Water landing
This article needs additional citations for verification. (June 2020) |
In aviation, a water landing is, in the broadest sense, an aircraft landing on a body of water. Seaplanes, such as floatplanes and flying boats, land on water as a normal operation. Ditching[1] is a controlled emergency landing on the water surface in an aircraft not designed for the purpose, a very rare occurrence.[2] Controlled flight into the surface and uncontrolled flight ending in a body of water (including a runway excursion into water) are generally not considered water landings or ditching.[3]
Aircraft water landings
[edit]By design
[edit]Seaplanes, flying boats, and amphibious aircraft are designed to take off and alight on water. Alighting can be supported by a hull-shaped fuselage and/or pontoons. The availability of a long effective runway was historically important on lifting size restrictions on aircraft, and their freedom from constructed strips remains useful for transportation to lakes and other remote areas. The ability to loiter on water is also important for marine rescue operations and fire fighting. One disadvantage of water alighting is that it is dangerous in the presence of waves. Furthermore, the necessary equipment compromises the craft's aerodynamic efficiency and speed.[citation needed]
Early crewed spacecraft launched by the United States were designed to alight on water by the splashdown method. The craft would parachute into the water, which acted as a cushion to bring the craft to a stop; the impacts were violent but survivable. Alighting over water rather than land made braking rockets unnecessary, but its disadvantages included difficult retrieval and the danger of drowning. The NASA Space Shuttle design was intended to land on a runway instead. Since 2020 the SpaceX Dragon has used water landings. The Boeing CST-100 is designed to do likewise.[citation needed]
In distress
[edit]While ditching is extremely uncommon in commercial passenger travel, small aircraft tend to ditch slightly more often because they usually have only one engine and their systems have fewer redundancies. According to the National Transportation Safety Board, there are about a dozen ditchings per year.[4]
General aviation
[edit]General aviation includes all fields of aviation outside of military or scheduled (commercial) flights. This classification includes small aircraft, e.g., training aircraft, airships, gliders, helicopters, and corporate aircraft, including business jets and other for-hire operations. General aviation has the highest accident and incident rate in aviation, with 16 deaths per million flight hours, compared to 0.74 deaths per million flight hours for commercial flights (North America and Europe).[citation needed]
Commercial aircraft
[edit]In the United States, the FAA does not require commercial pilots to train to ditch but airline cabin personnel must train on the evacuation process.[5] In addition, the FAA implemented rules under which circumstances (kind of operator, number of passengers, weight, route) an aircraft has to carry emergency equipment including floating devices such as life jackets and life rafts.
Some aircraft are designed with the possibility of a water landing in mind. Airbus aircraft, for example, feature a "ditching button" which, if pressed, closes valves and openings underneath the aircraft, including the outflow valve, the air inlet for the emergency RAT, the avionics inlet, the extract valve, and the flow control valve. It is meant to slow flooding in a water landing.[6]
Airplane water ditchings
[edit]Date | Aircraft | Occupants | Fatalities | Details |
---|---|---|---|---|
13 January 1923 | Aeromarine 75 | 9 | 4 | 13 January 1923: An Aeromarine Airways Aeromarine 75 had to ditch into the Atlantic Ocean when the flying boat suffered engine issues. 5 of the 9 people on board survived.[7] |
21 October 1926 | Handley Page W.10 | 12 | 0 | 21 October 1926: An Imperial Airways Handley Page W.10 (G-EBMS) ditched into the English Channel after suffering an engine failure. All 12 people on board survived.[8] |
17 June 1929 | Handley Page W.10 | 13 | 7 | 17 June 1929: An Imperial Airways Handley Page W.10 (G-EBMT) ditched into the English Channel after suffering an engine failure. 6 of the 13 people on board the plane survived.[9] |
21 January 1939 | Short S.23 Empire | 13 | 3 | 21 January 1939: An Imperial Airways Short S.23 Empire (G-ADUU) ditched into the Atlantic Ocean after suffering a loss of power to its engines. 10 of the 13 people on board survived.[10] |
10 February 1945 | Douglas C-47 | 12 | 0 | 10 February 1945: A lost U.S. Air Force Douglas C-47 was attempting to make an emergency landing at a nearby airfield since it was running on low fuel. Unbeknownst to the crew, they were heading towards a Japanese airfield. A P-51, piloted by Louis Edward Curdes, conducting an air attack over the Japanese airfield spotted the C-47. He was unable to contact the crew of the C-47 as the radio on the C-47 stopped working, so he shot down both engines of the C-47 to prevent the occupants of the C-47 to be captured by the Japanese upon landing at the airfield. The C-47 was then forced to ditch into the sea. All 12 people on board survived and were eventually rescued.[11][12] |
11 April 1952 | Douglas DC-4 | 69 | 52 | 11 April 1952: Pan Am Flight 526A ditched 11.3 miles northwest of Puerto Rico due to engine failure after take off. Many survived the initial ditching but panicking passengers refused to leave the sinking wreck and drowned. 52 passengers were killed, 17 passengers and crew members were rescued by the USCG. After this accident it was recommended to implement pre-flight safety demonstrations for over-water flights.[13] |
16 April 1952 | de Havilland Australia DHA-3 Drover | 3 | 0 | 16 April 1952: the de Havilland Australia DHA-3 Drover VH-DHA operated by the Australian Department of Civil Aviation[14] with 3 occupants was ditched in the Bismarck Sea between Wewak and Manus Island. The port propeller failed, a propeller blade penetrated the fuselage and the single pilot was rendered unconscious; the ditching was performed by a passenger; all 3 occupants survived.[15] |
