Two Ditchings in N. CA July 2023

[@Modern_Nostalgia]

The fact that these two were not fatal and both were actually caught on camera is kind of amazing

[@Christoph-sd3zi]

They bought their tickets They knew what they were getting into I say - let 'em crash!

[@michaelkemmet834]

@@gnaskinyAnWinyan He was quoting the comedy film Airplane!(1980). I'm sure it was meant as a joke.

[@GeomancerHT]

@@gnaskinyAnWinyan it's called Poe's Law, you cannot expect to write something and others to read it in the same way you wrote it, you are 100% correct, that's why sometimes people sign their messages /s (sarcasm?)

[@whiteorchid5412]

I'll always remember flying into Shelter Cove with my husband for an overnighter because as we landed we noticed a herd of goats peacefully grazing along the side of the runway that fortunately weren't the least concerned with us. The quaint hotel there had gift shop/coffee bar with a sign that read "Unattended children will be given a chocolate bar, double espresso and a puppy".

[@glennllewellyn7369]

Heh heh heh... Love it! Australia

[@smudent2010]

​@@glennllewellyn7369Australia? What are you talking about?

[@glennllewellyn7369]

@@smudent2010 Que?

[@wopalongcassidy]

@@glennllewellyn7369 : The Lost Coast. Humboldt County California.

[@glennllewellyn7369]

@@wopalongcassidy Cool mate! Look up my airport at Merimbula, YMER, ocean both sides of the runway. Rather nice to fly out of.

[@colinfitzgerald4332]

Juan, you just convinced me to install shoulder harnesses in my Cessna 150.

[@dks13827]

you must.

[@davidjose9808]

Hooker harnesses are excellent. Had them in my Cessna 140 tsildragger. Mr Hooker treats his employees as family…he also flies a C140

[@colinfitzgerald4332]

@@davidjose9808 david, thanks very much for the recommendation. I saw Hooker harnesses on the internet. Others have spoken highly of the brand as well.

[@LauRoot892]

@@colinfitzgerald4332Colin

[@mitchellbanks197]

Kudos to the boaters that decided to not just be passive observers

[@roderickcampbell2105]

Indeed Mitchel. There are good people out there. They do what "feels" right at the moment. I commend them.

[@justplanefred]

Agreed, not many people try to render assistance in these type of situations anymore.

[@roderickcampbell2105]

@@justplanefred Indeed Fred. To my mind, it comes down to something like "If it was your child out there, what would you do?" Well you darn well know.

[@danielgregory3295]

Kind of a rule of the sea, right? The Piper was now a boat in distress..

[@captng]

Yes we were very fortunate enough to be there at the moment 😮

[@morrispearl9981]

My father was an airforce pilot in the 1950s and early 1960s. I remember him mentioning that part of their procedure for ditching would be to shoot the water with their guns to cause some turbulance to help depth perception. I think he flew the F86, and he was one of the first F4 pilots for the USAF.

[@carlwilliams6977]

I'll bet a Warthog could make some serious turbulence. SURF'S UP! 😆

[@justinhaase8825]

That’s very interesting but good advice

[@Mgp-Rc]

One of my favorite jets. I only have a PPL but fly turbine rc stuff and it is most certainly on my list! :)

[@drizler]

Very simple yet timely advice for a very bad situation.

[@RubenKelevra]

Good idea. Time to fit some guns on my bonanza ;D

[@kettle_of_chris]

10:19 to 10:29 That was awesome - watching all those boats rushing out to help them! It really made me smile!

[@K.T-y1m]

Decades ago (late 60s to early 70s), a pilot, lost on a night cross country flight, descended his C150 into the water north of the South Lake Tahoe airport, thinking he was descending into the Clear Lake airport. No joke, he was that lost. That night, fate smiled on him in that a pair of drunk fishermen were cursing their stalled outboard motor, when they heard him calling for help. They rescued the hapless airman, took him to shore, and he called to report his own accident. I've always wondered what happened to him after that night.

[@Airman_Fu]

Used to got camping at Shelter Cove as a kid and can attest the water is cold! I’m happy both people survived and sounds like little or no injuries. Props to the FD water rescue for the quick response!

[@garymartin9777]

Note how the mountains are immediately adjacent to the shore in the 1st video at Shelter Cove. This community is on the "Lost Coast" of California -- a one hundred mile stretch of mountains like this butt up against the shore from just north of Fort Bragg to Eureka. For this reason the coast highways (CA 1, US 101) jog easterward for this stretch and are nowhere near the coast. The very cold Humboldt current kisses the coast all the way up and is a playground for Great White sharks and whales. The area is considered one of the last untamed wildernesses in the USA. It is definitely Sasquatch territory !

[@matthewknischewsky6757]

An acquaintance disappeared a few years ago in bad weather while hiking the Lost Coast Trail near Shelter Cove. It's an unforgiving area for sure.

