However, having said that, the statistical chances of surviving a ditching are high. It is estimated from UK and USA data that 88% of controlled ditchings result in few injuries to pilots or passengers.

You are more likely to die after ditching by drowning, usually hastened by hypothermia and exhaustion. By wearing a life jacket in the aeroplane your survival prospects are greatly improved. However in cold water, 15 degrees Celsius or less, your life expectancy in the water is only about one hour.

If one has to ditch what are the issues?

In general terms it is always preferable to impact the water as slowly as possible, under full control; don't stall the aeroplane in. Keep the wings parallel with the surface of the water on impact, i.e. wings level in calm conditions. One wing tip striking the water first will cause a violent uncontrollable slewing action.

In ideal conditions you should always ditch into wind because it provides the lowest speed over the water and therefore causes the lowest impact damage. This process is effective provided the surface of the water is flat or if the water is smooth with a very long swell inside which the aeroplane will come to rest.

If the swell is more severe, including breaking waves, it is more advisable to ditch along the swell, accepting the cross wind and higher speed over the water, because this is preferable to ditching into the face of a wave and nosing in. Ditching into the face of a wave is very likely to cause extreme damage to the aeroplane and violent deceleration with severe implications for passengers and crew. The final approach will result in considerable drift which you must control to achieve the required tracking over the water. You must be careful to maintain sufficient airspeed to ensure that any action you take in controlling the path of the aeroplane does not lead to a stall. You must retain complete control of the aeroplane.

In extremely windy conditions, greater than 20 knots for light aeroplanes with low stalling speeds or 30 knots or more for heavy aeroplanes with high stalling speeds, it may be worth ditching into wind to gain the large reduction in speed over the water. Aim to touchdown on the receding face of the swell. You may need to compromise between the beneficial effects of wind and the problems of swell. Advice on judging wind speed is provided at the end of this article.

In many cases, especially for modern or the more complex aeroplanes, the aircraft flight manual (or pilot's operating handbook) will provide detailed handling information for the execution of a ditching. In the absence of such information you should consider the following:

• Don life jacket if time permits;

• Reduce the aeroplane's weight to a minimum if you have time and if practicable. This will reduce the stalling speed and therefore your planned impact speed;

• Ensure landing gear is up and the associated circuit breaker pulled;

• Dispose of, or restrain, any loose articles in the cabin which could create a hazard during impact;

• Consider possible airframe distortion on impact and arrange to have an escape door or hatch open before impact so that you can vacate the aeroplane;

• Make every effort to precisely control airspeed and rate of descent, both should be as low as possible, consistent with maintaining full control of the aeroplane. If you are conducting a glide approach you must consider approaching at a higher speed which will provide the lift energy necessary for the larger than usual round-out to reduce the rate of descent at impact to one which is appropriate;

• Ditch into wind if possible otherwise ditch along the swell (see above), a compromise may be necessary in extreme cases;

• Use flaps set to a medium position to ensure the slowest speed on impact; flaps also usually induce a lower angle of incidence and therefore smaller aeroplane body angle when approaching stalling speed thus providing for a better aeroplane attitude on impact;

• If possible make the approach using power. If the ditching has to occur because of impending fuel exhaustion make the approach before all the fuel is expended. A powered approach provides for the greatest potential to execute a successful round-out and hold off enabling the aeroplane to have almost no descent rate at impact;

•Be prepared for a violent impact, there will probably be two or more impacts, the tail end of the aeroplane followed by the entire fuselage.

At night the use of lights could be critical. You should set the cockpit lights as low as possible to optimise your night vision and carefully consider the use of landing lights or possibly taxi lights. The very directional nature of landing lights could cause confusion for the pilot, whereas the more general light provided by taxi lights may prove more satisfactory. If the air is misty (a serious probability if there is blowing spray), the glare of external lights could upset your night vision and prove more of a hindrance than a help.

One of the most difficult things to get right in a ditching is judging the height for the round-out and hold-off. Most people will not have experienced many landings without an undercarriage. Thus you will be used to seeing a particular attitude at the round-out. In the ditching case that attitude will be a little different because the aeroplane should be a little bit closer to the surface to cater for the lack of an undercarriage. You will need to make some allowance for that. This is where a powered approach can be most beneficial because you can use power to control that final descent onto the water. Of course if you fly an aeroplane with a fixed undercarriage you have another problem which we will consider later.

Judging height over water can be extremely difficult particularly when the water is calm or on a very dark night. An aneroid altimeter will be of little use unless you have an accurate QNH. The best device to use is a radio/radar altimeter if you have one. If all else fails set up a low rate of descent, less than 200 feet a minute and wait. This is another good reason for conducting a powered approach if power is available.

The overall design of an aeroplane has a significant influence on how it will behave during the ditching impact. As a general rule, aeroplanes with an almost straight fuselage under surface will behave in a more benign manner than ones with a swept up rear fuselage. Because of the angle of attack of the wings near the stall, all aeroplanes have a nose high tail low attitude near the stall and therefore, if flown correctly, will have such an attitude as they impact the water. Thus the rear fuselage will impact the water first, except for fixed undercarriage aeroplanes. If the rear fuselage is markedly upswept it is not unusual immediately after impact for the aeroplane to violently pitch up to an almost vertical attitude before violently crashing down onto the surface and probably nosing under the water.

