Man ditches plane into ocean

[joco]

So close....

http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/08/us/hawaii ... ?hpt=hp_t2

[Lowjack]

[Redneck_pilot86]

Looks like he did a hell of a job putting it in. Plane held together really well.

[kingeddie]

Pretty commom I was taking a 300 series twin otter across the same route , A couple of Kiwis were impatient and left ahead of us in a 200 before the winds were favourable and did the same performance next to a coast guard cutter


KE

[Rowdy]

I have to say, that was a pretty well executed ditch (not that I've seen or done any before) but one has to wonder how on earth there wasnt a contingency for more fuel. I wouldnt be making that kind of crossing without a few hours extra in the tanks.

Can a 310 maintain single engine? could have stretched that last bit of a fuel a bit further?

[into the blue]

If I am not mistaken, singe-engine range is always less than the one with both engines operating. In this situation it would have been much better to simply slow down to the max range airspeed, compensated for aircraft weight and headwind/tailwind component.

[skat0r]

holy shmit! that guy did well! good flying skills!

[trey kule]

This is a rather more common occurance than it seems from the news report.
And there are new rules about the amount of reserve fuel required for aircraft.,
as the coast guard was getting tired of plucking pilots out of the water.

The challange on this particular route is that whichever way you are going (east or west), you will typically have a headwind for the first portion and a tailwind for the last. Leaving with a max weight upgross,and with the typical slow long range speeds where the wind plays a significant factor means the PNR is usually over 1/2 way across a big ocean. It really does not take all that much of an error to burn through a few extra hours of fuel.

Guy did a good job. Communicated, confessed, and did not become shark food, as far as situation he found himself in.

[gwengler]

And there are new rules about the amount of reserve fuel required for aircraft

What are those rules?
Gerd

[iflyforpie]

Can a 310 maintain single engine? could have stretched that last bit of a fuel a bit further?

If you shut down one engine or you lose one, you are going swimming even though you might have hours of flying left on most light twins.

They will typically plan to have the critical time during daylight so ditching and rescue will be easier, as a flight of this distance at that latitude and those speeds will necessitate some night flying.

http://www.pprune.org/archive/index.php/t-229776.html

[nacho]

A 660 Thrush made it across with additional wing tanks the day after and also a couple of 802's coming from Conair.

I don't know about the 802's but the Thrush was carrying full hopper + 300 gals on tanks under the wings + 228 on it's own tanks.
I thought he could be short as well....

Not an easy job, so well done for the pilot calling 500 out and letting them know.