[@drizler]

That advice on shoulder harnesses in vintage aircraft is spot on. Those planes offer Zero in panel padding and there’s all sorts of sharp aluminum protrusions on dial faces, radios ect.

[@basilfoster5245]

Judging your height above the surface is really hard on still water. I have been in a floatplane when all we could see was the bottom of the lake, logs, and all. The pilot I was with was very experienced and had me toss a floatation device out the window on a low-and-over to give himself an aiming point.

[@gnarthdarkanen7464]

Got myself "drafted" for a flying boat's "mooring rigger"... All experienced pilots. Short tours, so fatigue was never a factor... and dubious bouncing and repairs were more often than should be "comfortable" on the damn things. For never (in my experience at least) having an accident, we sure went through a SH*TLOAD of bondo... haha ;o)

[@Dluv3679]

Once again, an excellent analysis of these two ditching's. Fortunately everyone got out alive. We lost a Jolly Green Giant SAR Helo off of Patrick Air Force Base FL in 1984 there were five or six fatalities. that was when USAF dunker training was mandated and has saved many lives since . we also carried a very small breathing apparatus HEEDs bottle which gave us about two minutes of breathing time while trying to find an exit to safety. One can get very easily disoriented upside down, especially at night. Oh, and thanks for playing the bass guitar riff again. For some reason it drives home the seriousness of these accidents.

[@henryhbk]

Absolutely and why practice is so important. When did my rescue diver training, the fire department recreated an accident a bridge by tossing the practice car into a nearby river (they used a crane I think). Inside car was a “rescue randy” and his “baby”. Even diving with an 80L air tank (which normally would last me 90 minutes at that shallow depth) once I got into the car, it was utter blackness (could not see your hand in front of your face. Incredibly disorienting, which is why we all had surface controlled ropes, and I did manage to find the baby (floated up under the dash) even in the 15 minutes, I had used almost all of my air. I was very grateful once I broke the surface to have burly firefighters haul me back with ropes. Dark cold water is extremely dangerous, and without training it will kill you!

[@arthurbrumagem3844]

@@henryhbkmany years ago here in Mn State Farm did the same “ experiment “. Their divers hit near panic levels as well. Can’t imagine being under water in a car or plane and I’m a diver myself

[@dananichols1816]

By my 2016 retirement, we had changed-out our HEEDS for the Survival Egress Air (SEA MKII) rigs, with a great two-stage regulator mouthpiece on a short umbilical, in the HH-60 crew vests. Whether its that rig, or any of the now available, evolving gear -- man, is there a fantastic selection of affordable egress/survival gear now for any & all pilots/crew/pax. Absolutely, the best life insurance -- from ultra-light to the heavies -- have & maintain good gear, habitually have it stowed within reach or wear it in a vest, and spend the occasional minute actually pulling it out and talking yourself through your donning & egress steps. Those later, reality nano-seconds of actual emergency will often turn upon your muscle-memory kicking in. The opening briefing they give you, at Fairchild AFB's helo dunker school, includes the Marine and Navy survivors talking about their CH-46 Sea Knight, after hooking a gear leg on the fantail of a moving ship (rappelling boarding exercise), rolling over inverted into the sea. Nobody had immersion/egress gear on -- or were ready for such an instantaneous, immediately-sinking crash like that. It prompted a mass review and reality upgrade of water casualty and egress gear and training. Even in the safe, controlled, well-lit(!), warm water of the dunker training pool -- feeling it for real -- and egressing -- is NOT like Hollywood.

[@Dluv3679]

@blancolirio-_ check 123 is this Mic on

[@silmarian]

That whispered, “Oh no,” on the first one was kinda chilling. Glad everyone survived both ditchings!

[@donmoore7785]

They were both "kablammo" but the 1st more so. I guess it isn't appropriate to use the slang he normally does.

[@gyrateful]

I grew up near Shelter Cove - Whitethorne and, in the summer, heavy fog and moderate seas of 5 to 10 feet are normal. You are not kidding about the water being cooold. The sea surface temp is currently 51-53 F. No life jacket - you got about 15 minutes. with life jacket, an hour or two. They were very lucky to be rescued. Holf a mile from there and they would be fish food.

[@wizardmix]

Good grief GA has been keeping you busy beyond belief. Turns out the pilot of the Cessna in Santa Fe was a good friend and doctor of some of my dearest friends in Thousand Oaks CA. What a crazy week it's been. As always I appreciate your very sober and educated look at all of these.

[@jayrob1942]

Thanks!

[@jimmydulin928]

Good point on the disorientation of going inverted, Juan. With an engine failure, I put a Pawnee into a lazier leveled crop free area with deep furrows. I went over slowly and the canopy squished between furrows. I fell on my helmeted head when I released the four point harness and thought the fluid pouring out was from the side loader. It was from the hopper still in front of me. I didn't realize I was still looking forward until I dug out after breaking the side plexiglass. Good coverage of the ditchings.

