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.