In Southern Africa, we do not have many areas with large expanses of open water that has to be crossed, but when flying in coastal areas to islands then this situation may be unavoidable.
This is a verbatim article by a New Zealand pilot flying an Airborne Trike;
"I was over flying my summer house which is on a small island about 1 km from the mainland. I was orbiting at about 1000 feet when the engine began to loose power. I changed from the back to the under seat tank but was unable to gain an increase in r.p.m. I did not have sufficient height to glide to the mainland or time to get a hand under the back seat and pump the primer so a ditching was the only option. The island my summer house stands upon is all tree and rocks, so I decided that the water option was better than a treetop landing.
I flew towards the shore in order to land in the shallowest water possible and released my seat belt and my intercom lead. As an after- thought I plugged the intercom lead back in with the intention of calling a PAN but in the ensuring landing forgot about the emergency call.
I performed a "normal landing approach and flare" and settled gently onto the surface back wheels first. A large bow wave built up and acted as an "air cushion" and I was not thrown forward into the front strut. The trike slewed over to the right, the right wingtip contacted the water and the aircraft began to sink very quickly in an engine first, back down attitude. I tried to exit the aircraft but was trapped between the seat frame and the training bars mounted on the uprights.
The aircraft sunk and settled gently onto the bottom at about three metres depth and suddenly the wing moved forward allowing me to exit the aircraft. I swam to the surface and was stopped by the headset lead about 30 cms under the surface and had to use considerable force to break the cable.
Time under water was about a minute and was very close to the limit of my endurance. I did not panic during the exit procedure but was very disorientated under water as to what was up and down and which way to !
swim in order to avoid becoming tangled in the rigging wires.
I was picked up immediately by a pleasure boat and taken to land. I spend a night in hospital for observation as I swallowed a lot of water. I was discharged the next morning with a clean bill of health.
When asked "What will you do next time it happens, jump or stay?" he replied;
"I think that I would sit sideways on the seat with my feet outside of the pod and fly the machine down to a couple of meters off of the surface. I would then jump out to the side using the drag links as a "springboard". I would prefer this method as I would be extremely concerned about being trapped in the aircraft under water and drowning"
Moral of the story???
Do not fly over water if you do not have a suitable landing field within gliding distance, but then you all knew that!!!!
Look before you leap.
Cause of engine failure: Crap in one of the fuel pump valves."
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Fortunately this has never happened to me but I intend to go back to Mozambique next year and fly to some of the islands. Thus, the interest in this scenario.
Advice from other pilots/instructors who have overflown water.... in the event of an engine out over open water....head for a ship and try to land as close to it as possible. They can rescue you. Also, fly with as little as possible clothes on...Bundy style...when wet your flight suit pulls you down and, if possible, wear a floatation jacket.
Fly Safe