Aeroplanes with straight under surfaces are less likely to suffer such a violent pitch up and subsequent violent pitch down.

The use of moderate flap also has an effect as mentioned above, both reducing touch down speed and aircraft body angle.

Ditching into the face of the swell or into waves should be avoided because the aeroplane will behave in a similar manner to one impacting a cliff face.

Aeroplanes with fixed undercarriages strike the water wheels first. This is most likely to cause violent nose down pitch with the aeroplane ending up in a near vertical position with the nose buried under the water. Individual aeroplane design may have a significant effect on this outcome with aeroplanes with a significant amount of their structure ahead of the main wheels performing in a less violent manner. Aeroplanes with retractable undercarriages should always be ditched with the gear retracted unless the flight manual specifically instructs otherwise.

After the aeroplane has come to rest, high wing aeroplanes may quickly assume an attitude where most of their fuselage, and therefore you, is under water. Low wing aeroplanes are more likely to keep the fuselage above water. How long either type stays in that position before sinking is related to many issues. It is best to assume that you will have little time, so evacuate the aeroplane quickly but in an orderly and organised manner. This is best achieved if all the passengers and crew have been comprehensively briefed during the descent phase prior to impact so that everyone knows what they have to do and what their responsibilities are.

You have survived the impact now to leave the aeroplane before it sinks.

Before we begin it may be worth considering how we might best protect ourselves from the worst effects of the ditching impact. Obviously we should be well strapped in, if possible using upper body restraint. Even in this situation our head and legs are not well restrained and are prone to damage with obvious results. Consideration should be given to protecting the head and legs by adopting the crash position. Restraining head and leg movement during impact should be considered. The issue of body protection during severe impact situations is a large and complex subject which will only be covered in this article at a superficial level.

Now to leave the aeroplane. As has already been mentioned, it is best to have a door or hatch wedged open before impact because airframe distortion may make it difficult if not impossible to open the door after impact. However, ingress of water during the impact should also be considered but normally have at least one door or hatch open.

If you have not been wearing your life jacket make sure you collect it before you leave and put it on as soon as possible. Do not inflate it inside the aeroplane; it will almost certainly seriously impede your exit. Collect and deploy life rafts if you have them. Collect all signalling equipment and survival gear you have, ideally it should all be combined in one or more convenient packs or included in your life jacket or life raft.

At night it will be advisable to have the cabin lights on.

If you have any influence on where you are going to ditch consider making ease of rescue an issue. Thus if possible ditch near a benign shoreline if you can't land on solid earth. Ditching near a treacherous shoreline on the other hand should be avoided. Seek out shipping if any are within range and try to ensure that they see you. Ditch in the front hemisphere of the ship though not directly inline with its track!

Ensure that you have enough appropriate life jackets for everyone and possibly a spare or two. Notice the word .appropriate.. A life jacket not designed for use in an aeroplane is not appropriate. An airline life jacket will also not be appropriate in many aerial work or private operations where the jacket should be worn regularly. If you are in doubt about which sort of life jacket to use discuss the matter with an aviation safety equipment supplier or servicing agent. Your life jacket should be equipped with at least a whistle and a light. Calling out is much more difficult than blowing a whistle when you are trying to attract someone's attention and a light or strobe is invaluable at night.

Expect one or more preliminary light skips before the principal impact with the water. The principal water im pact may be severe. Do not unfasten the harness too early. Do not inflate the flotation gear prior to exiting the airplane. Under some light wind conditions, glassy water may make judging the height above water surface very difficult. The above procedure is generally the best way to make a water landing without power. In glassy water situations, make every effort to use other cues, such as floating objects or shorelines, to judge height above water.

Power-on Ditching:

• RADIO--TRANSMIT MAYDAY on 121.5 MHz or any other frequency, if able, giving location and intentions.
• HEAVY OBJECTS--SECURE OR JETTISON, if practical.
• WING FLAPS--AS DESIRED (Flaps down recommended).
• APPROACH--INTO THE WIND. Except in light winds and heavy swells, then LAND PARALLEL TO SWELLS.
• HARNESS--SECURE. Brief passengers without shoulder harness to remove eyeglasses and cushion face with folded coat or blanket just prior to touchdown. Don life vests. Do not inflate prior to egress.
• CABIN DOORS--UNLATCH AND LOCK OPEN.
• AIRSPEED--60 KIAS (Flaps down).
• TOUCHDOWN--USE POWER TO ESTABLISH 100 - 200 FT/MIN DESCENT AT 60 KIAS. Keep wings parallel to water if landing along swells. If able, kick drift off with rudder prior to touchdown.
• AIRPLANE--EVACUATE through any available exit. If necessary, open window and flood cabin to equalize pressure so doors can be opened.
• LIFE VESTS AND RAFT--INFLATE AFTER EGRESS.

NOTE

Expect one or more preliminary light skips before the principal impact with the water. The principal water impact may be severe. Do not unfasten the harness too early. Do not inflate the flotation gear prior to exiting the airplane. The touchdown technique is a no-flare power touchdown. Glassy water may make judging the height above the water surface very difficult. With power available, do not attempt to guess the point at which to flare, but allow the airplane to fly itself into the water at minimum safe speed with sufficient power to keep descent rate at a safe level.