Ditching: Landing on Water

Ditching — a deliberate water landing — is rare, but the outcome depends heavily on technique and preparation. Studies of ditchings show most are survivable when the pilot flies a controlled touchdown and egresses quickly.

Before you ever need it

Know whether overwater equipment is required for your operation. 14 CFR 91.509 mandates flotation gear and other equipment for large and turbine-powered multiengine aircraft operated for hire beyond gliding distance / more than 50 NM from shore; light aircraft have no general life-vest mandate, but carrying life vests within reach and a raft on any overwater leg is basic airmanship. Brief your passengers on egress before you cross water.

Reading wind versus swell

The touchdown decision is a compromise between wind and the swell (the long ocean waves):

• In light wind with a significant swell, land parallel to the swell — along the top or the back of a swell, never into its face.
• In strong wind with little swell, land more into the wind to reduce touchdown speed.
• With both, split the difference, favouring the swell as it grows. Avoid touching down on the upslope or face of a swell.

The touchdown

• Retract the gear (in a retractable) — fixed gear may flip the aircraft, so expect it.
• Use the flap setting recommended in your POH, fly a stabilised, minimum-rate descent, and touch down at minimum controllable airspeed, slightly nose-high.
• Expect two impacts — an initial skip and the final settling — and keep flying the aircraft through both.

Getting out

Brace on touchdown, then egress immediately — an aircraft can sink fast. Inflate your life vest only after you are outside the aircraft (an inflated vest can trap you inside), deploy the raft, and stay together. See also off-airport and forced landings.

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*Reference and training only — not for navigation or as legal advice. Always consult the current 14 CFR, the AIM, your aircraft’s POH/AFM and a certificated flight instructor.*