Does Water Matter? A Private Pilot's Personal Preparation for Flying Over Water

Written by David Ind for the Australian Piper Aircraft Society

Flying over water in a light aircraft really is the same as flying over land, we still fly and navigate the same with the only difference being the different risks of a forced landing.

Forced landings over land provide more options 95% of the time - better radio coverage and more population and services closer to you to increase your survival. Forced landing over water brings a different set of risks that include -

1.    Remoteness

2.    No option on where to land

3.    Radio fade

4.    A water landing has the highest risk for survival

5.    And if successful on the landing, sinking and drowning has now darkly clouded your survival

Vicki and myself are always conscience of water flying and its risks, and always take precautions that we feel are needed for the both of us. Our precautions are basic and simple and we do this to keep the cockpit environment calm with not too many instructions. The following process details our VH-IDN preflight and flight over water checks.

Vicki will grab the ELB and test the ELB for activation, once this is complete, we put on our life jackets and make sure they fit correctly. We then go through a brief Safety Talk that includes the pilot in command supplies all commands. If our aircraft had an engine issue and after the basic checks of fuel/mixture and power the issue is not going away, the pilot would call Pan Pan Pan and squawk 7700 and supply location and POB. I would then instruct Vicki to prepare the aircraft for a water landing, gathering anything loose in the cockpit and placing under or behind our seats so that we have no floating objects obstructing us from exiting through our front access door. She would take off her shoes and place on her lap, activate the ELB and then tie it to her waist.

If the issue was terminal, I would update flight services with my location and my intentions. At a time and place I believe to be the moment instruct Vicki for the final commands, “prepare the aircraft for impact” which includes me slowing the aircraft down, Vicki opening the door and placing the shoes in between the door and the frame to keep it open (so on impact the door will remain open), headsets off and place under the seats and Vicki would take the brace position.

In the case of a successful water landing our plane could quickly fill with water, so we would release the seat belts, push the door open and exit the aircraft. Once Vicki is out, she has been briefed to pull the floatation device and roll away, before I then make my way out and inflate my vest.

We believe that by following our process we have given ourselves every opportunity to survive, but we also know that a high impact landing brings difficulties that include injuries and water filling the aircraft, however, the simple tasks that we have in place will in some part help us survive this situation.

I must stress these precautions for water crossing may not suit everybody or their aircraft, many of you may disagree with our safety checklist, but I say to you at least we have a process and command that show actions and who is responsible and between these actions we are helping each other in a grave situation that will give us both a better chance of survival.

So, the next time you are flying over water with you partner or family and your temperature gauge rises and the alarm echoes through the aircraft, ask yourself this question, Does Water Matter? and the answer is “YES”.