3 August 1953 | Lockheed L-749A Constellation | 42 | 4 | 3 August 1953: Air France Flight 152, a Lockheed L-749A Constellation ditched 6 miles from Fethiye Point, Turkey 1.5 miles offshore into the Mediterranean Sea on a flight between Rome, Italy and Beirut, Lebanon. The propeller had failed due to blade fracture. Due to violent vibrations, engine number three broke away and control of engine number four was lost. The crew of eight and all but four of the 34 passengers were rescued; the other 4 passengers died.[16] |
19 June 1954 | Convair CV-240 HB-IRW | 9 | 3 | 19 June 1954: Swissair Convair CV-240 (HB-IRW) ditched into the English Channel because of fuel starvation, which was attributed to pilot error. All three crew and five passengers survived the ditching and could escape the plane. However, three of the passengers could not swim and eventually drowned, because there were no life jackets on board, which was not prescribed at the time.[17] |
23 July 1954 | Douglas C-54A-10-DC Skymaster | 18 | 10 | 23 July 1954: Cathay Pacific VR-HEU ditched into the South China Sea after being shot by two Lavochkin La-11 fighters of the 85th Fighter Regiment, People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF). While ten passengers and crew were killed by bullets and the subsequent ditching, eight others survived and escaped from the sinking plane, including both pilots.[18] |
26 March 1955 | Boeing 377 Stratocruiser | 23 | 4 | 26 March 1955: Pan Am Flight 845/26 ditched 35 miles from the Oregon coast after an engine tore loose. Despite the tail section breaking off during the impact the aircraft floated for twenty minutes before sinking. 4 died but 19 survivors were rescued after a further 90 minutes in the water.[19] |
2 April 1956 | Boeing 377 | 38 | 5 | 2 April 1956: Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 2 (a Boeing 377) ditched into Puget Sound after severe buffeting and altitude loss that was later determined to have been caused by the failure of the crew to close the cowl flaps on the plane's engines. All aboard escaped the aircraft after a textbook landing, but four passengers and one flight attendant succumbed either to drowning or to hypothermia before being rescued[20][21] |
16 October 1956 | Boeing 377 | 31 | 0 | 16 October 1956: Pan Am Flight 6 (also a Boeing 377) ditched northeast of Hawaii, after losing two of its four engines. The aircraft circled around USCGC Pontchartrain until daybreak, when it ditched; all 31 on board survived.[22][23] |
14 July 1960 | DC-7C | 57 | 1 | 14 July 1960: Northwest Airlines Flight 1-11 (A DC-7C) with 7 crew and 51 passengers made a successful ditching in shark-infested waters at 4:05am, 11 miles from Magdalo barrio, Polillo Island about 80 miles from Manila, Philippines. Capt. David Hall was forced to make an emergency water landing after a fire broke out in the no.2 engine when it did not feather followed by its propeller spinning off. In darkness and rough seas, the crew were able to evacuate all passengers and eventually get them aboard the life rafts as the aircraft sank nose first into the Pacific Ocean. There was only 1 loss of life caused by a heart attack. The 57 passengers and crew were rescued five hours later by Coast Guard Grumman amphibian and a US Navy PBM from Sangley Point Naval Base in Cavite, Philippines.[24][25] |
22 October 1962 | DC-7C | 58 | 0 | 22 October 1962: Northwest Airlines Flight 293, a DC-7C with 7 crew and 95 passengers[26] made a successful water landing in Sitka Sound. The military charter flight was en route to Elmendorf Air Force Base from McChord Air Force Base and, prior to the ditching at just before 1 p.m. local time, the crew had been struggling with a propeller problem for about 45 minutes.[27] The plane stayed afloat for 24 minutes after coming to rest in the water, giving the occupants ample time to evacuate into life-rafts. Only 6 minor injuries were reported; all passengers and crew were quickly rescued by U.S. Coast Guard ships.[28] The accident report called the ditching "an outstanding feat", citing several key factors in this water landing's success: pilots' skill, ideal conditions (calm seas, favorable weather, daylight), time to prepare for the ditching and the military passengers' ease with following orders.[29] Pilots who flew over the scene also praised the Northwest crew, calling it the "finest ditching they had ever seen".[28] |
23 September 1962 | Lockheed 1049H-82 Super Constellation | 76 | 28 | 23 September 1962: Flying Tiger Line Flight 923, a Lockheed 1049H-82 Super Constellation N6923C, passenger aircraft, on a military (MATS) charter flight, with a crew of 8 and 68 U.S. civilian and military (paratrooper) passengers ditched in the North Atlantic about 500 miles west of Shannon, Ireland after losing three engines on a flight from Gander, Newfoundland to Frankfurt, West Germany.[30][31] 45 of the passengers and 3 crew were rescued, with 23 passengers and 5 crew members being lost in the storm-swept seas. All occupants successfully evacuated the airplane. Those who were lost succumbed in the rough seas.[32] |
21 August 1963 | Tupolev Tu-124 | 52 | 0 | 21 August 1963: Aeroflot Flight 366 ditched into the Neva River in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) after running out of fuel. A nearby tugboat pulled the plane to shore where the passengers disembarked onto the tug; all 52 on board escaped without injuries.[33] |
23 April 1966 | Ilyushin Il-14 | 33 | 33 | 23 April 1966: Aeroflot Flight 2723 (an Ilyushin Il-14 registered as CCCP-61772) suffered a dual-engine failure several minutes after taking off from Bina International Airport. The pilots were unable to return to Bina and ended up ditching into the Caspian Sea. The wreckage and occupants were not found until a few months later. All 33 people on board died.[34] |
