In France, when flying at night or across the sea (eg to go to Corsica) on a single-engine plane, it is said that "the plane does not know that it is night or that it is flying on the sea. “water” … and that there is no reason that an engine failure happens especially on these occasions!
Regarding the landing of the C210, which I know the pilot (Air France 777), the engine having had symptoms announcing the breakdown, with his fiancee hostess to Air France, they made a serious check list to prepare for the evacuation with the 2 parents …
landing seems “easier” than in a low-wing aircraft but the cabin exit is much more complicated.
Unfortunately, because this, they found themselves separated which delayed to the night the recovery of the pilot and his friend.
One of the main problems in this case is to succeed in a landing with a completely calm sea (no wrinkles indicating the height in short final .. we also have this problem in landing on glacier with some conditions of brightness or if the snow is totally virgin) or, even worse, on sea formed …
In the meantime, during the glider phase, you must pass a MAYDAY with a position unless you are followed with a transponder (but no tracking when you arrive at low altitudes), make the check list adapted to your type of aircraft ( that you had bravely prepared before the flight by putting on the lifejackets) …
@AeroPlus I’m really interested: what was the RNLI rescue like? Was there anything that would help in an aircraft ditching?
Ibra wrote:
throw the thing deep into the sea
In lower latitudes where water temperatures are higher and rescue chances are lower, the knife may be useful for extended survival (I can’t think of a euphemism for cannibalism) 
In epic open boat voyages, leadership seems to have played a big role, e.g. Bligh’s 3500nm in the Bounty ‘s launch post mutiny (the Nordhoff and Hall trilogy is very good), or Shackleton’s trip in the Endurance ’s lifeboat from Antarctica to South Georgia (Frank Hurley’s photos are amazing).
Edit: links
Edit: apostrophes in links don’t work…
There is a CAA safety sense leaflet with a picture on the front of an Emeraude floating upright on the Irish Sea somewhere, even though its cockpit appears full of water. The length of time floating will depend on how quickly the wings and fuselage fill up with water.
On the other hand I’d still want a PLB and a raft and life jackets, even over warm waters. I tie the PLB to myself so if I have to abandon ship, it’s coming with me.
In the case of the 210 ditching near Corsica, the Navy found them when night fell because the lights of the life vests was more visible than the life vests themselves. The victims saw the rescue helicopters orbiting over them for hours before they went back. One Navy pilot thought about the lights and decided to take off just at SS+30 and his crew immediately saw the victims.
Imagine what the guys swimming thought during that whole afternoon….
For rafts, I heard about Winslow ones as very good.
Thanks Captaine for the article, a very nice read
Capitaine wrote:
If you fly VFR, ditching and rescue should be easier simply because of the better weather.
Except when it is world cup finals, luckily it was not France-UK playing the game when I did my longest 2h crossing of the channel with no raft in a hot summer day 
As AeroPlus mentioned, water in June/July is still very cold to get stuck the whole afternoon around Brittany/Channel but temp should enough to spend a full day in the Mediterranean (assuming you have class 2 medical and a good lunch), surface wind/sun does drive the “real feel temperature” on a boat/raft a lot but not much if you are inside water in a swimsuit…
Capitaine wrote:
A couple of things a sailing friend told me: tie the liferaft to the plane before inflating it, as the wind can push it away faster than you can swim, and to carry a knife, so the plane doesn’t sink and drag the liferaft with it.
I first understood you tie the raft/airplane to keep the plane afloat, but thanks for clarifications
On knifes, make sure you don’t put a hole in the raft PVC fabric while cutting the tie and you throw the thing deep into the sea after 1 day with close friends & family….
For those conscious of cost and weight, this could be a good option:
https://www.suffolkmarinesafety.com/product/waypoint_coastal_single_tube_valise_liferaft
9 kg seems like a manageable weight to manoeuvre onto the wing from the back seat…20+ kg, not so much.
For water crossings may I suggest you plan your flight in the morning: if you ditch SAR has all day to find you. Crossing in the afternoon reduces daylight for the search.
Thanks @Capitaine: for the great article. Seasickness is indeed something that will kick in very soon when in a life raft. I have been rescued once by the RNLI off the coast of Dover when sailing a catamaran there. Even with a drysuit on, hypothermia is something that can occur. The water temperatures of the sea are in June or early July not that much better than in October, so warm outside temperatures should not be the only consideration.
If you fly VFR, ditching and rescue should be easier simply because of the better weather.
There’s a really good article from Yachting Monthly, where they spend 4 hours in a liferaft off the coast of Brittany in force 5-6 winds and 2-3m waves, rather than in a marina or the swimming pool LFHN mentioned. They’ve obviously tried harder than the normal/dry reviews, and there’s some good analysis. One quote sums it up: “Within minutes, that calm feeling was to deepen into a dangerous sense of apathy and nausea as the constant flexing of the raft and changing of horizon induced seasickness.”
A couple of things a sailing friend told me: tie the liferaft to the plane before inflating it, as the wind can push it away faster than you can swim, and to carry a knife, so the plane doesn’t sink and drag the liferaft with it.
Edit: added pdf_pdf
On that route specifically in summer, I bet there may be some boats around just you don’t see them from a GA cockpit
Same as when you check your flight path in Flight Radar, I am always surprised by the amount of traffic that crossed my path/height, usually *5 of what you have actually spotted from a restricted field of view…
