WhiskeyPapa wrote:
But even so, that is probably unwise. But so is SEP flying to begin with.
It’s not easy to answer that.
Do you mean flying sep in general or flying sep over water?
I think flying a sep over water without a raft is unwiser than simply flying sep (over land). But, you could say mountains and forrests aren’t a great place to „land“ as well…
Here is a news article about ditching an sr22 that I can’t access from the eu. Could someone with a vpn post it please?
It can be found at various places on the internet but I suspect it was originally posted on COPA (the Cirrus forum, which is behind a ~$50 paywall) and somebody lifted it from there. This happens a lot with sites behind a paywall; the members think it is a super secret members-only club but … 
I have not seen a longer version. However we have many Cirrus pilots here.
Raft deployed but flipped over (up side down);
I jumped into the water and flipped the raft right side up and assisted passenger into it;
He did it wrong. With a low wing plane, this should not happen unless it is really windy. You step onto the wing, operate the activation chord, hold onto the cord (not the handle on the enclosure!) and when it is fully inflated you step into it. Others can step in with you, or they can get in later. The crucial thing is to get 1 person in. It sounds like he threw the raft into the water and tried to get in; unless you use the right technique (which is hard, even for a fit and flexible person) it will flip over on top of you.
Peter, I have always considered some advice that you suggested some time ago and that in a low wing aeroplane was to throw the liferaft onto the wing giving you the opportunity to turn it over.
The other thing that I read somewhere and that I also thought was worthwhile was to keep a length of rope handy with small loops in it so that everyone could have a hand (or wrist) hold and not drift apart.
Are you doomed to flip in a FG on ditching?
I am a member of Copa (Cirrus Owners and Pilots Association).
The pilot did not jump first into the water to inflate the raft.
This was posted on the COPA Facebook page from pilots.
“You’ve all seen the repeat Bahamas CAPS scenario. Everything went splendidly, but most did not see Ed Regensburg’s write-up.
It was a really great summary.
I’ll post it here to bring it to the surface…
“We departed TISX (St Croix, USVI) at approximately 08:30 local time headed back home to KGSO (Greensboro, NC) with fuel stops in MBPV (Provinciales Airport, Turks & Caicos) and KFXE (Ft Lauderdale Executive, FL). Estimated flight time to MBPV approximately 3 hours. Altitude of flight 8,000 feet; IFR Flight plan
Approximately 2 hours into our flight the yellow “Low Oil Pressure” warning light came on on my Avidyne panel;
I cross checked the reading (approx 25 psi) with the analog gauge – confirmed;
I informed ATC I had a low oil pressure warning indicator light on.
Oil pressure continued to drop;
I declared emergency and informed ATC of fuel and souls on board;
Instructed Dan to get and put on life vest and I made the raft accessible in the back seat – ready to deploy;
ATC suggested Grand Turk airport so I turned the plane in that direction and established best glide speed;
Oil pressure reading at 2 psi;
Strong engine vibration and engine/prop stopped;
Attempted restart – no go – Turned off fuel;
At 1500 feet deployed chute;
Airplane landed in the water (belly down);
Pulled raft from back seat onto the wing and pulled the inflator handle;
Raft deployed but flipped over (up side down);
I jumped into the water and flipped the raft right side up and assisted passenger into it;
We remained in the raft until picked up by Princess Regal Cruise ship.”
I’ve been on a maritime survival course, and the biggest eye-opener was that the greatest risk is not from drowning, but from hypothermia. As I was planning a few cross-North-Sea trips, the next day I bought a drysuit. (Not an offshore-survival-type dry suit, but a 2nd hand dingy sailing one – as long as they keep you dry they’re good enough.)
Second eye-opener: In case of a situation that develops quickly, you’re only guaranteed to get out of the aircraft with the stuff you have on your body. Anything that’s somehow elsewhere and possibly loose in the plane, don’t count on it.
So my first three bits of survival gear:
- Dry suit – and you put it on before getting in the aircraft. There’s no way you can don a dry-suit while in the cockpit, especially not in a developing emergency.
- Life vest – and make sure it’s one for aviation with manual inflation: A maritime auto-inflating life vest might just trap you in the aircraft.
- PLB w/GPS (attached to life vest)
Anything else is nice to have, great if it works as designed, but not something I consider essential for places where SAR is just a few hours away at most.
I wear a manual, marine, lifejacket, and have done so for years in the Jodel. I once caught the inflating tab, which had got out of its shield, on something and the jacket inflated. No problem with lap-and-diagonal seatbelt.
But I’m now wearing it in a Bolkow Junior, with a four-point harness, and have started wondering if I would be suffocated if that happened.
One accidental inflation, but no forced landings, in 2,000 hours, am I taking a risk wearing it?
How is this solved in the military?
I’d been at a helo-dunker survival course some years ago. We trained in getting out from a cockpit from “our” door and from the cabin, both right side up and upside down, in lights or in complete dark. What I remember was the following:
- Always know which hand will open the door and which hand will release the harness, with your eyes closed. Even if the a/c capsizes and/or it is night and/or you are hurt you will know which way to get out.
- Just before ditching brace really hard by holding the harness at shoulder height (and your collar if there is no 2-shoulder harness) and keep the first hand over the second.
- After ditching, wait till the “big” movements are over and then use your hands: reach for the open door with the first hand and keep it there, then release the harness with the second hand. After releasing the harness pull yourself out with the hand on the door.
- Do not help anyone until you are out.
- Inflate everything after egress. If you inflate the life jacket 5m underwater expect a strong bump (it’s fun).
- It’s very difficult to get on a dinghy if you are in the water and there is nobody on it.
- If a helicopter arrives, move your hands to help them locate you, then use the “thumbs-up” or “thumbs-down” gesture to tell them to lower or raise the rope.
I fly over the Aegean sea, and almost always try to fly at FL80-90, which gives good radio reception and for a C172 13-15NM of glide, always keep the raft in the cockpit (even in local flights), precompute the “dead zones” where reaching land cannot be achieved, and take note of ship positions.
I learned the same thing in my dunker course.
1. Leave your seatbelt on! This means you are in your seat, and you know where your seat is in relation to the exit. Regardless of whether the A/C is right side up or upside down.
2. Clear the exit. Open doors, jettison windows, whatever you need to do to open the exit path.
3. Put one hand on the exit somehow. The fuselage edge, a handlebar or something. So that you only need to pull yourself towards your own hand to get out. As soon as you release the seatbelt you might start floating or start turning around. This will be very disorientating. Your hand is your anchor.
4. Now, with your other hand, release your seatbelt.
5. Pull yourself towards the exit.
6. Once outside, you will bob up to the surface automatically due to the buoyancy of the dry clothes inside your dry suit. This can be helped by inflating your lifejacket of course. On the other hand, entering a raft with a deployed lifejacket is a lot harder, especially if you’re the first to enter the raft. So you might want to delay this just a bit – as long as you don’t wait too long for your hands to become too numb.
