T-28 lands in Tampa Bay (no injuries)

so close! Makes me sick to my stomach to see a classic like that suffer such a fate.
 
So what would have prevented the plane flipping?

Retracted gear?

let the tail hit first?

Nothing?
 
AdamZ said:
So what would have prevented the plane flipping?

Retracted gear?

let the tail hit first?

Nothing?
Click to expand...

with retracted gear he might have been sliding down the runway instead of hitting the water.

I hate to second guess the pilot because I have no idea what kind and when the engine problems happened. I'm glad they are OK.
 
AdamZ said:
So what would have prevented the plane flipping?

Retracted gear?

let the tail hit first?

Nothing?
Click to expand...

I'd guess that once he determined that he wasn't going to make the runway, he probably didn't have time to retract the gear and chose to focus on where to set down. Kind of looked to me that he was pulling the nose up to make sure he hit the water short of the wall.

Anyway, they both walked away, so that's about as good as you can ask for.
 
Trapper John said:
I'd guess that once he determined that he wasn't going to make the runway, he probably didn't have time to retract the gear and chose to focus on where to set down. Kind of looked to me that he was pulling the nose up to make sure he hit the water short of the wall.

Anyway, they both walked away, so that's about as good as you can ask for.
Click to expand...
It takes a long time for the gear to retract on an AT-6 and if the prop stops (didn't happen here) it won't come up at all.
 
Ouch, I hope they'll be able to rebuild the aircraft.
 
Looks to me like he did it just right. He flew the plane into the water at the min controllable speed. I don't think there's anything you can do to make it not flip over on it's back though I have to admit that my one experience with ditching a plane was in a fixed gear - it did exactly the same thing this T28 did. Flipping over on it's back is pretty inconsequential because you're going to get wet and be underwater either way when you're extracting yourself.

My personal feeling is that I'd take that water landing over just about any choice other than a runway or taxiway. Two of us emerged from a Pitts in the Chesapeake Bay without a scratch on either of us.
 
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