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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 immediately, and getting your own carcass and your passenger out of the thing without drowning will be enough of a challenge. Forget about trying to pull a life ...
20
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 downwards from 30 in the mid-80s to 12-15 ditchings in the mid-90s when the study ended.
In all 22 fatalities were registered, with an 88% overall survival rate ...
14
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 you manage to inflate it, and mind you, outside the plane, your a**e would be freezing anyway.
For the life raft to be useful, given evacuation goes ok, you'd ...
6
The airplanes in the photo are quite far apart, at least 1-2 lengths between each (it's just the long lens making them look cheek by jowl), and while in line going straight, they are only using a little over idle thrust to get rolling when required, so the jet blast effects are negligible. The main factor is FOD (foreign object damage) kicked up, and at ...
3
Nearly every pilot publication, whether a book on the subject or an aircraft flight manual, will address the tropic. I can't speak to data driven scientific reporting on the subject, largely because much of what's caught on a preflight will never be reported (and thus omitted as data). I can speak anecdotally, from personal experience doing preflights, ...
2
There is no FAR or CS demanding that requirement.
I have worked on a system an "aeronose" to detect contaminants , and it worked,we did a trial I installation in an A320 but there was no legal requirement and therefore no airline interest.
2
I can't speak on whether or not to bring a life raft, and others have already posted their views on that.
I can add a few more items to consider in addition to what others mentioned:
Don't forget to wear a portable EPIRB (Emergency Position-Indicating Radio Beacon). They are available for purchase and for rent. One can be attached directly to you; make ...
1
Approach from upwind. The source of fire is hot brakes so apply maximum cooling, say water-based. But hydraulic fluids under pressure burn, so if brakes are engaged it's best to ensure with flight crew that the brakes are off as soon as the aircraft is stationary. Stay in the vehicle in case tyre ruptures; chances are it will go sideways. If fuel is leaking, ...
1
During the acceptance trials for WWII bombers in 1935, the Boeing entry crashed on takeoff as the gust locks for the rudder and elevators had not been removed. This accident was the catalyst for the preflight checklist. The preflight checks were done but obviously less than rigorously.
Boeing was allowed to use another plane of the same type, which won ...
1
The reasons for TWO boxes are most likely that they came up with the idea for a cockpit voice recorder first, and later decided to add another one for data.
The magnetic tape and other formats first used took up a lot of space and to put both in one box would have been a big heavy box the size of two put together. These are about 20 pounds each, a ...
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