[@lisanadinebaker5179]

@Jimmy dublin - ugh. That could not have been a very fun ride. I guess "bubbles up" wouldnt help you much in that situation.

[@jimmydulin928]

@@lisanadinebaker5179 The fiberglass hopper broke and the "Trigger" (I was spraying cotton to get all bowls to open at the same time) ran out into the furrow. So I didn't get wet. Inverted was a bad way to go in with an Ag plane, but the hopper placement was safe. When Fred Weick designed the Pawnee to be saver than the Cub it replaced as an Ag plane, Piper wanted safety first. In a Cub, the pilot landed first (gear went away immediately), the engine came back in his lap, the DDT or spray came down on his back, and he couldn't see anything in the turn (high wing.) Now all Ag planes look just like a Pawnee. The low wing allows us to see in the turn and gives us a cushion to crash on, the engine is well away from the pilot, and the hopper is in front of the pilot so the spray can go forward on the engine in a crash. And the pilot, on the trailing edge of the low wing is built up so the cabin is the highest part of the airplane for good visibility forward. I know, the jets are bad but some have 800 gallon hoppers up front. If you fly low and work around stuff on the ground, it is best to use cushions to get your eyes as high as possible.

[@LauRoot892]

@@jimmydulin928Where ya from ? 😇

[@jimmydulin928]

@@LauRoot892 I fly out of Aurora Missouri 2H2 with instructors. Two things: I no longer have medical and certificate so with instructors and I got a lot of free time when young, 65 years ago, and feel I owe flying with instructors on my dime. Instructors need a little manipulation of the controls time as well. They fly, I talk. We cover low altitude orientation things like the basic low ground effect takeoff, Dutch rolls to prove need to lead rudder, the energy management turn, and the apparent brisk walk rate of closure (power/pitch deceleration) approach.

[@LauRoot892]

@@jimmydulin928 interested in texting ?😁

[@TheJapanChannelDcom]

In both cases, they would have stayed dry if they stayed within gliding distance of land. To be on approach and not have enough height to glide to the threshold is not wise in a single engine.

[@jlvandat69]

Juan's high quality videos always reminds me of the (usually overlooked) tremendous value a commercial airline pilot has when they coincidentally fly small planes as well. This latter skillset gets eroded in the high tech, fly-by-wire cockpits but can be invaluable as we have seen in many airline accidents (and when making aircraft accident videos, ofc!).

[@gapster46]

I talked to an F-16 pilot at an air show once and he flew his Mooney for fun. That was a long time ago, but it seems like he said that the F-16 was less complicated to fly.

[@censored-admin]

I got my PPL from a passionate CFI who is also an airline pilot with over 18,000 hours. As you have stated, learning from someone who's gone all the way up and still continues to fly general aviation planes gives you not just lots of experience but a lot of extra knowledge on teaching good habits that work all the way from beginning through the airlines. I also got my PPL using the same type of plane (Cherokee PA-28-140) that was in this Lake Tahoe ditching. As I live and train at high altitude, that plane has very diminished performance with a high density altitude. For example, at 10,000' density altitude it only has a climb rate of about 50-100 ft a minute versus the 500 ft a minute that you typically see at lower elevation / read about in a Pilots Operating Handbook. There's actually a math formula that I forget off the top of my head to calculate the engine performance versus density altitude, but it's something like 60% just matching the 6,000 to 8,000 elevation where the airports are that I utilize. Add warm weather which makes the density altitude rise higher and you get even less engine performance. I highly recommend people that want to fly at altitude, especially in a lower performance plane, to really take a mountain flying course. You'll learn a lot and it is totally worth the small half to 1 week investment.

[@jeffr6280]

Man, that was a hard hit into the water. Those folks did an incredible job recovering from the shock of impact, egressing and surviving in the water. Any landing you swim away from....

[@LauRoot892]

Jeff 👋

[@jenniferhallam9063]

I have no idea how this came up on my feed but I am moved to subscribe as I live under the approach to Santa Rosa Airport and see small planes every day and wonder what adventures they are off to. Apparently, some folks get more of an adventure than expected.

[@wyomingadventures]

This is a great channel. You will like it. Welcome 😊

[@quadstardrones]

My father lost power in our Musketeer A23 when I was 11 (1988) and ditched it in Woodland lake in Brighton. He didn't have much time to react. Knowing the danger of flipping with fixed landing gear, he did his best to "belly flop" the plane into the water. His plan worked, the plane never flipped, I hit my head on the dash, and we all survived including my little brother and sister in the back seats. They had no idea until we splashed down since they were buckled in and were too short to see out the window. The plane sank as soon as we got on a rowboat and paddle boat. The tail almost hit my head as the nose sank and the tail swung into the air.

[@deansiracusa3966]

Another excellent video Juan! I’ve been flying for 30 years and I won’t fly in any plane that doesn’t have shoulder harnesses for exactly this reason!

