Light Aircraft Ditched in the Solent

[Spydaman]

Near Cowes about 15:00. Two rescued and thought to be ok. Parachutes deployed. Hope it's not the Spitfire from Goodwood.

[The Brummie]

It was a Cirrus. Photo of it upside down a few feet off the beach.

Both occupants escaped unhurt.

[Simpo Two]

Parachutes in a ditching?

[Dr Jekyll]

Aircraft parachute rather than occupant.

[Supercilious Sid]

I saw it go down. It was at Calshot rather than Cowes. There was one gert big parachute which slowed it's descent but nonetheless it still hit quite hard flipped over and submerged very fast. One gin palace sailed by but didn't stop to pick up anyone. Luckily a speedboat spotted it and dashed over to pick up the people in the water. Considering it was next to a lifeboat station the RNLI took a relatively long time to get to the plane.

[ecsrobin]

Supercilious Sid said:

Considering it was next to a lifeboat station the RNLI took a relatively long time to get to the plane.

The guys have to get the station which I think has to be in 10minutes, kit up and then launch so even if it’s in front of a station there will always be a daily. Same with the rescue helicopter at Lee on solent even though the incident was in eyeshot they have 15 minutes to get airborne during the day.

[Supercilious Sid]

Ah ok cheers. It wasn't intended as a dig but more of an observation. When you are sat watching it unfold you tend to be very conscious of the amount of time it takes for help to arrive.

[tr7v8]

Pretty sure the Cirrus has a BRS, Ballistic Recovery System, a parachute for aircraft & occupants. So that will be the parachute.

[Dr Jekyll]

A (not so far as I know, the) Cirrus with a chute.

[Simpo Two]

Dr Jekyll said:

Aircraft parachute rather than occupant.

Hardly going to be a Spitfire then..!

Supercilious Sid said:

One gin palace sailed by but didn't stop to pick up anyone.

That should be a breach of maritime law. Shocking.

[Supercilious Sid]

Dr Jekyll said:

A (not so far as I know, the) Cirrus with a chute.

Well it clearly works and makes you wonder why it has taken so long for them to be on light aircraft. The occupants were very lucky.

[anonymous-user]

https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/18486968.aircraft...

We were over at Buckler’s Hard but think we left around 2:30pm so didn’t hear/see anything (we may not have done from there anyway).

[Supercilious Sid]

[MarkwG]

Supercilious Sid said:

Dr Jekyll said:

A (not so far as I know, the) Cirrus with a chute.

Well it clearly works and makes you wonder why it has taken so long for them to be on light aircraft. The occupants were very lucky.

As far as I know, part of it is the cost, the Cirrus was designed with ballistic recover in mind, I think, whereas a retrofit would be prohibitively expensive. It's also pretty much terminal for the aircraft, once it's triggered, due to the way it deploys & the structural loads on the fuselage - it's fairly common for light aircraft to have "challenging moments", & be repairable afterwards. There's also the risk of untended deployment, I guess, & I believe there have also been examples of the pilot flying into situations they shouldn't have, & using the parachute to break a perfectly serviceable aircraft.

[yellowjack]

EFH189 said:

https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/18486968.aircraft...

We were over at Buckler’s Hard but think we left around 2:30pm so didn’t hear/see anything (we may not have done from there anyway).

I was at Exbury all day on the other side of the river. Saw a couple of light aeroplanes during the day but missed all of this hoo-ha. Took a meander back via Hythe too, and was sat at a junction faced with a choice - right to Calshot, or straight up to Hythe. I dismissed Calshot as "probably too busy, and that narrow road to get there, so headed directly to Hythe.

There were quite a few more cars than I'd normally expect heading to Calshot at 6pm, so I'm guessing that would be gawpers driving like dicks to get a glimpse of some blokes with wet trousers dragging a 'plane onto the beach then?

[Supercilious Sid]

yellowjack said:

I was at Exbury all day on the other side of the river. Saw a couple of light aeroplanes during the day but missed all of this hoo-ha. Took a meander back via Hythe too, and was sat at a junction faced with a choice - right to Calshot, or straight up to Hythe. I dismissed Calshot as "probably too busy, and that narrow road to get there, so headed directly to Hythe.

There were quite a few more cars than I'd normally expect heading to Calshot at 6pm, so I'm guessing that would be gawpers driving like dicks to get a glimpse of some blokes with wet trousers dragging a 'plane onto the beach then?

Ah the Heath roundabout?