| Author: | Kazuhito SHIMADA (Life Membership) Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association - Japan 3-33-4-201 Jingumae Shibuya-ku, Tokyo Japan 150-0001 Entered By, Primary Author, Presenting Author |
| Arinori YAMAGATA (Non-Member) Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association - Japan Shibuya-ku, Tokyo Japan CoAuthor |
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| Katsuyoshi IDA (Non-Member) Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association - Japan Shibuya-ku, Tokyo Japan CoAuthor |
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| Haruko KIKUKAWA (Non-Member) Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association - Japan Shibuya-ku, Tokyo Japan CoAuthor |
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| Mike SMITH (Non-Member) Access Air Boise, ID United States CoAuthor |
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| Title: | A CASE OF OFFSHORE DITCHING BY A PRIVATE AIRPLANE |
| Text: | Case: In early afternoon of July 8, 2001, a Pilatus PC-12 single turboprop, N660NR, ditched onto the Sea of Okhotsk, 40 NM offshore of east coast Sakhalin. Four adults were onboard. The airplane and three other piston single engine airplanes completed 5-week long around-the-world AOPA-Japan group joy flight. The PC-12 had an engine problem at FL270 while they were on IFR flight plan from Hakodate, Japan, to Magadan, Russia. During the 15 minute gliding all of them donned survival suits. The ceiling was 100 feet. Gear-up ditching was uneventful with only minor injuries and a transient incapacitation of an unbelted person, who had difficulty with buckle with a bulky glove. A life raft was inflated outside the cabin. They were unable to tie the raft due to 10-15 knot wind, but all safely boarded the raft before the hull tilted nose down. No hand-held radio was available. The airplane tail was observed to be afloat more than several hours. After slowly drifting 15 hours, they saw a Russian container ship running straight at them, sent up flares, and all four souls were rescued. The ship changed its original course following a distress circular facsimile message from the authorities. At the time of pickup, one felt very cold, another had difficulty, from weakness, to climb a ladder. Discussion: They could not have survived without the suits, given the water surface temperature of ca. 6 deg C. Successful manual erection of the raft canopy was also a contributing factor. This accident is one of only a few cases of in-flight power failure of the type of airplane. Equipment-wise, they were well prepared for the unthinkable. Crew composition was multinational. It was noted that two of them, more of passengers in flight, played a leading role on the raft based upon their rich experience in sailing. A survey by P.Bertorelli shows 82% people survived 'blue water ocean' ditching in the past. More educational effort is necessary for general aviation pilots who fly high performance airplanes, regarding the 'real' need of survival readiness. |
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