Has an aircraft water landing ever been successful?

Question

Has an aircraft ever safely touched down onto the water, rather than cartwheeled, sunk and killed everyone? Basically, has it ever happened like it says on the safety card?

Answer 1

NTSB Identification: ANC06LA112
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Tuesday, August 08, 2006 in Culebra, PR
Aircraft: Beech BE-18, registration: N498BH
Injuries: 2 Uninjured.

This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed.

On August 8, 2006, about 1234 eastern daylight time, a wheel-equipped Beech BE-18 airplane, N498BH, sustained substantial damage during a forced landing in the ocean, about 200 yards from the west shoreline of Isla de Culebra, Puerto Rico. The airplane was being operated as a visual flight rules (VFR) cross-country flight under Title 14, CFR Part 91, when the accident occurred. The airplane was operated by the pilot. The airline transport certificated pilot and the sole passenger were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and an international VFR flight plan was filed. The flight originated at the V.C. Bird International Airport, St. John's, Antigua, about 1100, and was en route to the Fernando Luis Ribas Dominicci Airport, San Juan, Puerto Rico.

During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC), on August 14, the pilot reported that he had been hired to fly the airplane from Antigua to Puerto Rico by the new owner of the airplane. The pilot said he departed with 3 hours of fuel, and was in cruise flight at 6,500 feet. About 1.5 hours after departure, the pilot said he noticed a strong odor of fuel inside the airplane, and shortly thereafter, the right engine lost power, followed quickly by the left engine. He said he did not observe any visible evidence of fuel on the outside of the airplane. The flight had just passed the Island of Culebra, and the pilot said he turned toward the island. He said he did not initially feather the engines, but kept the propellers wind milling while he performed emergency procedures by switching fuel tanks and attempting to restart the engines. The pilot was unable to restart any engine, feathered the propellers, and ditched the airplane near the shore of the island. Both occupants got out of the airplane, along with an emergency raft. The airplane sank in about 50 feet of water.

During a telephone conversation with the NTSB IIC on August 15, the owner of the airplane reported that the airplane had been recovered from the water, and it was en route to Puerto Rico. The owner said that once the airplane was out of the water, 60 gallons of fuel was recovered from the left wing fuel tanks, and 25 gallons was recovered from the right wing fuel tanks.





NTSB Identification: MIA03LA064.
The docket is stored in the Docket Management System (DMS). Please contact Records Management Division
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Thursday, February 20, 2003 in Marathon, FL
Probable Cause Approval Date: 9/1/2004
Aircraft: Cessna 402B, registration: N554AE
Injuries: 1 Minor.

The fuel tanks were filled the day before the accident date, and on the day of the accident, the airplane was flown from that airport to the Miami International Airport, where the pilot picked up 2 passengers and flew uneventfully to Cuba. He performed a preflight inspection of the airplane in Cuba and noted both auxiliary fuel tanks were more than half full and both main tanks were half full. The flight departed, climbed to 8,000 feet; and was normal while in Cuban airspace. When the flight arrived at TADPO intersection, he smelled strong/fumes of fuel in the cabin. The engine instruments were OK at that time. The flight continued and when it was 10-12 miles from Marathon, he smelled something burning in the cabin like plastic material/paper; engine indications at that time were normal. He declared "PAN" three times with the controller, and shortly thereafter the right engine began missing and surging. He then observed fire on top of the right engine cowling near the louvers. He secured the right engine however the odor of fuel and fumes got worse to the point of irritating his eyes. He declared an emergency with the controller, began descending at blue line airspeed, and the fumes/odor got worse. Approximately 5 minutes after the right engine began missing and surging, the left engine began acting the same way. He secured the left engine but the propeller did not completely feather. At 400 feet he lowered full flaps and (contrary to the Pilot's Operating Handbook and FAA Approved Airplane Flight Manual) the landing gear in preparation for ditching. He intentionally stalled the airplane when it was 5-7 feet above the water, evacuated the airplane with a life vest, donned then inflated it. The airplane sank within seconds and he was rescued approximately 20 minutes later. The pilot first reported 4 months and 19 days after the accident that his passport which was in the airplane at the time of the accident had burned pages. He was repeatedly asked for a signed, dated statement that explained where it was specifically located in the airplane, and that it was not burned before the accident flight; he did not provide a statement. Examination of the airplane by FAA and NTSB revealed no evidence of an in-flight fire to any portion of the airplane, including the right engine or engine compartment area, or upper right engine cowling. Examination of the left engine revealed no evidence of preimpact failure or malfunction. The left magneto operated satisfactorily on a test bench, while the right magneto had a broken distributor block; and the electrode tang which fits in a hole of the distributor gear; no determination was made as to when the distributor block fractured or the electrode tang became bent. The left propeller blades were in the feathered position. Examination of the right engine revealed no evidence or preimpact failure or malfunction. The right hand stack assembly was fractured due to overload; no fatigue or through wall thickness erosion was noted. Both magnetos operated satisfactorily on a test bench. The right propeller was in the feathered position. An aluminum fuel line that was located in the cockpit that had been replaced the day before the accident was examined with no evidence or failure or malfunction; no fuel leakage was noted.