[@seandelaney1700]

@chancellor170 I don't know, rockets are pretty cool.

[@boeingpilot7002]

Juan, thank you for always posting dispassionate and well-researched videos. The pilots of these two aircraft were very fortunate to be picked up so quickly, after ditching. Cracking the cabin door open before a forced landing is a great idea; I would only add that it would be good to stuff a coat or a blanket in the door jamb, to prevent it from being jammed shut from the impact of landing.

[@ecomandurban7183]

Back in 1980 l was a passenger in a Tiger Moth that crashed into the water after a stall turn initiated at too low an altitude on the main Durban beach front. That was quite an experience loosening the harness and getting free of the aircraft under water after being knocked senseless due to the vertical impact with the water.

[@drizler]

Ahh but it’s the harness that keeps you ( hopefully) from being knocked out so you just sit there and drown or burn depending on the situation.

[@markcoveryourassets]

Glad to have you here.

[@ecomandurban7183]

@@drizler it is amazing how much the harness and the body stretch l hit my head hard enough to split open my eyebrow.

[@fbrown2170]

Juan, my J35 with tip tanks has six tanks total. It takes discipline but is certainly manageable. Moving the fuel from the tips is at a slower gph than the cruise burn so that is tricky. Great video as always.

[@davidmerwin7763]

Thanks Juan. Great review of these two ditchings. And great reminders of what to do if in a spot like these!

[@umami0247]

Hopefully everyone recovers fully. Yes getting to water in the mountains is very important if available.

[@DG-wu7ke]

Thanks JB! You always have the most relevant information

[@ericfielding2540]

Glad to hear that all the people survived the two ditchings.

[@johnharris7353]

Yes thank God!

[@LauRoot892]

Eric 👋

[@mdumas7856]

My father ditched a Commander 680T off the coast of Florida in the 70s. Dual engine flameout. Response was delayed as people on the beach thought it was a seaplane. He suffered back injuries and said that it was very hard to visually judge your altitude above the water.

[@gnarthdarkanen7464]

YUP... AND almost no amount of experience can make it any easier. You learn to "grope for the ground" as it were... SO because the process of groping is dipping the nose a few degrees to drop some altitude, add speed, and try another "little flare" to settle to it... find you're still high... and repeat... Even as you get skill at it, there's the possibility ALL THE TIME that you're just going to be subject to bad timing and/or luck...dipping the nose to smash directly into water you'd THOUGHT was a few feet further down from that last "little flare" and settle... From one PATCH of water to the next... EVEN in the exact same body of water (like a lake) you can go from choppy with boat wake and wind-peaks to "dead calm" and glassy... Peaks with foam might be 4 inches tall, or 40 foot swells and from 100 feet, YOU CAN'T BE SURE which... or where in between... until you're in the middle of it. The reflections off the surface (worse and blinding when sunny) are tricky and screw with the focus of your eyes at the best of times... so it gets sort of like trying to land a plane on a moving surface with binocular-kaleidoscopes attached directly to your eyes... GOOOOOOOD LUCK!!!! Sometimes, it seems like it might even just be easier to glide in blind at night... and f*** it... ;o)

[@sergiomartinez1880]

Juan, with all these high temperature related accidents, a quick reminder of how we calculate density altitude could be useful for everybody😊

[@davidmangold1838]

In ForeFlight, most airports’ METAR shows density altitude. For smaller airports, DA is not shown. To find it, select airport, click on DAILY, then click on your eta time-frame. DA will be at the top. Otherwise, one needs to use the formula or E6B to calculate.

[@davidmangold1838]

@blancolirio-_ see my explanation above. No need for a formula if you find it as I said, in ForeFlight

[@georgeh.7238]

I really miss living in Lake Tahoe area. I will never forget standing on the flight deck of a C-130 coming over Mt. Rose and into the Lake Tahoe Basin. The most spectacular view you could ever imagine. We were in a three ship formation with our aircraft leading the formation with the other two behind on either side. We proceeded to lower the cargo bay door and stand there with the other two aircraft right behind us as we passed just a few hundred feet over the majestic blue water. What an incredible sight it was to behold.

[@LauRoot892]

George 👋

[@wayne9638]

love your work Blanco, you and Dan are giving aviation such important information and saving lives, hats off to your both

[@wayne9638]

@blancolirio_. Agreed that saves lives

[@Tomxman]

When I learned I was taught to always try have a landing site in view. The older Bonanza have a fuel injection return to only one tank so when you used the other wings tanks they would deplete a lot quicker. Also to get best glide the prop needs to been in low rpm.

[@00andJoe]

Seeing that Bonanza's landing gear starting up then going back down jogged my memory - some Bonanzas have a "landing gear safety system" that will automatically lower the gear under certain combinations of manifold pressure+airspeed to prevent gear-up landings. I'd suspect that aircraft had that option, which is why the gear came back down.

