During my PPL checkride, the DPE made a point to emphasize that if I ever had to make a forced landing and a large-enough body of water was nearby, to consider ditching in the water instead of aiming for a road or a field. His logic was that you could land straight into the wind, and you don't often find power lines or other obstructions across a pond or lake, and (depending on the lake), boats would be less common than cars on a road.
I didn't argue with him at the time, but I can see two big downsides to a water ditching. Regardless of aircraft, even if there are no injuries to the occupants, you've still got to get out of the plane and then out of the water to dry ground to be safe. In my sedentary middle-age condition, I'd have a tough time swimming a lap in a neighborhood pool; I'm not confident I (or other passengers) could make the swim successfully. If anyone's injured in the event, that becomes even harder.
And for a fixed gear specifically, the chances of a nose-over seem pretty huge. A belly landing in a retract might be fairly gentle if conditions are right, but I expect a fixed gear ditch is going to be traumatic almost every time.
So I've always discounted the idea of ditching, if I have an option for dry land instead.
Thoughts?
The DPE was right. It's the hard stop that gets you. Water has a much lower chance of having any obstructions that cause you to lose control during the stop, and will bring you to that stop quickly but not in an injury-inducing fashion if it's done right.
The chances of nose-over in fixed gear are small, and I've even seen some research suggesting that in a retract it's better to leave the gear down. The landing gear may be able to skim the water early in the "landing roll".
I think this misconception comes from the videos people always see of the amphib floatplanes landing with the gear down and flipping. You have to keep in mind, those wheels are easily 3-5 times farther from the CG than normal fixed gear wheels are, so the force moments are completely different.
Also, remember that in a retract, your prop is going to be the first thing to hit the water - it's not like you're going to suddenly transition to waterski mode.
Your instructor was an idiot. If you have an option never go for water go for land. What a bone head instructor. Amazes me some try to instruct at all. Problem they believe they know what they are talking about.
Says the guy who didn't even have enough reading comprehension to see that it wasn't even his instructor.
Lets see... Land with high probability of 0 damage to airplane or people... or... Land with 100% probability of total loss of the aircraft and high risk of injury or drowning... hmmm ... that's a hard one...
If you have a land-based option with a high probability of 0 damage to airplane or people, then take it. Yes, the ditching will result in the insurance company buying you a new plane, but the risk of injury is very low, and risk of drowning is also very low if you know how to swim. Or float. I know that all I have to do to stay alive in water is be able to point my face toward the sky, and I'll float enough to keep my mouth and nose out of the water.
Over a place like Michigan where there are lots of trees, I would opt for a lake over tall trees. Water temperature plays a factor too of course.
Water temperature is probably the biggest factor here. If you put it down in one of the great lakes, best to do so in water that's only knee deep. Their temperature is at its highest in October, but even then it's fairly chilly. In April, you have 10-15 minutes until you're worthless or dead.
The water would be my absolute last case option.. as in, I'm over mountains or a densely populated urban area / city
I would take tall trees any day over a lake. In a Skyhawk or Archer you're probably going 45 knots or so if you stall it into the tops of trees.. I bet there is a pretty good chance of surviving that.
OK, let's think this through.
Stall into the treetops, at which point you're going 45 knots forward and you'll be accelerating downward until you hit the ground. If you're really lucky, the trees may slow some of your forward momentum, but probably not much of your vertical momentum. Imagine a head-on collision with a brick wall AND falling off the roof of a three-story house - AT THE SAME TIME!
Now, imagine a water landing. You've properly briefed your passenger so they've got the door open prior to landing. There is no drop at all in the landing, and while you slow down quickly, it's not a sudden stop. In a low wing, if there's a boat nearby, you might not even get wet! (Planes can float for ~10 min if they're ditched relatively intact.)
I can tell you which one I'd take.
On the water though... let's say you don't flip, don't get trapped inside, and don't immediately drown.. then what? Now you're in the middle of a lake.. how many people could swim 1, 2, 3 miles to shore fully clothed with jeans and sneakers.
Most ditchings don't involve flipping, and you're no more likely to be trapped inside - In either case, you want a door open prior to impact. And drowning doesn't happen "immediately."
Plus, when you make this choice, you shouldn't ditch "in the middle of a lake." Ditch near the shoreline. Parallel it if you can. You might even be able to walk to shore.
At least if you crash on land and survive you can make a shelter, start a fire, have some materials from the plane's wreckage.. and hike and possibly maybe get a cell signal
Except you broke both legs in the crash/fall from treetop height and can't even run from the forest fire you started.
Things happen fast once you hit the water. there was a man who landed his plane on floats with the wheels down. The airplane flipped over as soon as it hit the water. The next thing he knows he is treading water. Problem, he left his 8 year old boy strapped in the seat. The little boy drown. This happened maybe four years ago. The man kept saying. I have no idea why i did not save my son.
Floatplane with wheels down is a completely different story. That's gonna flip every time due to the 3-5x higher moment arm of the wheels around the plane's CG.
