Cirrus Will Float, for Awhile

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Bill Greenwood

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Bill Greenwood
A friend here had a Cirrus Sr 22, seemed like a good plane, had a supercharger and I got to fly it twice. He sold it about a year ago, the engine was at TBO and he didn't want to go through mahor engine service. The buyer was down, I think in Florida and often flew to the Bahamas, One day he was over the ocean and losing oil pressure. I don't know if the engine actually quit, but he pulled the parachute, which worked just fine and lowered the plane gently. They were smart enough to have a raft and were able to get into it in the bout 7 minutes the plane floated. Saw he today and he had a photo of it. That chute sure looked good.
 
I watched a video of a Cirrus ditching and was surprised how fast it went down. From initial contact with water until the final sinking was only about 1.5 minutes IIRC. Enough time to secure the aircraft, get out, and maybe get a life jacket on.

IMO, get out as if you're on fire, and as soon as you're out the door, inflate the raft and get everyone in it immediately.
 
^^^ You're probably thinking about this video, captured by the US Coast Guard off the coast of Hawaii. Apparently ran into a fuel problem, possibly temporary fuselage ferry tank related, and had to ditch when the engine quit.

From impact with the water until the plane rolled over and the cabin was submerged was just a few seconds over one minute. No time to hesitate during egress.

It would be quite a challenge to get 4 people out and into a raft in that time.

 
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Looked like the chute had a big part of pulling the plane over sideways with help from heaving seas
 
GRG55 said:
^^^ You're probably thinking about this video, captured by the US Coast Guard off the coast of Hawaii. Apparently ran into a fuel problem, possibly temporary fuselage ferry tank related, and had to ditch when the engine quit.

From impact with the water until the plane rolled over and the cabin was submerged was just a few seconds over one minute. No time to hesitate during egress.

It would be quite a challenge to get 4 people out and into a raft in that time.

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I wonder if he got free drinks on the cruise..

about the only way I'd go on a cruise..
 
Snowmass said:
Curious as to why he was 235 miles from Maui. What is out there to warrant such a trip?
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He was a ferry pilot, had a fuel flow problem with his transfer tanks but only discovered the issue past the 'point of no return'. He chose to continue towards Hawaii and get as close as possible, Coastguard sent a C-130 out to escort him and guided him towards a cruise ship, where he pulled the chute and was rescued onto the ship.

Part of the Cirrus transition training content includes a video of the incident / interview with the pilot.
 
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