Launch Ramps Make for Bad Runways
It was a beautiful sunny afternoon on June 20 in Mukilteo, Washington, a beachfront town north of Seattle which my family calls home. It’s hard to think of a better way to spend a summer weekend than relaxing at one of the many campfires, visiting the historic lighthouse, or launching your boat from the launch ramp for a cruise. But for visitors that day, an unexpected surprise was on its way.
Over the water, at an altitude far too low to be normal, a small four-seat plane is seen gliding towards the beach. As it ducks behind the water-front hotel and restaurants, the next thing heard is a massive splash as a Cessna 177 Cardinal crashes into the water stopping just off the launch ramps. Onlookers gather on the pier, and several jump into the water to help rescue the desperate souls aboard the stricken aircraft. Moments after impact, there are three people treading water outside the plane, making their way to the ramp to be pulled out of the salty water. Less than a minute later, the small plane has been lapped up by the waves and sinks to the seafloor.
So, what happened? Looking at the radar track it’s clear the pilot was lined up for runway 16 Right heading into Seattle-Paine Field, which is about 600 feet up the bluff from Mukilteo Beach. At about 1,500 feet above sea level, the plane ran into trouble, indicated by a sharp increase in descent rate. Clearly, the engine stopped producing the required thrust to keep the aircraft flying. This misfortune can be caused by several things, but in this situation, I believe either a critical failure of the engine’s internals occurred or the pilot ran the aircraft out of fuel. Statistically, the latter is more probable, as pilot error accounts for nearly 70% of plane crashes in the United States. Conversely, the flight the aircraft made, from Paine Field to Friday Harbor and back, is well within the range of a Cessna 177 Cardinal. Until the aircraft is hauled out of the water and inspected by the National Transportation Safety Board, we will not know the true cause.
As a commercially rated pilot, one of our worst fears is approaching the runway and suddenly an emergency forces you to make the daring decision to put your craft down in the water. In an airplane without retractable landing gear, your “legs” are sticking out, creating a strong possibility that as you touch the water the entire plane flips over, potentially rendering you unconscious and upside down, or, at best, disorienting you. However, we train diligently for these types of emergencies, and many water landings are successful. Think of Captain Sully landing his A320 on the Hudson, or several years ago, a video went viral of a pilot experiencing a similar emergency and excellently splashing down off Alki Point near Seattle.
Fortunately, pilots have checklists for this type of operation. First is the initialism ABCDC: Airspeed to best glide, Best place to land, Check engine controls, Declare an emergency, and Checklist. This pilot would have been looking at his “Ditching” checklist. From the Pilot Operating Handbook on a Cessna 177, this indicates that you open the doors before touchdown to allow for a quick escape. Unfortunately, this also leads to quick sinking. He did everything right. The plane did not flip, he wasn’t knocked out, and all his passengers made a quick escape after he selected an excellent landing location where plenty of help was available. He also managed not to hit anything on the shoreline or run into any boats or swimmers.
In a year where plane crashes have seen a lot of media attention, it was still shocking to hear of the downed plane so close to home. I like to remind my passengers that the most dangerous part of the flight was the drive to the airport. While it may feel like air travel is a risky endeavor, it’s statistically the safest form of transportation in the world. With good training and a skilled pilot, even a water landing can be executed with confidence.
That said, I will try to keep my time in the water aboard boats or at least seaplanes that are designed to land in the water. An old pilot’s saying is any landing you can walk away from is a good one, or in this case swim away from.
Additional video from another angle courtesy of the Mukilteo Police Department https://www.facebook.com/share/r/19z2E9wXC5
