Andrew Sarangan wrote:
Speaking of judgement, is there any accident data for SEL airplanes
crossing the Atlantic? Since such accidents will involve foreign
countries or international waters, I am not sure if FAA records is the
place to go looking for it. What are the chances of rescue if someone
successfully lands on an iceberg, or ditches in the ocean?


Not too good. My father used to be stationed with the 57th Air Rescue Squadron
when we lived out in the Azores. He's told me more than one story about
somebody ferrying an airplane across the Atlantic only to disappear. The
squadron would go look but there'd be damned few happy endings.

He did tell me a story about a Bonanza pilot who called a Mayday on the radio...
the fellow was running out of fuel and wasn't sure exactly where he was (this
was back around 1962). Radio contact was established and they asked him if he'd
seen any shipping or anything else recently. As it turned out he'd just passed
a ship maybe 30 minutes before. They told him to turn around and see if he
could find it again. He did, and was able to sucessfully ditch alongside it.
The ship picked him up.

Dad said the next day his C-54 flew over the site and the Bonanza was still
semi-afloat. I guess those tanks were fuller of air than anything else.
Anyway, that was one lucky SOB.



--
Mortimer Schnerd, RN
mschnerdatcarolina.rr.com