[@EXROBOWIDOW]

If so, this airplane is too smart for its own good! I've been driving an almost- new loaner car from the dealer while my 2010 low mileage, low brain power model is awaiting repairs. So much technology-- some of it is a lifesaver; some of it is annoying; and some of it will possibly train bad habits into drivers.

[@boeingav8tr525]

It was called the 'Magic Hand' landing gear Similar to the system on the Piper Arrows

[@johnopalko5223]

@@EXROBOWIDOW I hear you. I recently had occasion to rent a late model SUV and it came equipped with a proximity warning device that let you know if you got too close to the car ahead of you. A great idea but this implementation was horrid. It was, essentially, an animation and I kept seeing its movement in my peripheral vision, thus drawing my attention. I finally ended up plastering sticky notes on the panel to hide it so I wouldn't be distracted from watching the road.

[@LauRoot892]

@@johnopalko5223hey John 😇

[@John-nc4bl]

Its good that help arrived quickly and that they all survived. Crack that door open and jam your removed boot between the front edge of the door and the fuselage if you can. If youre stuck in some models of Cessnas and unable to open the door and if you can quickly contort your body so that you can push against the top of the windshield with both feet, you can dislodge the windshield from its top groove and push it out for escape. Its not that hard to do as the top skin of the fuselage only overlaps the windshielf by about half an inch is some Cessnas. Hopefully the windshield installer did not use an excessive amount of sealant along and under the edge of the windshield-!

[@LauRoot892]

John

[@weewillywanka5904]

Juan you are the bomb. Thanks for the report. I hope you don't ever need to ditch the Husky or the triple 7

[@americanpatriot2422]

Outstanding video and presentation

[@LauRoot892]

Patriot 👋

[@tedstriker754]

Those in the Bonanza are lucky to be alive. So much happened so fast he didn't think or have time to pull the gear up soon enough. Then stalled it instead of keeping it flying for a smooth water landing. Maybe he was trying to keep it in the air long enough to give the gear time to retract. I've had those older Bonanzas also, and if they have the small aux tanks, they go down fast since a lot of the fuel pumped out of them goes into the main tank through the vapor return line. And it's an easy thing to forget. I had that setup in a Debonair, which is a Bonanza with a conventional tail. The Piper hit just about as hard as the Bonanza did. So they too are lucky as well to have survived it. That plane didn't seem to move more than a few feet in the water.

[@LauRoot892]

Striker

[@Sshooter444]

Would be interested in how they recover the aircraft.

[@gnarthdarkanen7464]

Recovery barge with a crane... divers... They more or less send a couple guys down to the plane, lower the hook and harness gear, and the guys in the water run the rigging... up she comes. Some situations, when it's deep, the divers go ahead to tie off a buoy marker and inflate it so the barge can find it... BUT that's about the only big variation. ;o)

[@Sshooter444]

@@gnarthdarkanen7464 Lake Tahoe is DEEP!

[@gnarthdarkanen7464]

@@Sshooter444 Then it's likely to get the marker buoy first... At most, someone has to go out with the slings/harness rigging to get started and uses a "Capstan" instead of a crane so they can employ enough cable... With a Capstan, you can run literally miles of cable through the works, and as long as there's some form of containment to hold it, you just have more cable... so they can reach as deep as cable will hold under its own weight (which is further than you might expect)... Just for clarity here... A Capstan is a large hydraulic machine that turns a big, heavy, cast-metal drum-pulley around and around... The ropes or cables are then wrapped around the pulley manually by one of the operators, while the other handles the controls for speed and direction... The pulley has a slight "hourglass" shape so that when you put several turns around it, the pressure of weight on the cable or rope draws it together in the middle, and then a man can just lean back to tighten up and the Capstan takes the strain... The heavier the object at the "bitter end" is, the better the Capstan can pull it up, at least until you've overloaded it and blow the hydraulics... They're pretty amazing machinery, but need some respect or it's easier than you'd like to get dragged into one for not paying attention... At some point, the slings/harness rigging will then get transferred to the crane... Usually just under the water surface, and a diver only needs exchange shackles from the slings to the Crane "hook" instead of from the slings to the Capstan cable... The Capstan and all it's hardware can then get out of the way... and we're back to "The crane lifts the airplane from the water and puts it on the barge"... 9 out of 10 times, these operations are generally pretty straight forward... ;o)

[@LauRoot892]

@@Sshooter444Are you a Shooter ? lol 😆

[@k9er233]

@@LauRoot892 With a Marlin lever perhaps?

[@Skysnolim]

Thank you Juan truly enjoy your channel. Could not agree with you more to keep up your speed. Point the nose down and face the music. Over the water level off and stall/flare. I am flying only hang gliders and it must be distracting trying to get the gear up when it is automatically overridden as the previous commenter pointed out. I had the good fortune to work with a former Humpback Pilot who crashed 13 times and survived every one of them, not only during combat missions but civil single engine planes in the States.

