is that really the Frecce tricolori as the 2nd news report claims?
They were partaking in the airshow at the Alba-Adriatica military air base adjacent to that beach. The Frecce Tricolori were also taking part in the display.
The RVs were part of a private display team – http://www.qbrteam.it/
“Which options? A crowded beach? Not really. methinks.”
No of course not.
I wonder whether a bit further out to avoid the wheels being on the sand but dragging through the water.
Who knows but well done and terribly sad all at the same time.
Ouch! Great he survived!
Now, from the POV of this forum – is there anything he could have done better? I am NOT, repeat NOT, second-guessing anything here, but we have two videos showing a forced landing on (very shallow) water, which provide and unusual amount of data points for this kind of emergency.
My first question is – would it have been better to land a bit further out, i.e. in deeper water? I suspect his wheels actually touched the bottom of the beach beneath the waves. Did that add to the flipping over or would that not have made any difference? From what I can tell, he did a textbook tail-low landing.
IMHO the main lesson is to land further out, because as you suggest his wheels dug into the bottom.
I don’t think wheels do normally dig in like that on a water landing, or do they? It would make any water in a taildragger landing hugely dangerous.
They do – most seaplanes landing with gear down have ended badly.
Taking a ditching course the consensus there was that a non retractable will most likely flip. The difference that I could see is that in deeper water it would not have remained on its back. I think if he had landed on the beach and if the sand was not hard he would have had the same outcome. The same goes for a soft field.
I think he did great. There were only two things he “should” or could do, survive and don’t hit people on the beach. He managed to do both, couldn’t have been done better in my opinion.
Taking a ditching course the consensus there was that a non retractable will most likely flip.
I think you’re right. Take a bicycle and try going fast on dry sand… You will flip over. Do the same in 2 feet of water and you will also flip over (I have tried it!). However cycling near the water shore where the sand is just wet and compact you would be fine.
However I don’t think he had this choice as the beach was crowed. Given the limited options I think he choose good.
The issue with further out is that he would have been in deeper water. Had he flipped, he may have been trapped with head under water. At least close to shore, there were quick thinking people who got him out. I had been thinking that maybe, closer to the shore with harder sand, he may have kept it on its wheels, but again, possible people on beach, always an issue. Looking closer, Iy looked like there was a sandbank, a slight raise, and wondered was he aiming for that?,
Good job anyway, at least he walked away.
