PA28R G-EGVA missing UK to Le Touquet (and AAIB discussion)

Really dumb news hack commentary someone pasted there.

This terrible sad news must cause many of us who have flown this route (or very similar) to Le Touquet multiple times to reflect on our practice and make, if necessary, needful adjustments.
Although I await the final report, am I correct that this is the first time that this has happened in this part of the Channel since WWII?

Indeed, it makes me reflect and re-affirms my conviction that one crosses the channel at the highest altitude possible.

Not many issues in aviation make me genuinely angry, but Channel Islands ATC issuing VFR clearances to leave their zone northbound “not above altitude 2,000ft” is one them. I always refuse and insist on higher, but many/most UK pilots are afraid to challenge ATC. They do it purely for their own convenience – dividing the zone into upper and lower sections – below 2,000ft for VFR traffic and since they self-separate in Class D they can be cleared to the boundary and then forgotten about. Above 2,000ft are the ‘real aeroplanes’. They will allow VFR higher but only if you ask, since it means they actually have to separate you from the IFR stuff.

At 2,000ft you have less than 3 minutes if the engine stops – it is not a safe cruising altitude over a cold and unfriendly body of water. It is debateable whether you are even going to get a useful mayday call out, and then ATC are going to lose you from radar once you’re below 500ft.

At 8,000ft you have over 10 minutes, and can be very explicit/insistent on the radio to make sure you have a heli crew strapping in with rotors turning before you actually ditch.

This one appeared to vanish from FR24 at a reasonable altitude. Not consistent with an engine failure and subsequent glide, but then perhaps the data is just duff. It does show some evident rubbish a little earlier in the track,

I was able to go to Guernsey airways last week and being at FL80 means there is only around 20 minutes when you are outside gliding range. There was a good tailwind with a 140 knot ground speed.

Returning I flew low at altitude 2,000 feet because of the headwinds. Jersey ATC seemed to offer higher to turboprop aircraft even if under Special VFR. A piston PA32 requested higher but was kept at altitude 2,000 feet.

The winds had strengthened and I managed around 85 knots ground speed on the return. From THRED Bournemouth we’re helpful with a clearance, but Solent are not always that flexible so you would still need a descent to remain OCAS.

It has made me think about investing in a small life raft. A larger life raft being a bit awkward to manhandle out of the door of a PA28.

the first time that this has happened in this part of the Channel since WWII?

There must be quite a few. I posted the SR22 one above. And many on the Jersey “cheap avgas” run, including twins.

Never fly without a life raft. I know many/most don’t. I used to be asked by schools/clubs/groups if they could borrow mine, and once it came back about 5cm thicker (obviously been unpacked) and it cost me ~£200 for an overhaul so I never lent it out again. With a reported +10C water temp, it is going to be ~100% likely fatal if you ditch. Life raft thread.

@Peter I have been known to spend an hour in my swimming trunks at Forty Foot Dublin in January:)

The main challenge is a successful ditching. The next challenge is deploying and getting into the life raft. The RAF and Navy practice this, and I understand it isn’t trivial, especially in rough seas, where challenge one, a successful ditching, is more difficult. Commercial AOC water training is more focused on using the life vest.

An old ferry/commercial pilot (died peacefully in bed aged 103), flew regularly without a life raft. I think focusing on a successful egress, inflating your life vest, hanging onto your PLB, having your phone in a waterproof container rank higher from a risk management than a life raft. But nevertheless agree it is probably an extra layer of protection.

The raft becomes key when you know you might not get picked up straight away, e.g. you fly at low level, don’t get a good mayday call in, and there’s a degree of uncertainty / hesitation about getting the SAR assets to you.

The point of flying at 8000ft is that you can be incredibly explicit about what’s happening, where you are, where you’re heading and what you need. You tell ATC that rather than them going into some sort of vague ‘aircraft may be in trouble’ procedure you want them to pick up the phone right now and get a heli crew strapping in by the time he calls you back. You can also Prob90 pick a boat to ditch next to, especially in summer when the yachties are out.

If the seas are rough and raft entrance impossible or surviving the ditching unlikely, then the weather probably isn’t suitable for me to fly across the channel. The idea is to step off the wing into the raft. The TB10 has one and I carry it if crossing the channel.

RobertL18C wrote:

The main challenge is a successful ditching.

According to statistics (see e.g. this web site), successful ditching it the least challenge. Surviving until being picked up is the major problem.