Ditching

Everyone crossing large bodies of water outside glide distance from land should have a good idea of how to ditch the aircraft safely and what to do to stay alive and get rescued.

Here are some ditching myths and resources.

Equipment

Life Raft: I'll be carrying a 4 person Revere Aero Life Raft

Dry Bag: I'll also have a dry bag ready to go with survival essentials

Complete gear list for reference.

Dry Bag Contents

Compiled from sites in the Atlantic Crossing Resources list, here are the items I'll have ready to go in my dry bag:

Flare gun, PLB, handheld aviation ratio, cigarette lighter, food rations, water bottle, flashlight, first aid kit, Swiss Army knife, rope/cord.

Ditching Process

Before landing, make sure dry suits are zipped and life vests are secure but not inflated.

After ditching, exit the airplane with dry bag and life raft. Inflate life jackets. Tether the life raft to the plane and pull cord to inflate.

Get into life raft

Once secure in the raft, cut the line to the plane and remove the PLB from the dry bag and activate.

Secure the PLB to the raft!

Wait for rescue...