Cirrus ditching off Maui, 25 Jan 2015: Pilot OK

[pdw]

The really freaky thing is at about the three minute mark you can see a shark's fin pop out of the water right behind him. It happens a couple of times.

... You made me look.

[goldeneagle]

Seems to me the parachute actually accelerated the sinking of the aircraft by pulling it over. I counted a slow 16 from impact to complete submersion.

The film was edited for effect. Clock at touchdown said 44:02 and 45:02 when it started under, so it actually took a minute for the chute to drag it under.

[timel]

http://www.flyingmag.com/technique/acci ... SOC&dom=fb


don't forget the selfie.

[HiFlyChick]

It went well, but there must have been a lining up of the stars just a little for him to have been close to the cruise ship and for that eye-in-the-sky to be watching.

I wonder:
- What he was thinking while he was waiting to hit the water
- How much he pays for a ticket from 400 Mi away to complete his trip to Maui on the Cruise ship

It happens once in a while when someone tries to make the hop from the mainland to Hawaii. They know they won't make it with the fuel remaining and are able to give search and rescue advance notice they they will be needed. Someone probably even vectored this guy to the nearest ship.

Similar incident happened to a 310 in 2011.

http://youtu.be/NTF8UNSjNTU

Real interesting to compare the landing with the chute and without - the traditional ditching was like skipping a stone on the water.

As I watched he one with the chute, I was wondering why he would risk having the door open on the splashdown (in case it briefly dipped below the waves wit the force of impact), but seeing how fast it sank I guess I see why. That being said, it'd be somewhat of a tough call.... (or maybe I'm just thinking like a pilot of an aircraft without a chute)

[pdw]

... I was wondering why he would risk having the door open on the splashdown (in case it briefly dipped below the waves with the force of impact) ...

You're close; the one forced approach protocol i remember was to crack the door a little in case it jams via the "force of impact". It's like you say "in case it dipped below", but it might have opened all the way once unlatched with no forward speed anyway; under the chute it won't be windy except for some updraft, so he might have been very concerned already at that point about being/getting outside asap.

[Genetk44]

Seems to me the parachute actually accelerated the sinking of the aircraft by pulling it over. I counted a slow 16 from impact to complete submersion.

The film was edited for effect. Clock at touchdown said 44:02 and 45:02 when it started under, so it actually took a minute for the chute to drag it under.

Good catch,my bad.....I wasn't paying attention to the clock at all. Still...looks like the chute actually pulled it over onto its side.