Pilot Survives Ditching And Shows It Can Be Done

Most pilots fear ditching an aircraft into the ocean but one aviator recently proved even the worst of situations can be survivable. Bob Justman's RV-8 was cruising at 1,000 feet over the beautiful waters surrounding the Hawaiian islands on Sunday morning, when at 8:52 a.m., he lost engine power as he flew to Lihue from Honolulu.

Justman promptly radioed the Honolulu ARTCC and set-up for a ditching approximately 60 miles from Oahu. Fortunately, he was under ATC's watchful eye as he made a last call about 200 feet over the water's surface. More importantly, his training would prove to be the key to his survival.

Once into the water, Justman immediately went to work getting out of the airplane, which had moved into an awkward and potentially dangerous position.

"After impact the canopy closed and the aircraft inverted underwater, trapping me in the cockpit," Justman explained. I released my shoulder harness and seat belt and worked at opening the canopy while underwater for over a minute. Miraculously, the canopy partially opened ... and I was able to eject myself from the cockpit just before the aircraft sank," he said.

Justman said he swam around collecting wreckage to make him more visible and started splashing when a Coast Guard helicopter made its second pass over the area. The rescue team had not spotted Justman the first time it flew over the floating wreckage.

Justman, a 56-year-old Hawaiian Airlines pilot with 35 years' experience, suffered no major injuries and was reported in good condition. He credits previous training as being key to his survival.

A Coast Guard civilian volunteer who flies over Hawaii's waters in his own plane, Justman said he learned valuable information two weeks ago from a Coast Guard training course on emergency procedures.

"A lot of people would panic, but you do need to relax to do the correct thing," he said.

This isn't the first crash off the Hawaiian coast in recent history and is the second homebuilt aircraft ditching in the past two months. Retired Coast Guard pilot Lt. Cmdr. William Swears, 43, also survived after his home-built Cozy III crashed Nov. 16 about 94 miles northeast of Maui. Swears was heading for San Francisco and survived after 3 1/2 hours in the ocean without a life preserver.

While Swears was on a long ferry flight and Justman was flying locally, one common issue was key to their survival: Being prepared.

FMI: www.equipped.com