[@paulputnam2305]

Thank You Juan. Firefighters are heroes and they ROCK!!! Much Love

[@LauRoot892]

Hey Paul

[@briggsahoy1]

Thanks for you reports, RB, Nova Scotia.

[@desertr4062]

As a former float plane pilot, the hardest water landings to do are when the water is glassy. U would usually set up ur landing and try and use something on the shoreline for reference and just wait to touch. Something you can't do without an engine. It may be why the first guy didn't smack the water the same way the second one did. Glad everyone got out ok. And special kudos to both videos being filmed in panoramic!!

[@gfl1957]

More great reporting. And Juan it is great you are helping a young pilot advance!

[@LauRoot892]

Lewis 👋

[@GeorgeSemel]

I instructed my students that if you have to ditch, open the door and stick a shoe in the door so that there is no doubt that you can get out of the aircraft. Lake Tahoe is nice place. I been there many times over the years. I like fishing the Truckee River. Lake Tahoe is a deep one, its going to be interesting how or if that aircraft is recovered and removed from the lake.

[@RockandRollWoman]

I love fishing the Truckee, and the east fork of the Carson - accessible only by hiking down via the GA airstrip near Markleeville. You can be there the whole day and not see another human being.

[@FamilyManMoving]

I imagine the onrush of hydraulic pressure from the water hitting the door turning your former foot into fish bait. On most planes, the doors can be locked into the uncaught position, by engaging the close position. I once had a rental Cessna that had the latch stuck, and that door would not close without tools.

[@hirisk761]

Any landing you walk (or swim) away from is a good landing 😅

[@JSFGuy]

Somebody had to say it, again every time.

[@LauRoot892]

Hi Weaver 👋

[@davidbaldwin1591]

Great to have live passengers, so we get Blanco's play by play, which is awesome.

[@LauRoot892]

Baldwin

[@gapster46]

I flew into Shelter Cove a couple of times. They were extremely lucky to be rescued so quickly.

[@tk423b]

Any first date you can swim to shore from, is a good first date.

[@rickrickard2788]

I wonder if he was thinking fast enough Juan, that he stopped retracting the landing gear BECAUSE he felt the stall beginning, and the nose rising, in order to help bring it down, and that's why he actually "recovered" from that quick stall... maybe even caught a gust that raised his nose? Because that was the first thing that caught my eye as well, him getting that gear up. One other thing- I think it would be a good thing for all people to go through what we did in survival school training- getting strapped in, and then rolled inverted underwater- learning how to free yourselves, WITHOUT PANIC. It's a very simple thing to do, if one just keeps their focus, and staves off panic. Not sure what prices are like.. or if it's even available for civilians... but it's still invaluable training imo- even for those who drive. Strange how often machines like to find their way into water. Or maybe it's us, lol. (edit: I made my comment watching the first part of the video, before Juan mentioned the "Dilbert Dunker"... shoulda known he'd mention it, he rarely misses anything.)

[@SnakebitSTI]

Would probably be far too expensive :( Insurance cost, experts to pull people out of the water, instructors...

[@rickrickard2788]

@@SnakebitSTI Could be right, given the moronic litigation disease this country has...

[@EXROBOWIDOW]

I wonder if kayak training would be a poor man's substitute. Kayakers are taught to complete the rollover if they capsize. After training, it's no big deal-- unless you get your head caught in the rocks at the bottom of the river. Those who master the technique might find a water ditching more survivable.

[@seandelaney1700]

I was thinking the last seconds lowering of the gear diverted his attention just enough on the edge of stall.

[@FamilyManMoving]

Someone mentioned in another comment thread that the Bonanza's had an optional "magic hand" that would auto deploy the gear based on factors like airspeed and manifold pressure, that usually exist for landings. It was to prevent gear up landings. A couple of former bonanza owners talked about it and said it looked like the auto-deploy kicked in to try to save the landing. I dunno. Just relaying what someone else smarter than me, said.

[@seanf6724]

Blancolirio Global Headquarters - very funny Juan. Excellent reporting as always mate, greetings from Queensland.

[@alwaysbearded1]

Timely. I have an interest in Aviation and I am a sailor on SF Bay. I read the Local Notice to Mariners which is series of notices for the week about changes and issues to be aware of usually changes in aids to navigation such as lights that are extinguished or buoys that are missing or off station. Once in a while you see a notice about a new wreck of a boat. Last week I saw the warning about the wreck at Shelter Cove. First time I've seen a notice about an airplane wreck. I believe the notice said the wreck is in 30- 40' of water with no plans for salvage at this time. I'm glad to hear everyone survived. Did not see a similar notice about the Lake Tahoe wreck but then I don't sail there so I skip that part of the notice.

