That’s a nice landing gear with the way it responded to the bounce!
That little 152 at the end trying to look nonchalant as the jet passes really got to me.
A beautiful ditching to be fair!!
Very! In control all the way in.
One thing though… That was rather close to a populated beach and there were people in the water. Then again, the pilot may not have had much of a choice, and he is allowed to fight for his life too.
Seems like everybody got away though. Even the Avenger should be possible to fix.
bit of hot coco and a blanket and it ought to be good to go! 
he held off for a very long time, I assume that was to check the ditch zone and make sure it was clear, that Avenger glided on idle better than I thought possible. so right up to the last second he had the choice to kick the rudder and slew it in sideways (probably at his own life’s expense) to save the people in the way.
a very good outcome from this. a repairable aircraft and no loss of life (probably very minor injuries) Love seeing this stuff go right
At least that’s what he can claim, in retrospect.
Thing is, engine out ditchings are fraught with danger. Pilots, as you know, have survival instincts too. He could’ve ensured that nobody else would be hurt by heading out to sea, but at the peril of his own chances.
But it’s hard to tell from that video. Could be that this beach was a far as he could go.
He did well.
@Victork2 there was no way he could see people straight ahead, it’s just luck that he didn’t squish a bunch of people in the water.
The best option would have been to land it out further at sea not risking people near the beach.
I think that was what I was implying 
he may not of had the choice… wind might of been a factor across the beach
I disagree, he could have turned further out to sea vs landing in the water close to a busy beach. In this regard the pilot made the choice to land there instead of taking a safer option for the people on the ground.
They didn’t decide to enter a historic warbird and fly it at a airshow, the pilot did and there is always a non-zero chance these aircraft give way given their age and technology. Airshows incur a greater risk of crashes then normal flight too.
whilst I agree with you, that yes he could of gone out further,
if forced to ditch, you land parallel to the swell and into the wind. as close to land as possible to aid escape.
you also have to factor in the point that regardless of circumstance that pilot was probably bloody terrified. saw his option not to hit ground or reduce his escape chance and took it. of course he could see on approach that it was clear. it was only as the airspeed bled off and he flared that he was blind. last 200-300 ft. I think he did a good job personally
That is indeed the correct ditching procedure, but not if you run the risk landing on a group of people. You can clearly see they skimsclosely over the heads of people in the water just a bit earlier. It’s just damn lucky they didn’t take a few people down on that landing and the luck does not negate the decisions the pilot made to land it there in the first place. The landing was good, the location was terrible and the pilot probably knew that was a busy beach.
To me it looks like plane recovery and personal safety was a primary decision factor in this landing from the video. I don’t believe for a second they had such a good view up ahead that they believed they could stick it in the opening between all the people in the water. If they did believe that then that is insane.
agree to disagree i think
Yes, and I’m implying that I’m not so sure that he would have kicked the rudder, if it meant saving someone else, while endangering himself. We all like to think we’d “do the right thing”, but when survival instincts sets in, those bets are off.
For all we know, he may have been so focused that all he saw was waves and sand.
What we do know, is that there will be investigations. The NTSB will do theirs and the Police will look into completely different things, like endangering the public.
From all accounts, this went well. But all it takes now is for someone to come forth, claiming to have been missed by an inch of his life… I wonder if there were any cameras inside or on that plane, that will be used in the investigation, and if it will be publicly available.
Just a disclaimer.
I’m not criticizing the pilot here.
I know what it means to be in an emergency. The best way I can describe it is a saying I read once.
You don’t rise to the occasion, you fall down to the level of your training
Basically, you do as you have trained and stick with that.
During flight training, you probably learned to pick a suitable field, when your engine quits, and stick to that. Don’t change fields, after you have committed to it, unless absolutely necessary.
So, this may be a case of that. Engine quits over the city. Ok, emergency place to land…beach. Continues with his memory items as he approaches the beach. Realizes that the beach is populated, but is committed… I could totally see myself making such decisions. But I wasn’t in that cockpit. I just think it’s interesting to try to analyze situations like these as there is almost always something you can learn.
I genuinely agree with both you and @TheAlmightySnark. he could of done a lot differently. I understand both your points. but we only see the last 30 seconds of that flight.
Of course he will be reamed out by the investigation. look at Sully!
I was as you said, taught to pick a field. don’t deviate. even as a PPL holder I only have the very most basic of training for this sort of thing.
I think you hit the nail on the head with
blinkers on, head down.
regardless, no one died. a good result.
Exactly! The outcome dictates the legacy.
Imagine if Sully and Skiles had crashed and the following investigation had shown that at least two runways would have been reachable…
“Landing on the river? What were they thinking?”
It’s certainly the angle the media would’ve seen. But instead, they got a hero to write about and most people reading this is asking “who the heck is Skiles?”
Just they way it is…
In this case, the short video doesn’t tell the full story. The angle doesn’t show the pilots view. Many unknowns.
Exactly
But what about the machine? Is it salvageable?