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Has any plane survived a water landing?

4 November 1993: China Airlines Flight 605, a Boeing 747-409, ended up in water after it overran runway 13 at Kai Tak International Airport on landing during a typhoon with wind gusting to gale force. All of the 396 occupants donned life-vests, boarded the eight slide/rafts and no fatalities resulted.



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Very good, IF you are prepared. A ditching is an intentional water touchdown under control, not an uncontrolled crash. Of the 179 ditchings reviewed, only 22, or 12 percent, resulted in fatalities. The overall general aviation ditching survival rate is 88 percent.

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Has a plane ever ditched in the ocean? 23 November 1996: Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961 (a Boeing 767-260ER), ditched in the Indian Ocean near Comoros after being hijacked and running out of fuel, killing 125 of the 175 passengers and crew on board.

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On January 15th, 2009, US Airways Flight 1549 crash-landed on the Hudson River after hitting a flock of birds during takeoff. The skilled response of Captain Chesley Sullenberger and First Officer Jeffrey Skiles resulted in all 150 passengers and five crew members surviving the crash.

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“A water landing in an aircraft that is in 'out of control flight' (OCF) would most likely be unsurvivable.” So whilst some flights may be able to survive on water, it is all dependant on the problem with the flight and how far out in the water the passengers are from help.

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4 November 1993: China Airlines Flight 605, a Boeing 747-409, ended up in water after it overran runway 13 at Kai Tak International Airport on landing during a typhoon with wind gusting to gale force. All of the 396 occupants donned life-vests, boarded the eight slide/rafts and no fatalities resulted.

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Because of its vast size, crossing the Pacific Ocean requires a staggering quantity of fuel. However, most commercial aircraft do not fly directly over the Pacific Ocean; instead, they choose what are known as 'curved paths'. These paths offers a faster, more efficient route given the curved nature of the earth.

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Most flights are intended to spend as little time as possible over water, since storms are more common over the ocean than on land. An aircraft would not be safe to fly over the Pacific Ocean due to the stormy weather and frequent lightning strikes that occur there.

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Get at least 500 feet (152.4 m) upwind from the wreckage.
If the crash is in open-water, swim as far away from the plane wreckage as possible.

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Yes, in theory, an 400,000 kg airplane like a 747 could be fitted with floats capable of displacing the 400 cubic meters of water required to keep it afloat, albeit with a decrease in performance.

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The longest over water route in the world is the stretch between the U.S. mainland and Hawaii. Even between Hawaii and Tokyo there are alternate airports available, such as Midway Island (hence the name “Midway”). Going across the North Atlantic, alternates include Iceland and Greenland.

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The longest over water route in the world is the stretch between the U.S. mainland and Hawaii. Even between Hawaii and Tokyo there are alternate airports available, such as Midway Island (hence the name “Midway”). Going across the North Atlantic, alternates include Iceland and Greenland.

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In the US, there is an average of 1,662 plane crashes per year. Globally, there are 6,392 plane crashes per year, on average.

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The primary reason airplanes don't fly over the Pacific Ocean is because curved routes are shorter than straight routes. Flat maps are somewhat confusing because the Earth itself isn't flat. Rather, it's spherical. As a result, straight routes don't offer the shortest distance between two locations.

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Thanks to the low visibility and undeveloped infrastructure, flying over Antarctica is extremely difficult. Specifically, because of the strong magnetic fields that surround the polar regions, navigating there, no matter how well-equipped the airplane is in terms of instrumentation, can be particularly challenging.

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Pilots are trained to bring planes in for a smooth landing on water the same way that they would on land, keeping landing gear stowed to make the plane more boat-like.

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Crashes that destroy the airframe are the most obvious answer, but minor, low-speed incidents on the ground can also bring a plane's career to an end. This was the case for a Saudia Boeing 747-300, which taxied into a ditch in Kuala Lumpur in 2001.

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