You’re on a looooong flight in a Cirrus SR22 from California to Hawaii. This is a ferry flight. Extra ferry tanks in the aircraft make this insanely long journey possible. You’ll need lots and lots of fuel.
And then you realize- you can’t get all the fuel you need out of the ferry tanks- and you aren’t going to make it to Hawaii.
Through a flurry of communications, thinking things out, and decision making, you come to the conclusion you have to ditch in what is a view of endless ocean.
The Coast Guard is there to film the whole thing as you slow the aircraft down to CAPS (Cirrus Airframe Parachute System) range, and pull the chute.
Drifting down to the water, door open, ready to exit, the aircraft gives a big SLAM as wings meet water.
Lifejacket ready, raft being inflated, you jump in for a short wait while a cruise ship comes to pick you up.
No, this isn’t fantasy. It really happened.
Congratulations to Cirrus on a fantastic demonstration on how this works in a real-life environment. This system proves to be life-saving when used in the proper way.
Also, congrats to the pilot on his sound decision making. He will live to fly another day.
To learn more about CAPS, go here.
This article was posted in Avgeek, Blog, Flight Safety, Human Factors
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