Emergency Water Landing In Gulf Of Mexico Following Engine Failure

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rileydog457

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Riley
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Good Morning Pilots,

At 8:40 PM Florida local time, i experienced an complete engine failure at 5500 feet 16 miles north of Crystal River (KCGC) which forced me to do an engine out landing in the gulf of mexico in the dark. We sustained no injuries (not even a bruise; two souls on board) thanks to outstanding luck and good training from my club.

But I need help. I'm very curious to get the ATC recordings from that evening when I declared emergency on 121.50 and eventually got transferred over to 118.60 (I could be wrong). I'm not sure how to find the recordings and if thats even possible.

Tail Number: N6013E
Local time and date of crash: 8:40 PM 4/19/2017
 
At 8:40 PM Florida local time, i experienced an complete engine failure at 5500 feet 16 miles north of Crystal River (KCGC) which forced me to do an engine out landing in the gulf of mexico in the dark. We sustained no injuries (not even a bruise; two souls on board) thanks to outstanding luck and good training from my club.

But I need help. I'm very curious to get the ATC recordings from that evening when I declared emergency on 121.50 and eventually got transferred over to 118.60 (I could be wrong). I'm not sure how to find the recordings and if thats even possible.
Local time and date of crash: 8:40 PM 4/19/2017
Tail Number: N6013E
Local time and date of crash: 8:40 PM 4/19/2017
3323545_1492706102240_3180845_ver1.0_640_360.jpg
3323575_1492706102177_3180844_ver1.0_640_360.jpg
 
Great job! Glad that you both survived this with no injuries!

Check liveatc.net and search around.
 
Good job with the landing. Your plane floating there or is the water very shallow?
 
whoa!

Glad your training kicked in and you two were both safe.

That pic with the plane in the water, is it touching the bottom? Found a fairly shallow sandbar?
 
Great job! Do you have any idea what may have caused the engine failure?
 
Didn't you know flying over water increases the chances of a engine failure by 300% especially in a single :D​
 
Yep, all ATC radios are recorded. Figure out what facility you were talking to and times and frequencies and contact (during business hours) the supervisor/qa person at the facility.

Good job.

If you were on a frequency that liveatc.net monitors, you might find it there.

Looks like 118.6 over CGC is Jacksonville Departure.
 
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WOW! Nicely done on the safe water landing! Airplane upright and all aboard not only safe, but unbruised? Extremely well done! Glad you and your passenger are safe!

Agreed with LiveATC to see if there's a recording available.
 
Wow! Nice job!! Any idea what caused the failure?
 
You did a great job keeping everyone unharmed, and that is the bottom line. Great job!
 
Live ATC does not cover 121.5 - check the map on Liveatc.net -

Also - great job -

next time - you need about 1000 feet per nautical mile to reach the shore in an average draggy Cessna =
 
I found some chatter about N6013E mayday being relayed in this archive: http://archive-server.liveatc.net/kdab/ZJX-DAB-Apr-20-2017-0030Z.mp3

not much, but if you want it better download it, they purge these after so many days

in that audio file:
07:40 inquiry about call sign who called mayday
08:45 theyre working with that now
09:21 6013E was the tail#
09:40 if you're fuel injected lean it, yea, we're working it

edit:
and a little in this one:
http://archive-server.liveatc.net/kspg/KSPG-Gnd-Twr-Apr-20-2017-0030Z.mp3
09:00 an electric fuel pump,
09:11 6013E was the tail#
09:34 fuel injected...
10:03 Jacksonville's got him
10:13 gotcha, we've relayed it and there's help on the way
 
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Glad everybody made it out!!!!

Velocity173 said:
Good job with the landing. Your plane floating there or is the water very shallow?
Click to expand...
It is very shallow. In that area the drop off is around a foot a mile. So 30 miles from the coast you are around 30 feet deep. More or less.
 
for some reason he has two threads on this, so I'll dup my response:
I found some chatter about N6013E mayday being relayed in this archive: http://archive-server.liveatc.net/kdab/ZJX-DAB-Apr-20-2017-0030Z.mp3

not much, but if you want it better download it, they purge these after so many days

in that audio file:
07:40 inquiry about call sign who called mayday
08:45 theyre working with that now
09:21 6013E was the tail#
09:40 if you're fuel injected lean it, yea, we're working it

edit:
and a little in this one:
http://archive-server.liveatc.net/kspg/KSPG-Gnd-Twr-Apr-20-2017-0030Z.mp3
09:00 an electric fuel pump,
09:11 6013E was the tail#
09:34 fuel injected...
10:03 Jacksonville's got him
10:13 gotcha, we've relayed it and there's help on the way
 
Last edited:
rileydog457 said:
Good Morning Pilots,

At 8:40 PM Florida local time, i experienced an complete engine failure at 5500 feet 16 miles north of Crystal River (KCGC) which forced me to do an engine out landing in the gulf of mexico in the dark. We sustained no injuries (not even a bruise; two souls on board) thanks to outstanding luck and good training from my club...
Click to expand...