[@LunchBoxWars]

AOPA has a great video on water recovery/egress that I watched when I did my eFIRC with them. Demonstrated how easy it is for people get disoriented when upside down and under water and the benefit of egress training to bush/seaplane pilots (and well everyone).

[@Saml01]

AIM has a good section on it as well.

[@orthopraxis235]

Water skiing in lake tahoe as a kid, the water is pretty cold too. Lucky they were rescued quickly and even that the water was pretty glassy.

[@ontheedge33371]

It’s great to involve your son with your channel and letting him help with the merch and profit from his work 🙏🏻💙🙏🏻good job Dad ! Also it’s was good the first pilot kept his high angel of attack which kept airspeed up avoiding that last second stall until his altitude was just off the water maybe 20 feet .Landing gear up all helped them live through this mishap ! And great advice having latches open and hatch open a crack 👍🏼

[@bwyseymail]

Not his son. Juan has a son named Pete but he is about 10 years younger.

[@TheGospelQuartetParadise]

Glad everyone survived both accidents. Juan, question for you. In your husky how would you have handled a water landing since you have fixed landing gear? Great report.

[@donmoore7785]

He discussed in the video how to do it. Some flaps, nose down as needed to pick up speed, get your nose up a bit, flare at the end and open the door a bit before landing. At least that is what I remember.

[@FamilyManMoving]

Treat it like a soft field landing: pitch for approach, flaps at appropriate position (check your POH) and try to hold ground effect with pitch up as long as you can, to stall it down. The wheels are going to catch, so not so much you can do other than get the airspeed down - as close to the ground - as you can. While keep your wings level. Etc. The physics suck, frankly. But they beat a VMC roll into dirt.

[@donmoore7785]

As always Juan, your commentary is very instructive for pilots of which I am not but your explanations about what to do are always excellent.

[@LauRoot892]

Don Moore 😂

[@shufflerp3868]

Well done on the rescue with both events. Great coverage!

[@tasoanastasio]

Greek fire plane crashed with real good video. Standing by for your feed

[@peterredfern1174]

4 very lucky people planes can be fixed or replaced,thanks Juan safe flying mate,👋👋🙏🙏👍🇦🇺

[@scottstewart9154]

Juan always enjoy your presentations

[@LauRoot892]

Stewart

[@ctwalston1565]

Yet more great analysis content JB!!

[@motorTranz]

That must've been terrifying especially for the Piper flight. Thank God all survived! Thank you Juan for another analysis!

[@LauRoot892]

Hi 👋

[@ruudannette8782]

During my naval pilot training I've learned to ditch with a fully controlled 100'/min rate of descent straight into the water. So "NO'' flaring!!! Many thanks for posting!

[@hgbugalou]

Thank goodness this wasn't additional GA fatalities. This has been a rough summer for GA.

[@webcucciolo]

Great that they all survived, amazing reaction on taking the gear up (if he had managed). Very lucky that he got the stall so close to the water, because he hit very hard. Slightly higher and we wouldn't have had survivors. It must be really hard to keep above stall until the very end, he just pulled a little hit harder, which might be instinct. Glad that the stall was at such a low altitude

[@georgeselbher6743]

Finally Ordered Blancolirio Merch for my family AND EAA Airventure! Hope it comes by Friday, for I will be wearing my new Blancolirio Shirt loud and proud! Thank you, Juan, for all of your hard work making this video. Love it when you discuss and highlight CRM. Are you planning to be at Airventure this year?

[@albertod4161]

At least no one is killed wow

[@cherlgolja5402]

Great coverage 🇺🇸👩🏻‍✈️

[@gerardmoran9560]

Great video Juan! Back in college, a few buddies and I were in FL and decided to spend the weekend at Jack Brown's Seaplane base for our seaplane rating. It was a blast! My last seaplane ride was my check-ride, but I still have it on my ticket. One of the hardest tasks was "glassy water landings" since you can't determine an accurate height above the water. You'd set up a final with 300-400 fpm descent (hard to do in a J-3 without a VSI) and wait for touchdown. If you haven't already done it, treat yourself to a seaplane rating. Cheers

[@LauRoot892]

George

[@gerardmoran9560]

@@LauRoot892 ?

[@kevinferrell6466]

How much for the autographed versions?

[@stevenpederson1645]

Thanks for the report, stay safe.

[@LauRoot892]

Pederson

[@edfaulk2868]

Juan, your reports are awesome. I’m not an aviator but I love it and have learned so much. Thank you!

[@T_210]

Surprised the article didn't name the medical helicopter- REACH. REACH formed a deep partnership with Sonoma County decades ago, and just last year they partnered in a Sonoma County Fire/Medical dual purpose helicopter that has a nurse, medic and firefighter on board. I believe Juan has a buddy that flies for them or their sister company CALSTAR.

[@jhyde2129]

Just picked up a BL shirt to support my favorite aviation KZbinr … Good luck Kellen!