16 September 1966 | C-47A | 27 | 1 | 16 September 1966: Iberia Flight 261 , operated by Spantax on a Douglas DC-3/C-47A-75-DL registered as EC-ACX, was forced to ditch in the Atlantic Ocean due to an engine problem 2 minutes after takeoff. This domestic flight was en route from Tenerife to La Palma in the Canary Islands, Spain. One passenger died during the evacuation.[35] |
2 May 1970 | McDonnell Douglas DC-9-33CF | 63 | 23 | 2 May 1970: ALM Flight 980 (a McDonnell Douglas DC-9-33CF), ditched in mile-deep water after running out of fuel during multiple attempts to land at Princess Juliana International Airport on the island of Sint Maarten in the Netherlands Antilles under low-visibility weather. Insufficient warning to the cabin resulted in several passengers and crew still either standing or with unfastened seat belts as the aircraft struck the water. Of 63 occupants, 40 survivors were recovered by U.S. military helicopters.[36] |
17 July 1972 | Tupolev Tu-134 | 5 | 0 | 17 July 1972: A GosNIIAS Tupolev Tu-134 (CCCP-65607)[ru] was conducting a test flight when both of its engines shut down and the crew were unable to restart the engines. The plane was low on altitude and had to ditch on the Ikshinskoye reservoir. All 5 people on board survived with no injuries.[37] |
11 September 1990 | Boeing 727 | 16 | 16 (presumed) | 11 September 1990: A Faucett Perú Boeing 727 (OB-1303) was running out of fuel and the pilots sent a out a distress message that was picked up by TWA Flight 851 and American Airlines Flight 35, stating that they were preparing to ditch into the Atlantic Ocean. Nothing else was ever heard from the pilots again and the wreckage and occupants were never found.[38][39] Officials from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) believed the plane had in fact ditched into the Atlantic Ocean.[40] |
24 April 1994 | Douglas DC-3 | 25 | 0 | 24 April 1994: A DC-3 (VH-EDC), operated by South Pacific Airmotive, suffered a failure of the left engine at approximately 200 ft (61 m) after taking off from Sydney Airport (Australia) . The power of the right engine was insufficient to climb or maintain height, so the pilot carried out a successful ditching. All 25 on board survived with only one minor physical injury.[41][42] |
23 November 1996 | Boeing 767-260ER | 175 | 125 | 23 November 1996: Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961 (a Boeing 767-260ER), ditched in the Indian Ocean near Comoros after being hijacked and running out of fuel, killing 125 of the 175 passengers and crew on board. Unable to operate flaps, it impacted at high speed, dragging its left wingtip before tumbling and breaking into three pieces. The panicking hijackers were fighting the pilots for the control of the plane at the time of the impact, which caused the plane to roll just before hitting the water, and the subsequent wingtip hitting the water and breakup are a result of this struggle in the cockpit. Some passengers were killed on impact or trapped in the cabin when they inflated their life vests before exiting. Most of the survivors were found hanging onto a section of the fuselage that remained floating.[43] |
29 July 1998 | Embraer EMB-110P1 Bandeirante | 27 | 12 | 29 July 1998: A Selva Taxi Aéreo Embraer EMB-110P1 Bandeirante (PT-LGN)[de] had an oil pressure issue on the number 2 engine twenty minutes after taking off from Manaus-Eduardo Gomes International Airport and had to be shut down later on. Due to this, the crew decided to turn back to Manaus. The plane could not maintain flight with only one engine since the plane was severely overweight and thus unable to reach Manaus, so the plane had to ditch on the Manacapuru River. 12 out of the 27 people on board the plane were killed.[44] |
13 January 2000 | Short 360 | 41 | 22 | 13 January 2000: An Avisto Short 360 (HB-AAM) suffered a dual-engine failure after the melting of ice accumulated in both engines. The plane ditched into the Mediterranean Sea, 5km off Marsa Brega Airport. Out of the 41 people on board, 19 had survived, 21 were killed and 1 was missing and is presumed dead.[45] |
31 May 2000 | Piper PA-31 | 8 | 8 | 31 May 2000: a Piper PA-31 Chieftain operating Whyalla Airlines Flight 904 ditched in the Spencer Gulf in South Australia at night after both engines failed. The very dark conditions and lack of visual reference complicated the landing and the pilot and all 7 passengers were killed. As a result of the accident regulations in Australia now require that all aircraft carrying paying passengers over water carry life jackets and survival equipment.[46] |
27 February 2001 | Shorts 360-100 | 2 | 2 | 27 February 2001: Loganair Flight 670A, a Shorts 360-100, took off from Edinburgh Airport, United Kingdom. Shortly thereafter, the plane suffered a dual engine failure from an accumulation of large volumes of snow or slush in both engines and ditched in the Firth of Forth. Both pilots, who were the only people on board, were killed.[47] |
16 January 2002 | Boeing 737 | 60 | 1 | 16 January 2002: Garuda Indonesia Flight 421 (a Boeing 737) successfully ditched into the Bengawan Solo River near Yogyakarta, Java Island after experiencing a twin engine flameout during heavy precipitation and hail. The pilots tried to restart the engines several times before making the decision to ditch the aircraft. Photographs taken shortly after evacuation show that the plane came to rest in knee-deep water.[48] Of the 60 occupants, one flight attendant was killed.[49] |
11 November 2002 | Fokker F27 Friendship | 34 | 19 | 11 November 2002: Laoag International Airlines Flight 585 took off from Manila runway 31 at just after 6 o'clock for a flight to Laoag and Basco Airport (BSO). Shortly after takeoff engine trouble developed in the aircraft's left engine. The pilot declared an emergency and tried to land the plane but decided at the last minute to ditch into the sea. The aircraft broke up and sank in the water to a depth of about 60 feet. 19 of the 34 occupants were killed.[50] |
6 August 2005 | ATR 72 | 39 | 16 | 6 August 2005: Tuninter Flight 1153 (an ATR 72) ditched off the Sicilian coast after running out of fuel. Of 39 aboard, 23 survived with injuries. The plane's wreck was found in three pieces.[51] |
15 January 2009 | Airbus A320 | 155 | 0 | 15 January 2009: US Airways Flight 1549 (an Airbus A320) successfully ditched into the Hudson River between New York City and New Jersey, after reports of multiple bird strikes. This event is sometimes referred to as "miracle on the Hudson", as all of the 155 passengers and crew aboard escaped and were rescued by passenger ferries and day-cruise boats, in spite of freezing temperatures. The ditching occurred near the Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises and NY Waterway piers in midtown Manhattan.[52] |
22 October 2009 | Britten-Norman Islander | 10 | 1 | 22 October 2009: a Divi Divi Air Britten-Norman Islander operating Divi Divi Air Flight 014 ditched off the coast of Bonaire after its starboard engine failed. The pilot reported that the aircraft was losing 200 feet per minute after choosing to fly to an airport. All 9 passengers survived but the captain was knocked unconscious and although some passengers attempted to free him, he drowned and was pulled down with the aircraft.[53] |
18 November 2009 | Westwind II | 6 | 0 | 18 November 2009: A Pel-Air West conducting an air ambulance flight using a Westwind II (VH-NGA) ditched into the sea 3km south-west of Norfolk Island due to the flight crew being unable to land at Norfolk Island in poor weather conditions and not having enough fuel to divert to another airport. All 6 people on board survived.[54] |
6 June 2011 | Antonov An-26 | 3 | 0 | 6 June 2011: a Solenta Aviation Antonov An-26 freighter flying for DHL Aviation ditched in the Atlantic Ocean near Libreville, Gabon. All three crew and the one passenger were rescued with minor injuries.[55] |
11 July 2011 | Antonov An-24 | 37 | 7 | 11 July 2011: Angara Airlines Flight 9007 (an Antonov An-24 turboprop) ditched in shallow water in the Ob River near Strezhevoy, Russia, after an in-flight engine fire. Upon water contact, the tail and one engine broke off, but the rest of the fuselage remained in one piece. Of the 37 people on board, 7 passengers were killed and 19 injured.[56] |
11 December 2013 | Cessna 208B Grand Caravan | 9 | 1 | 11 December 2013: A Makani Kai Air Cessna 208B Grand Caravan (N687MA) ditched shortly after takeoff from Kalaupapa Airport, Hawaii due to engine failure. The plane sustained substantial damage from the impact. Of the 9 people on board, one passenger was fatally injured, the pilot and two passengers were seriously injured, and five passengers received minor injuries.[57] |
21 June 2019 | Basler BT-67 | 2 | 0 | 21 June 2019: A North Star Air Basler BT-67 (C-FKGL) lost power to both engines after the pilot in the left seat, who was not flying the plane, accidentally moved the fuel condition levers while retracting the landing gear. The plane, flying in pitch-black conditions, had to ditch into Eabamet Lake, Ontario. Both pilots evacuated the plane without injuries.[58] |
2 July 2021 | Boeing 737 | 2 | 0 | 2 July 2021: On Transair Flight 810, one engine on the Boeing 737-200 cargo aircraft failed en route from Honolulu to the neighboring Hawaiian island of Maui. The crew attempted to turn back to Honolulu's Daniel K. Inouye International Airport, but the plane's second engine overheated, forcing the two pilots on board to ditch the airplane about 4 miles (6.4 km) off the southern coast of Oahu. Both pilots were rescued by the United States Coast Guard.[59] |
Aircraft landing on water for other reasons
[edit]Aircraft also sometimes end up in water by running off the ends of runways, landing in water short of the end of a runway, or even being forcibly flown into the water during suicidal/homicidal events. Twice at LaGuardia Airport, an aircraft has rolled into the East River (USAir Flight 5050 and USAir Flight 405).
- 5 September 1954: KLM Flight 633, a Lockheed L-1049C-55-81 Super Constellation, suffered a re-extension of the landing gear shortly after taking off from Shannon Airport, which the flight crew was not aware. This caused the plane to descend and ditch into the River Shannon. 28 of the 56 people on board survived.[60]
- 22 November 1968: Japan Airlines Flight 2, a Douglas DC-8-62, landed short of the runway in San Francisco Bay on approach to San Francisco International Airport. There were no fatalities, and the aircraft itself was in good enough condition to be removed from the water, rebuilt, and flown again.[61]
- 13 January 1969: Scandinavian Airlines System Flight 933, a McDonnell Douglas DC-8-62, ditched in Santa Monica Bay while on approach to runway 07R of Los Angeles International Airport, California. Out of the 45 people on board the plane, 4 drowned, 11 are missing and presumed dead, 17 were injured, and 13 sustained no injuries.[62]
- 8 May 1978: National Airlines Flight 193, a Boeing 727 Trijet, unintentionally landed in the waters of Escambia Bay near Pensacola, Florida after coming down short of the runway during a foggy approach. There were 3 fatalities among 52 passengers and 6 crewmembers.[63]
- 7 August 1980: a Tupolev Tu-154B-1 operated by Tarom Romanian Airlines ditched in the water, 300m short of the runway at Nouadhibou Airport (NDB/GQPP), Mauritania. 1 passenger out of 168 passengers and crew died.[64]
- 13 January 1982: Air Florida Flight 90 went down in the icy Potomac river after taking off from Washington National Airport during a snowstorm without proper de-icing. Only 6 out of 79 passengers and crew survived the initial crash, with one of the survivors eventually drowning after helping others to safety. The plane also hit a bridge, killing four and injuring another four motorists.[65]
- 23 January 1982: World Airways Flight 30, landing at Boston Logan International Airport after a flight from Newark, New Jersey, slid off the runway due to ice and landed in Boston Harbor. The cockpit area separated from the remainder of the fuselage at the first row of seats. Two passengers in the first row disappeared and were presumed dead, but the other 210 people aboard survived.[66]
- 9 February 1982: Japan Airlines Flight 350 landed in shallow water in Tokyo Bay short of the runway on approach to Tokyo International Airport, after the captain engaged thrust-reversers due to mental illness. Crew members tried to stop him but were not fully successful. 24 of the 166 passengers and none of the eight crew members died. The captain was found not guilty of any crime due to insanity.[67][68][69]
- 28 February 1984: Scandinavian Airlines System Flight 901, a McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30, overran the runway shortly after landing at John F. Kennedy International Airport and ended up with its nose in shallow water. All 177 occupants on board survived with 12 of them sustaining injuries.[70]
- 27 June 1985: American Airlines flight 633 took off from Muñoz Marín Airport in Puerto Rico to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport in Texas when it overran the runway and nosedived into a nearby lake. All 257 passengers and 13 crew members were evacuated from the DC-10, with at least 25 people injured.[71][72]
- 31 August 1988: CAAC Flight 301, a Hawker Siddeley Trident, overran the runway at Kai Tak international Airport and ended up in Kowloon Bay, breaking into two pieces. 7 of the 89 occupants on board perished and 15 others sustained injuries.[73]
- 26 September 1988: Aerolineas Argentinas Flight 648, a Boeing 737, landed hard and overran the runway at Ushuaia Airport and ended up in shallow water. All 62 people aboard survived.[74]
- 20 September 1989: USAir 5050, a Boeing 737-401 with 63 people aboard, overran the runway while taking off from New York's La Guardia Airport, landing in the East River and breaking into three pieces, and sustained two deaths.[75]
- 12 September 1993: while landing in poor weather conditions at Faa'a International Airport, Papeete, Tahiti, a Boeing 747 conducting Air France Flight 072 hydroplaned, overshot the runway and ended up with its nose in a lagoon. All 272 passengers and crew evacuated successfully, even though the engines were still running and there was a risk of ingestion.[76]
- 4 November 1993: China Airlines Flight 605, a Boeing 747-409, ended up in water after it overran runway 13 at Kai Tak International Airport on landing during a typhoon with wind gusting to gale force. All of the 396 occupants donned life-vests, boarded the eight slide/rafts and no fatalities resulted. The airframe remained above water even after the aircraft was evacuated.[77]
- 3 February 2000: Trans Arabian Air Transport Flight 310, a Boeing 707-351(C) carrying cargo, grossly overshot the landing strip at Mwanza Airport after a first attempt failed and eventually landed in the middle of Lake Victoria. The plane continued floating after the landing and all five crew survived, some with light injuries.[78]
- 30 April 2000: DAS Air Cargo DC-10-30F freighter (N800WR) approached Entebbe, Uganda runway 35 following a flight from London-Gatwick carrying over 50 tons of cargo. The airplane landed long: 4000–5000 feet down the 12000-foot runway. The nosegear touched down 13 seconds after the main undercarriage. The DC-10 could not be brought to a halt and slid off the runway into Lake Victoria about 100 meters from the southern end of the runway. The DC-10 ended up with the no. 1 and 3 engines submerged and cockpit section separated from the fuselage. The crew members were rescued with a life raft within just 10 minutes of the accident.[79]
- 13 April 2013: Lion Air Flight 904, a Boeing 737-800 (registration PK-LKS) from Bandung to Denpasar (Indonesia) with 108 people on board, undershot runway 09 and ditched into the sea while landing at Ngurah Rai International Airport. The aircraft's fuselage ruptured slightly near the wings. All passengers and crew were safely evacuated with only minor injuries.[80]
- 28 September 2018: a Boeing 737-800 performing Air Niugini Flight 73 landed in a lagoon short of Chuuk International Airport. One of the passengers died, but the 46 other crew and passengers were evacuated by boats.[81]
- 3 May 2019: Miami Air International Flight 293, a Boeing 737-800, hydroplaned and experienced a runway excursion upon landing at Naval Air Station Jacksonville. The airplane came to rest in the shallow waters of St. Johns River, sustaining substantial damage. All 143 passengers and crew on board the plane survived, although twenty-one people on board suffered minor injuries.[82][83]
Military aircraft
[edit]A limited number of pre-World War II military aircraft, such as the Grumman F4F Wildcat and Douglas TBD Devastator, were equipped with flotation bags that kept them on the surface in the event of a ditching.[84][85]
The "water bird" emergency landing is a technique developed by the Canadian Forces to safely land the Sikorsky CH-124 Sea King helicopter if one engine fails while flying over water. The emergency landing technique allows the boat-hull equipped aircraft to land on the water in a controlled fashion.[86]
Space launch vehicle water landings
[edit]Beginning in 2013 and continuing into 2014 and 2015, a series of ocean water landing tests were undertaken by SpaceX as a prelude to bringing booster rockets back to the launch pad in an effort to reuse launch vehicle booster stages.[87] Seven test flights with controlled-descents have been conducted by April 2015.[88]
Prior to 2013, successful water landings of launch vehicles were not attempted, while periodic water landings of space capsules have been accomplished since 1961. The vast majority of space launch vehicles take off vertically and are destroyed on falling back to earth. Exceptions include suborbital vertical-landing vehicles (e.g., Masten Xoie or the Armadillo Aerospace' Lunar Lander Challenge vehicle), and the spaceplanes that use the vertical takeoff, horizontal landing (VTHL) approach (e.g., the Space Shuttle, or the USAF X-37) which have landing gear to enable runway landings.[89] Each vertical-takeoff spaceflight system to date has relied on expendable boosters to begin each ascent to orbital velocity. This is beginning to change.
Recent advances in private space transport, where new competition to governmental space initiatives has emerged, have included the explicit design of recoverable rocket technologies into orbital booster rockets. SpaceX has initiated and funded a multimillion-dollar program to pursue this objective, known as the reusable launch system development program.[90][91][92]
The orbital-flight version of the SpaceX design[93] was first successful at accomplishing a water landing (zero velocity and zero altitude) in April 2014 on a Falcon 9 rocket and was the first successful controlled ocean soft touchdown of a liquid-rocket-engine orbital booster.[94][95] Seven test flights with controlled-descent test over-water landings, including two with failed attempts to land on a floating landing platform, have been conducted by April 2015.[88]
References
[edit]- ^ "Ditching light aircraft on Water" (PDF). www.caa.co.uk. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
- ^ National Transportation Safety Board (December 1998). "NTSB Aviation Coding Manual". Archived from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
- ^ "Jet Airliner Ditching Events". www.airsafe.com. Archived from the original on 29 April 2006. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
- ^ Bertorelli, Paul (1999). "Ditching Myths Torpedoed!". Archived from the original on 2 October 2010. Retrieved 17 January 2010.
- ^ CFR 14 Part 121 Appendix D – Criteria for Demonstration of Emergency Evacuation Procedures Under §121.291 Archived 25 June 2010 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Airbus Overhead Panel" (PDF). Data. smartcockpit.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 March 2012. Retrieved 9 October 2011.
- ^ Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Aeromarine 75 registration unknown Havana, Cuba". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
- ^ Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Handley Page W.10 G-EBMS English Channel". www.asndata.aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
- ^ Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Handley Page W.10 G-EBMT Dungeness". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
- ^ Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Short S.23 Empire Flying Boat Mk II G-ADUU Port Washington, Long Island, NY". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
- ^ "The American WWII Ace Who Shot Down 7 German, 1 Italian, 1 Japanese, And 1 American Plane". warhistoryonline. 23 August 2016. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
- ^ Staff, Rich Buhler & (28 June 2016). "Bad Angel Pilot Lt. Louis E. Curdes Shot Down His Girlfriend in WWII-Truth! & Fiction! - Truth or Fiction?". Retrieved 14 September 2022.
- ^ Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Douglas DC-4 N88899 San Juan-Isla Grande Airport (SIG)". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
- ^ AviationSafety.net Accident Description VH-DHA Archived 21 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 2 August 2010
- ^ Loss of Drover VH-DHA Archived 20 September 2016 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 2 August 2007
- ^ "Accident Lockheed L-749A Constellation F-BAZS, Monday 3 August 1953". asn.flightsafety.org. Archived from the original on 7 August 2016.
- ^ Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Convair CV-240-4 HB-IRW Folkestone". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
- ^ Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Douglas C-54A-10-DC (DC-4) VR-HEU Hainan Island". aviation-safety.net. Archived from the original on 27 February 2021. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
- ^ Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Boeing 377 Stratocruiser 10-26 N1032V Oregon, USA". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
- ^ Aircraft Accident Report on Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 2 Archived 27 April 2018 at the Wayback Machine from the Department of Transport's Special Collections
- ^ Air Disaster, Vol. 4: The Propeller Era, by Macarthur Job, Aerospace Publications Pty. Ltd. (Australia), 2001 ISBN 1-875671-48-X
- ^ Kebabjian, Richard. "1956/1956-27.htm". PlaneCrashInfo.com. Archived from the original on 3 July 2006. Retrieved 26 June 2006.
- ^ Hokom, Wayne. "Ditch and rescue". Coast Guard stories. Jack's Joint. Archived from the original on 1 July 2006. Retrieved 26 June 2006.
- ^ Makar, A. B.; McMartin, K. E.; Palese, M.; Tephly, T. R. (1975). "2 Airliners Crash; 87 Rescued, 1 Killed". Manila Bulletin. 183 (13): 117–26. doi:10.1016/0006-2944(75)90147-7. ISSN 0006-2944. PMID 1.
- ^ Ranter, Harro. "Crash-aerien 14 JUL 1960 d'un Douglas DC-7C N292 - Polillo Island". aviation-safety.net (in French). Retrieved 14 September 2022.
- ^ Aircraft Accident Report: Douglas DC-7C, N285 Northwest Airlines, Inc. Ditching in Sitka Sound, Alaska October 22, 1962. Washington, DC: Civil Aeronautics Board. 19 September 1963. p. 1.
- ^ "DC-7 Ditches in Sea Near Sitka; All Safe". The Seattle Daily Times. 22 October 1962.
- ^ a b Sims, Ward T. (23 October 1962). "102 Saved As Plane Ditches". Seattle Post Intelligencer.
- ^ Aircraft Accident Report: Douglas DC-7C, N285 Northwest Airlines, Inc. Ditching in Sitka Sound, Alaska October 22, 1962. Washington, DC: Civil Aeronautics Board. 19 September 1963. p. 5.
- ^ "Aviation Safety Network: N6923C" Archived 23 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Flying Tiger Line Pilots Association. Retrieved 3 February 2014.
- ^ "Accident Details" Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine. PlaneCrashInfo.com. Retrieved 3 February 2014.
- ^ Frederick C. Caruso (2007). Born Again Irish: A Story of Disaster at Sea, the Joy of Ireland, and the Vortex of Fate. CGI Books Inc. p. 1. ISBN 978-0-9785471-0-3. Archived from the original on 22 February 2022. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
- ^ AirSafe.com (28 March 2002). "Jet Airliner Ditching Events". Archived from the original on 22 June 2006. Retrieved 26 June 2006.
- ^ Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Ilyushin Il-14 CCCP-61772 Boyuk Zira". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
- ^ "ASN Aircraft accident C-47A EC-ACX off El Sauzal". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 18 June 2024.
- ^ Aviation Safety Network. "McDonnell Douglas DC-9-33CF N935F – St. Croix, Virgin Islands". Archived from the original on 31 May 2011. Retrieved 26 June 2006.
- ^ "Вынужденная посадка Ту-134 ГосИИИ ГА на Икшинское водохранилище (борт СССР-65607), 17 июля 1972 года. // AirDisaster.ru - авиационные происшествия, инциденты и авиакатастрофы в СССР и России - факты, история, статистика". www.airdisaster.ru. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
- ^ "Tuesday 11 September 1990". aviation.safety.net. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
- ^ Claiborne, Harro (12 September 1990). "Peruvian Airliner Lost in Atlantic off Canada". Washington Post.
- ^ "Boeing 727 ditches in Atlantic". UPI. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
- ^ "Investigation: 199401043 - Douglas Aircraft Co Inc DC3C-S1C3G, VH-EDC, Botany Bay, NSW, 24 April 1994". www.atsb.gov.au. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
- ^ Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Douglas C-47A-20-DK (DC-3) VH-EDC Sydney-Kingsford Smith International Airport, NSW (SYD)". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
- ^ Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Boeing 767-260ER ET-AIZ Mitsamiouli, Grande Comore". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
- ^ Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Embraer EMB-110P1 Bandeirante PT-LGN Manaus, AM". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
- ^ Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Shorts 360-300 HB-AAM Marsa el-Brega". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
- ^ "Collision with water – Piper PA31-350 Chieftain, VH-MZK, Spencer Gulf, S.A, 31 May 2000". Australian Transport Safety Bureau. 19 December 2001. Archived from the original on 13 February 2014. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
- ^ Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Shorts 360-100 G-BNMT Granton Harbour". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
- ^ Garuda Indonesia Fl421[usurped] at AirDisaster.com retrieved 2 November 2007.
- ^ Mark V. Rosenker. "NTSB Safety Recommendation" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
- ^ Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Fokker F-27 Friendship 600 RP-C6888 Manila-Ninoy Aquino International Airport (MNL) [Manila Bay]". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
- ^ Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident ATR 72-202 TS-LBB Palermo-Punta Raisi Airport (PMO)". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
- ^ Robbins, Liz (15 January 2009). "Jet Ditches in Hudson; All Are Said Safe". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 18 May 2011. Retrieved 15 January 2009.
- ^ "Accident Britten-Norman BN-2A-26 Islander PJ-SUN, Thursday 22 October 2009". asn.flightsafety.org. Archived from the original on 28 December 2016.
- ^ Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident IAI 1124A Westwind II VH-NGA Norfolk Island Airport (NLK)". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
- ^ Hradecky, Simon (7 June 2011). "Accident: Solenta AN26 near Libreville on Jun 6th 2011, ditched in the sea". The Aviation Herald. Archived from the original on 22 February 2022. Retrieved 5 September 2011.
- ^ "Accident: Angara AN24 near Nizhnevartovsk on Jul 11th 2011, water landing after engine fire". avherald.com. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
- ^ Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Cessna 208B Grand Caravan N687MA Kalaupapa Airport, HI (LUP)". www.aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
- ^ Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Basler BT-67 Turbo 67 (DC-3T) C-FKGL Fort Hope Airport, ON (YFH)". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
- ^ Shapiro, Emily; Stone, Alex (2 July 2021). "2 pilots alive after plane crashes few miles off coast of Hawaii". ABC News. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
- ^ Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Lockheed L-1049C-55-81 Super Constellation PH-LKY Shannon Airport (SNN)". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
- ^ Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident McDonnell Douglas DC-8-62 JA8032 San Francisco Bay, CA". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
- ^ Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident McDonnell Douglas DC-8-62 LN-MOO Los Angeles, CA [Santa Monica Bay]". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
- ^ Aircraft Accident Report AAR-78-13 (PDF) Archived 21 September 2006 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Tupolev Tu-154B-1 YR-TPH Nouadhibou Airport (NDB)". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
- ^ Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Boeing 737-222 N62AF Washington-National Airport, DC (DCA) [Potomac River]". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
- ^ World Airways, Inc., Flight 30H, McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30CF, N113WA, Boston-Logan Int'l Airport, Boston, Massachusetts, 23 Jan. 1982 (Revised)[usurped] (AAR-85-06) Aircraft accident report by the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, adopted 10 July 1985.
- ^ Accident Database: Accident Synopsis 02091982[usurped]
- ^ Stokes, Henry Scott. "COCKPIT FIGHT REPORTED ON JET THAT CRASHED IN TOKYO Archived 2 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine," The New York Times. 14 February 1982. Retrieved on 10 November 2011.
- ^ "Troubled Pilot". Time. 1 March 1982. Archived from the original on 2 May 2008. Retrieved 10 November 2011.
- ^ Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 LN-RKB New York-John F. Kennedy International Airport, NY (JFK)". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
- ^ "Airliner Plunges Into Swamp". Los Angeles Times. 27 June 1985. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
- ^ Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident McDonnell Douglas DC-10-10 N129AA San Juan-Luis Munoz Marin International Airport (SJU)". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
- ^ Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Hawker Siddeley HS-121 Trident 2E B-2218 Hong Kong-Kai Tak International Airport (HKG)". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
- ^ Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Boeing 737-287 LV-LIU Ushuaia Airport, TF (USH)". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 17 September 2022.
- ^ Smith, Patrick (2002). "Ask the pilot #4: Do seat cushions actually save lives?". Salon.com. Archived from the original on 22 May 2006. Retrieved 28 June 2006.
- ^ Aviation Safety Network. "Boeing 747-428 F-GITA Papeete-Faaa Airport (PPT), Tahiti". Archived from the original on 14 January 2012. Retrieved 17 January 2009.
- ^ Aviation Safety Network. "Boeing 747-409 B-165 – Hong Kong-Kai Tak International Airport (HKG)". Archived from the original on 12 January 2012. Retrieved 26 June 2006.
- ^ Aviation Safety Net. "ST-APY". Archived from the original on 17 October 2011. Retrieved 17 March 2009.
- ^ Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30F N800WR Entebbe Airport (EBB)". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
- ^ "Lion Air Passenger Plane Crashes in Bali". 13 April 2013. Archived from the original on 15 April 2013.
- ^ "Air Niugini plane crash turns fatal after divers find missing passenger's body". ABC News. 2 October 2018. Archived from the original on 26 October 2018. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
- ^ Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Boeing 737-81Q (WL) N732MA Jacksonville Naval Air Station, FL (NIP)". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
- ^ Zaveri, Mihir; Kramer, Margaret (4 May 2019). "Boeing 737 Skids Into St. Johns River in Jacksonville". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
- ^ Doyle, David (2017). Grumman F4F Wildcat. Atglen, Pennsylvania: Schiffer Publishing. p. 7. ISBN 9780764354335.
- ^ Kernan, Alvin (2005). The Unknown Battle of Midway: The Destruction of the American Torpedo Squadrons. New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 31. ISBN 0-300-10989-X.
- ^ "Prince performs 'waterbird' landing, but what is it?". CTVNews. 4 July 2011. Archived from the original on 7 September 2011.
- ^ Boyle, Alan (18 April 2014). "Cargo Launch and Rocket Test Add Up to 'Happy Day' for SpaceX". NBC News. Archived from the original on 19 April 2014. Retrieved 20 April 2014.
- ^ a b Bergin, Chris (3 April 2015). "SpaceX preparing for a busy season of missions and test milestones". NASASpaceFlight.com. Archived from the original on 7 April 2015. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
- ^ Hanlon, Michael (11 June 2013). "Roll up for the Red Planet". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 12 June 2013. Retrieved 26 October 2013.
the space race is flaring back into life, and it's not massive institutions such as NASA that are in the running. The old view that human space flight is so complex, difficult and expensive that only huge government agencies could hope to accomplish it is being disproved by a new breed of flamboyant space privateers, who are planning to send humans out beyond the Earth's orbit for the first time since 1972.
- ^ Foust, Jeff (18 October 2013). "SpaceX wrapping up Falcon 9 second stage investigation as it moves on from Grasshopper". NewSpace Journal. Archived from the original on 25 October 2013. Retrieved 26 October 2013.
- ^ Klotz, Irene (17 October 2013). "SpaceX Retires Grasshopper, New Test Rig To Fly in December". Space News. Archived from the original on 21 October 2013. Retrieved 26 October 2013.
- ^ Leone, Dan (13 May 2013). "SpaceX Leases Pad in New Mexico for Next Grasshopper Tests". SpaceNews. Archived from the original on 3 September 2013. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
- ^ "Landing Legs". SpaceX News. 12 April 2013. Archived from the original on 3 July 2017. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
The Falcon Heavy first stage center core and boosters each carry landing legs, which will land each core safely on Earth after takeoff. After the side boosters separate, the center engine in each will burn to control the booster's trajectory safely away from the rocket. The legs will then deploy as the boosters turn back to Earth, landing each softly on the ground. The center core will continue to fire until stage separation, after which its legs will deploy and land it back on Earth as well. The landing legs are made of state-of-the-art carbon fiber with aluminum honeycomb. The four legs stow along the sides of each core during liftoff and later extend outward and down for landing.
- ^ Belfiore, Michael (22 April 2014). "SpaceX Brings a Booster Safely Back to Earth". MIT Technology Review. Archived from the original on 6 July 2014. Retrieved 3 July 2014.
- ^ Norris, Guy (28 April 2014). "SpaceX Plans For Multiple Reusable Booster Tests". Aviation Week. Archived from the original on 26 April 2014. Retrieved 3 July 2014.
Further reading
[edit]External videos | |
---|---|
Ditching of a B-24D into the James River in 1944 – Flight | |
Ditching of a B-24D into the James River in 1944 – Preparations | |
Ditching Procedures for a C-54 |
- Aviation incidents by result from the Aviation Safety Network; see Off runway in water, CFIT into water, and Ditching.
- Bertorelli, Paul (1999). "Ditching Myths Torpedoed!". Equipped to Survive. Archived from the original on 2 October 2010. Retrieved 16 February 2022., cites data that show an 88% survival rate for general aviation water ditchings.
- Horne, Thomas A. (July 1999). "In-Flight Emergencies: Ditching". AOPA Pilot. 42 (7). (Corrected version of September; see here Archived 6 May 2006 at the Wayback Machine for some complaints.)
- Llano, George Albert (1956). Airmen Against the Sea: An Analysis of Sea Survival Experience. Alabama: Arctic, Desert, Tropic Information Center. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
- Motley, Elizabeth B. (October 2005). Survival Stressors Faced by Military Aviator/Aircrew Following Ditching Over Salt Water (Report). Naval Air Warfare Center. Archived from the original on 29 November 2022. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
- Schiff, Barry (March 1983). "Water Ways". AOPA Pilot. 26 (3). Reproduced on Equipped To Survive Archived 6 May 2006 at the Wayback Machine.
- Steiner, Margaret F. (November 1944). Accelerations and Bottom Pressures Measured on a B-24D Airplane in a Ditching Test (Report). Langley Memorial Aeronautical Library. Retrieved 16 February 2022.