Nice job, I am curious how you managed to keep the sunny side up. I figured a flip was a given with wheels on water. Do you remember any details on how you approached? Flaps, no flaps? Or anything more you remember?
 
comanchepilot said:
Live ATC does not cover 121.5 - check the map on Liveatc.net -

Also - great job -

next time - you need about 1000 feet per nautical mile to reach the shore in an average draggy Cessna =
Click to expand...
Isn't 16 miles north of Crystal River over land?
 
I don't have insight into the ATC recording for that specific area. I had to declare an emergency a little north of there by Cross City and couldn't find coverage for that particular area. I hope you're able to get what you need.

I want to join those offering a very well deserved kudos. Fantastic job on the successful landing. Overwater. At night. That's no joke. Hats off to you.
 
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Rebel Lord said:
Didn't you know flying over water increases the chances of a engine failure by 300% especially in a single :D​
Click to expand...

I don't believe he was over water when his engine quit since he stated he was 16 mi north of CGC.
 
I interpreted that as 16 north along the coast, but that makes sense as well.
Putting myself in his shoes, if I'm within glide distance, I like the overwater ditch option over the hope and pray over land at night option.

Either way, great outcome, and glad the OP is here to share his experience with us!
 
Flying the Nature Coast area regularly, I've often contemplated if I'd be better off with a water ditching vs putting it down in the very shallow salt marshes along the coast. I've generally thought the latter.
Anyone?
 
Mtns2Skies said:
Not as much as you might think.
http://www.equipped.org/ditchingmyths.htm
Click to expand...
I don't know that you can make that statement from your linked document.

From the section "In a Retractable, It's Better to Ditch With the Gear Up Than the Gear Down".
"How often does the airplane flip over because the gear caught in the water? We don't really know."
 
exncsurfer said:
for some reason he has two threads on this, so I'll dup my response:
I found some chatter about N6013E mayday being relayed in this archive: http://archive-server.liveatc.net/kdab/ZJX-DAB-Apr-20-2017-0030Z.mp3

not much, but if you want it better download it, they purge these after so many days

in that audio file:
07:40 inquiry about call sign who called mayday
08:45 theyre working with that now
09:21 6013E was the tail#
09:40 if you're fuel injected lean it, yea, we're working it

edit:
and a little in this one:
http://archive-server.liveatc.net/kspg/KSPG-Gnd-Twr-Apr-20-2017-0030Z.mp3
09:00 an electric fuel pump,
09:11 6013E was the tail#
09:34 fuel injected...
10:03 Jacksonville's got him
10:13 gotcha, we've relayed it and there's help on the way
Click to expand...

If you're fuel injected, lean it.....

Any ideas on what would lead to that advice?
 
donjohnston said:
I don't know that you can make that statement from your linked document.

From the section "In a Retractable, It's Better to Ditch With the Gear Up Than the Gear Down".
"How often does the airplane flip over because the gear caught in the water? We don't really know."
Click to expand...
Look at the section regarding high-wing aircraft which are generally fixed gear.
 
Further consideration here:
- flying at 5500 = mile high
- engine out
- exited plane in skivvies?
(Edit: note now the pic of souls on board in skivvies and prior comments on same have been pulled)

Got some 'splainin' to do?
 
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luvflyin said:
If you're fuel injected, lean it.....

Any ideas on what would lead to that advice?
Click to expand...

found that interesting too. My Emergency Check List for Engine Failure During Flight -- Mixture: FULL RICH

... working on it may have been 'we have the check list and are working on it'...
 
luvflyin said:
If you're fuel injected, lean it.....

Any ideas on what would lead to that advice?
Click to expand...
For fuel injected? Maybe the combination of boost pump and mechanical fuel pump can lead to an over-rich condition at 5,000'? It certainly can't hurt to cycle the mixture as part of the engine out flow.

For a boosted aircraft the POH/AFM may specify adjusting mixture for restart. My says that it may be necessary.
 
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