You may have read of the lucky survival of a pilot in the Pacific 1200 km south of Hawaii this week.
According to press reports here [ Australia ], Ray Clamback , 67, was en route to Australia via Hawaii when the engine of his new Cessna 182 seized. He ditched at 7.30 a.m. local time and the aircraft flipped.
He escaped with lifevest, and apparently little else survival gear.
The ditching was observed by an escorting light aircraft who alerted USCG and a Hercules was dispatched from Hawaii.
I saw a quick TV interview with the Herc's pilot who said even though they had good co-ordinates for the search, they still had difficulty finding the guy. They found him eight hours after the ditching.
They dropped a raft and other gear and Clamback was hauled out after 16 hours by the crew of a container ship.
This is the second time Clamback has been rescued after a ditching south of Hawaii. He spent 10 hours in the Pacific in 1999, before rescue. His job is delivering aircraft [ and surviving!].
It will be interesting to hear if there is a survival corollary to this. Given the C-130's pilot's account, did Clamback have a signal mirror, personal EPIRB, flares, waterproof VHF, and strobe on his person? One would hope so.....