[@chaosensues1656]

In around 1979 or 1980 a guy I went to school with who worked for Airflite North, the Cessna distributor, lost the oil pump in a near-new Hawk XP near the Tahoe airport. He ditched in the water and the plane flipped on its back. A local boater who had filmed the whole thing met him at the plane as he stepped out onto the wing, briefcase in hand, and then into the boat. I don’t think he even got his shoes wet. Shortly thereafter there was an AD issued on the XP for an oil pump replacement.

[@cessna7391]

They both look like textbook examples of carburetor icing. Happened to me one time in a 172 doing the exact same thing along the east side of Tahoe.

[@blancolirio]

too hot.

[@SteamCrane]

Canadair CL-215 tanker crash in Greece.

[@deew7014]

Wow that’s some lucky/blessed people , thank goodness they are all ok

[@richardpedersen9189]

Thank You, Sir!

[@spottydog4477]

Come down fast - flaps down - gear up and get low and level- the ground effect will help then flare just as she stalls and you-ll settle on the water at your mins

[@privatepilot4064]

Thanks JB!

[@seanmcerlean]

Some good news at least. The metal can be replaced but not the people. Thanks Juan. Merch store looks good & best of luck to Callum. He has a great teacher in yourself.

[@LauRoot892]

Hey Sean

[@seanmcerlean]

@@LauRoot892 Hey Laura

[@LauRoot892]

@@seanmcerlean Where ya from ? Howdy 👋 from Texas, what social media you got ?😁😎

[@seanmcerlean]

@@LauRoot892 Guess the country by the flag 🇨🇭?

[@LauRoot892]

@@seanmcerlean Switzerland 🇨🇭 ? lol 😆

[@diegoanaya2417]

I heard that bonanza that plunged into the drink at shelter cove fly over my house. Glad everyone walked away!

[@robgrey6183]

It would be interested to know how they are going to get that plane out of the lake.

[@billygamer3941]

I trained on PA28-140 aircraft. The emergency landing procs (EFTO, precautionary, etc.) included unlatching upper and lower door locks for that rapid escape.

[@LauRoot892]

Gamer

[@kevina8172]

one more good report Jaun, I almost think the gear was coming down then going up? I was taught to open the door before ditching, Problem here in Alaska is most people dont get rescued like these guys did,

[@LauRoot892]

Kevin 👋

[@smokeless7774]

Juan could lecture on paint drying and we'd all be fascinated!!

[@77thTrombone]

Any ditching you can swim away from.... Didn't know USAF knows about wet feet & the Dilbert Dunker. I thought that piece was specific to Pensacola.

[@scottfranco1962]

That's a tough airport for an engine out. Its striking because it is mountains dropping straight into the ocean with a spit of land that the airport sits on. As I recall there are little or no beaches to land on.

[@LauRoot892]

Scott Franco

[@Pilot-Ali]

Depth perception is harder on crystal clear and smooth water, bit of a turbulence in water could help with smooth round-out and flare.

[@BrittaProducts]

Regarding the gear retract / extension issue - there could be a few explanations. This Bonanza is a P model that might have a working “magic hand” landing system. That system extends the gear when the throttle is pulled back, as an emergency backup. If that system was turned on, it would extend the gear again after normal retraction if the throttle was pushed in, for example if the pilot was manipulating the throttle to try to get the engine working again. (Our S35 has the same system and it can produce confusing actions when practicing maneuvers). Just speculating but it is a possibility.

[@Raptorman0909]

Both pilots did a good job flying the plane to ditching, not clear what precipitated the problems, but both seemed to handle the emergency pretty well.

[@gtr1952]

Thank God they all survived! The Bonanza looked like he could have caught a wave and 'surfed' to shore. LOL 8) --gary

[@Michael.Chapman]

Such great advice on techniques when caught in a ditching situation

[@LauRoot892]

Hey Chapman

[@cynvision]

My dad bought into a Cherokee timeshare plane. I found it rather sturdy and not prone to engine quitting. It was such a sturdy thing I do wonder if some people press the limit it has. We had once gotten caught in a thunderstorm updraft and I think that incident had my dad surprised and eager to get lower and out of dicy altitude. After that I discovered it was rated in the 7,000 +/- foot limits. So a nice plane to try out but maybe takes you into having to keep track of stuff you learned in ground school you didn't think you had to when flying lower.

[@LauRoot892]

Hi Cynthia 👋

[@r4raced4doom2]

I spend alot of time in Shelter Cove. Ive wanted to fly my 150 there but its about one of the worst airports to have an engine out in.

[@steveo601]

Dang. My 16 year old just completed his last flight before solo. He’s at about 17 hours total in the DA-20. Def not cheap!! That 💰 will help him!!

[@LauRoot892]

Steve

[@ronmoore5827]

Another great video sir. My T-shirt is in route and hopefully arrives in time for me to wear it at Oshkosh this week.