The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows:
The loss of engine power to both engines for undetermined reasons.






NTSB Identification: MIA06LA125

Accident occurred Wednesday, July 19, 2006 in St. Thomas, VI
Aircraft: Douglas DC-3, registration: N782T
Injuries: 1 Minor,

This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed.

On July 19, 2006, about 0720 Atlantic standard time, a Douglas DC-3, N782T, registered to and operated by MBD Corporation, ditched in the Caribbean Sea shortly after takeoff from the Cyril King, Charlotte Amalie Airport, Saint Thomas, United States Virgin Islands,Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and a company flight plan was filed. The airline transport-rated pilot, commercial-rated copilot and one of the two passengers reported no injuries, the other passenger reported minor injuries. The airplane incurred substantial damage. The flight was originating at the time.

The captain stated the accident flight was a return flight to San Juan, Puerto Rico after delivering mail and that the airplane was empty of any cargo. The first officer was flying the airplane. The takeoff roll and rotation at 84 knots was uneventful until about 100 feet above the ground when the gear was called out to be retracted. At that time, the left engine's rpm dropped from 1,800 to 1,000. The captain stated he communicated to the first office "I have the plane". He recalls seeing an airplane waiting for takeoff on the opposite end of the departing runway as they flew over it. The left engine's propeller was selected for feathering. The airplane would not maintain altitude and airspeed. He instructed the first officer to confirm that the gear was retracted. The captain knew the airplane would not make it back to the airport and instructed the passengers to don their life vests and prepare for a ditching. The aircraft was ditched in the ocean and remained afloat. All occupants exited the airplane into a life raft.

Answer 2

Water Landing Aircraft

Answer 3

In the late 60's or early 70s I believe it was a DC-8 that went down in the Caribbean due to fuel exhaustion. The crew ditched the plane in the water and deployed all the liferafts. The aircraft was completely evacuated and continued to float for about 10 minutes after the aircraft was vacant. The crew was even going back inside to gather survival equipment. Everyone was rescued later that day after a few hours floating in the water.

I have heard (though I do not know if its true) that aircraft are designed with a much less hull-shaped body these days meaning that their initial reaction on hitting water will be to torpedo downward underwater then pop back up (as they are pressure vessels and float) above the water. The initial duck under might cause a lot of structural damage and break the relative airtightness of the cabin. As far as I know though, there hasnt been a ditching in something like 30 years so theres no way to really know this.

ETOPS aircraft have to prove such a range of reliability that it is nearly inconceivable to lose both engines over water. Though an airbus crew did inadvertantly pump all their fuel overboard during an overwater flight, they managed to land safely on an island in the mid-atlantic.

Answer 4

Well, it depends on your explanation of "sucessful". Has it ever happened like on the safety card? Probably not. Has it ever happened and not killed everyone? Of course. You might remember Ethiopian Airlines flight that was hijacked in 1996. The hijackers wanted the pilot to fly them to Australia...well out of fuel range. The aircraft ran out of fuel in the Indian Ocean, was ditched, and 125 of the 170-some passengers and crew were killed. Last year a Tunisair ATR ran out of fuel, ditched in the Med, and and most of the passengers surived. So yes, it does happen.

You've got to remember though, the impact generally isn't what kills you. Even if the aircraft is sucessfully ditched, you still have to evacuate the aircraft and survive until rescue. Keep in mind that with the transatlantic flights taking place over the North Atlantic, it doesn't do you much good to survive the ditching, because you will die of exposure in minutes.

Answer 5

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Answer 6

Yes, it frequently happens. Let's face it: if your (non-seaplane) is going down on water anyhow, you might as well have some chance than no chance, right? Hence the cards to tell you want to do for your safety if it does go right.

Answer 7

so far its rare that the plane doesnt crash and split into parts but there are many survivors though. an ideal plane would be those that have wings sprouting from the bottom of the plane instead of in the middle of the body. saw this on discovery channel a few weeks ago.

Answer 8

not 100% perfect, but some have survivors, because the engines catch the water, this causes the cartwheeling etc, but not great survivability. think they said safest place to sit is at the rear of the plane, because it usually breaks off. and i dont mean sittin on the black (which is really orange) box.

Answer 9

Do you mean normal planes or the ones that are spposed to land o water? Because you do get planes that have big float things on them and they land on water all the time.

Answer 10

Seaplanes land successfully on water almost all of the time!