much more visible than a ...
- 54.4k
28
votes
Why would landing the space shuttle on water have been unsurvivable?
The shuttle lands at 220 mph and would break up. This is 40% faster than airliners with twice the energy to dissipate and the shuttle structure is a great deal lighter. The orbiters were designed to ...
- 21k
27
votes
Accepted
Why did the US Airways Flight 1549 passengers stay on the wings?
Because they were told to evacuate there, if you take a look at the official audio transcript from the accident:
place both arms through the straps and hug it to your chest. flight
attendants ...
- 102k
23
votes
Accepted
Why would landing the space shuttle on water have been unsurvivable?
The wiki line provides no citation nor any elaboration but is largely correct. It was found that the orbiter actually had a favorable shape to ditch,
The Langley report does state that the Orbiter ...
- 102k
21
votes
Accepted
What could cause both engines on a 737-200 to fail at nearly the same time?
Generally, without knowing the details of this accident, dual engine failures are typically caused by one of the following:
fuel events
exhaustion
starvation (e.g. due to iced fuel filters)
...
- 84.5k
20
votes
In an emergency near a remote island is it better to land resulting in the airport closing or ditch in the water?
In general, it's a bad decision to ditch if there's an alternative, even a gear-up landing (Sully ditched in the Hudson because the alternatives were much worse: virtually certain total loss on board, ...
- 17.3k
20
votes
Why can't you ditch your aircraft in the sea?
First, I'm taking this to be about fighter jet aircraft and similar. Airliners, general aviation jet aircraft, and others, are different, and there have been plenty of examples of jet aircraft ...
- 6,984
20
votes
Accepted
Could a landing gear jettison mechanism be practical when ditching?
According to at least one source (based on NTSB data) there were 179 registered ditchings of GA aircraft over a period of 8 years, or an average of approx 22 per year. The trend however were going ...
- 4,175
19
votes
Why choose to ditch in the sea over bailing out?
For baling out, height is the main criteria. If at a low height above the water there is a chance you will strike the water without the parachute being fully open, depending on the trajectory of the ...
- 1,825
18
votes
Does the ditching switch allow an A320 to float indefinitely?
In theory, yes. In practice, no.
FAA regulations (specifically, 14 CFR 25.801(d)) require that, under reasonable water-landing conditions, an airplane must remain afloat long enough for the ...
- 5,731
17
votes
Why can't you ditch your aircraft in the sea?
As a hang-glider pilot, I can say that's exactly how a good hang-glider landing goes. We don't land with speed and run it off (at least if we've done it properly anyway). Instead we fly our approach ...
- 2,424
16
votes
Why did the US Airways Flight 1549 passengers stay on the wings?
Per the accident report from the NTSB, only the four exit slides (two at the forward doors and two at the aft doors) could be used as rafts, as the aircraft was configured for extended overwater ...
- 73.8k
16
votes
Is it recommended to get a life raft for short overwater operations?
To amend John K's excellent answer:
In the unfortunately unlikely event of you being able to get the life raft out of the sinking Cessna, you'd be soaking wet and operating it would be very hard. If ...
- 30.5k
15
votes
Why are the 737's rear doors unusable in a water landing?
The bottom of the door opening sits too close to, or below, the water line when the airplane is floating.
- 136k
14
votes
Why is ditching speed higher than stalling speed?
As far as I'm aware - and maybe a seaplane pilot could give a better answer - one of the big issues with ditching is judging your height above the water. If you stall it in, you might get it wrong and ...
- 72k
14
votes
Why don't commercial aircraft adopt a slightly more seaplane-like design to allow safer ditching in case of emergency?
Multiple reasons:
Ditchings are extremely rare as it is, so if the goal is to improve safety there are plenty of other areas that can be worked on first, like Crew Resource Management.
It is much ...
- 8,642
13
votes
Why don't commercial aircraft adopt a slightly more seaplane-like design to allow safer ditching in case of emergency?
Why don't they have a more hydrodynamically shaped fuselage underside?
Because it wouldn't help emergency ditching much. All that matters is that the hull stays in one piece long enough to protect ...
- 56.5k
12
votes
Accepted
Why is ditching speed higher than stalling speed?
This is somewhat restated and overlaps the other postings. Here are my thoughts on this:
The ditching speed is to provide a safe approach speed. Depending upon the seas, you may not have the ability ...
- 17.8k
12
votes
Why are the 737's rear doors unusable in a water landing?
It all goes back to how the aircraft is designed; the ways different planes float vary.
when the 737 ditches on water the tail-section of the plane is deeper in the water than front of it, because the ...
- 287
11
votes
Accepted
What and where are "flotation seat cushions"?
It became something of a meme:
In the unlikely event of a water landing, your seat cushion can be used as a flotation device.
You remove your seat cushion and hold the straps on the back as a ...
- 73.8k
10
votes
Accepted
Do most aircraft have a ditch button in the case of emergency?
I've only ever seen this button on Airbus aircraft.
It's hard to prove a negative, but as an example here is the ditching checklist for a Boeing 777, where the outflow valves are closed manually and ...
- 58.3k
9
votes
Why don't commercial aircraft adopt a slightly more seaplane-like design to allow safer ditching in case of emergency?
You'd need to change every aircraft design in existence to be a flying boat. This isn't a minor change, it's a completely different design paradigm, one that doesn't lend itself well to the speeds ...
- 16.3k
8
votes
Why can't you ditch your aircraft in the sea?
If you've never seen it, there was a particularly scary video taken of Ethiopian Air 961 crashing in the ocean. The plane had been hijacked and the pilot and copilot were having to fight the drunken ...
- 6,243
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible