http://www.cbc.ca/m/rich/news/story/2011/07/28/wdr-pilot-treads-water-before-rescued.html

The story of a pilot whose plane crashed into Lake Huron on Tuesday. He tread water for 18 hours before being rescued by a passing boater.

I don't think I've ever thought of waving my socks to attract rescue. Smart thinking! Not having his PLB and/or cel phone on his body, not so smart.

A whistle sure would have come in handy!

A flotation vest with pockets for survival gear would be advised. Doug Ritter Essentials™ Overwater Aviator Survival Vest™

Good link BPJ, thanks.

Yet again, a survivor makes it through the initial crisis only to have rescue delayed by a lack of signaling.

Yes, a vest or something to keep some crucial gear on him would be best. When things are happening that fast, stopping to grab a bag probably isn't in the cards. And your stuff gets 'rearranged' when the aircraft (or car) flips.

"Trapp said the engine sputtered and felt like it was running out of gas, but said there was still three hours worth of fuel in the tank."

When I used to fly with a small-aircraft pilot, he always drained a cup of fuel out of the tank just before every trip. Water is heavier than the fuel, so if there is some condensation or other source of water in it, it settles to the bottom and is drained into the cup. I wouldn't be surprised to hear that this is what happened in this case.

Sue

Or a second engine.



Good story, great outcome, guy seems the type to "put your head down and keep going." 27 km ... even 10km ... in water is no small feat.

Good on him! Someone once asked me if I was afraid of flying and I said "No, I'm afraid of crashing and then not having what I need to survive until I'm rescued." If I were in that situation, I'd prefer to have a vest with some essentials in it and I hope he thinks along those lines too going forward.

Just in case he finds this thread, the link to Doug Ritter Essentials™ Overwater Aviator Survival Vest™ is there for him to peruse. I consider having flotation/survival gear on person as a requirement for single engine over-water flights. Training in its use and knowing how to swim would be wise too. Looks like he knew how to tread water (check).

BTW, I also like Switlik's Inflatable Single Place Life Raft. In cold northern water it gets a lot of your body out of the water.

Great point.

I know people who prefer to carry their cellphone in their hand and just lay it down wherever they're at, instead of keeping the phone secured in a belt pouch. In the car, they lay it on the seat or in a cupholder.

In my EMS work I have seen interiors of wrecked vehicles that look like the Joplin tornado went through there. I ask them "how will you call 911 if you're in a wreck? Don't you know that phone will go flying and likely get destroyed in the impact?".

They shrug.

"I survived the crash, I guess that's the main priority,"

Well, at least he got one thing right.

Good point to have things secured to the body.

HJ

I'm not aware of a twin engine Cessna prop. Piper? Beech? Regardless, flying without survival gear while crossing large bodies of water is something that's done by folks who haven't had an engine shut down all on its own. I've come back with too many feathered props to fly over water in a Cessna/Piper/Beech without a properly accessorized survival vest.

Odd, since they have quite a few.

+1 - They say and think it will happen to the other guy.

http://www.cessna.com/ The props are all single engine; even the Caravan.

Cessna 310 ring a bell? 421?

I've been a pilot for 45 years. I've flown for and worked as a dispatcher for FAR 135 air charters and FARs 135, 121 Supplemental, 121 Domestic, and 121 Flag airlines and I can count on one hand the number of times we had to feather a prop. You need a better A&P.

Cool, Cessna has a few twin prop models -- I'll eat crow on that. They really didn't ring a bell, but most of my time is in large turbo-props operating from Navy/Air Force/Marine airfields. I've never seen one on the ramp. When I looked at Cessna's website and saw that they had no twins props in the line-up I drew the wrong conclusion. The wiki page shows that at one time (commencing over 50 years ago) the Air Force flew them, predating the Beech King Air's we have now.
With that side-bar behind us, now we can circle back to Izzy's friend who flies a Cessna (or Beech/Piper) twin between the Bahama's and Florida with virtually no survival gear. With your experience, do you have any thoughts regarding flying over-water in small GA aircraft without survival equipment on person? I'm sure it's done every day, but what are your thoughts?

In some 50 years of searching for them when they go down (most of it on land) and almost that much flying, ANY flight out of sight of developed areas (you will not need signaling equipment if you go down in a subdivision ) should REQUIRE survival gear. I like the old Alaska and Canada requirements, but I do think they should apply everywhere and always when out of town in any state.

Two engines do not change my attitude. Especially in the Rockies (although to a degree in most places) light twins just glide farther than singles when an engine goes out. The Blue Canoe (the Air Force 310) was particularly bad about that. Twins also have twice the likelyhood of an engine failure.

I am of the old school, I carry the critical gear on my person and then back it up with a good kit in the plane. If I am searching, over water or over terrain where a successful off airport landing is in question, it is always a complete kit in a vest. Over water, the vest is inflatable or under a life vest (although that does require careful packing for access).

Sometimes over the Great Plains, I get lax and only carry the minimum (PSK, FAK, Knife, matches, etc.) on my body. The vest and the aircraft kit are easily accessable. Probably not one of my better ideas.

Respectfully,

Jerry

Flying so high with their heads in the sky...

It ALWAYS happens to the other guy, dontchaknow?

Sue

As I like to tell my audiences, "It may well be true that it always happens to 'the other guy,' but YOU are the 'other guy' to everyone else."

If it isn't with you, it can't save you.™ Carry you most critical survival gear ON YOUR PERSON. For overwater flights, that means your life vest and signaling gear, and a knife, minimum.

He was smart enough to have carried a "locator beacon," not smart enough to have it on his person or to have a life vest.

http://www.bakersfieldnow.com/news/national/126399728.html?ref=morestories

This guy was incredibly lucky his will to live didn't give out before his body did. I don't recommend that as your only survival strategy

Seventeen hours in cold northern water without succumbing to hypothermia? My 'best guess' is he was not a small (read thin) man. I am thinking he must have had some 'reserves' stored as part of himself (chunky/chunky+/typical American these days)as an adipose tissue (fat) barrier to the cold water. Either that or he is an individual who is somewhat used to the cold. Cold toleration can be trained over time (NOT pleasant). An example would be SEAL training.
Anyhow here is one of those rare chances I get to justify the 'reserves' I pack around all day/every day. :-)

gimpy

Not to minimize the tremendous value of a strong 'will to live'.....
Likely it took both.