Airplane Water Landing and Ditching Statistics: Rates of Survival

Armavia Flight 967, Alaska Airlines Flight 261, EgyptAir Flight 990, SilkAir Flight 185 (which disintegrated in midair) and Swissair Flight 111 left no survivors when they crashed, while just 8 of 73 on board American Airlines Flight 320 and 10 of 179 on board Kenya Airways Flight 431 survived their crashes.

Of the 179 ditchings we reviewed, only 22, or 12 percent, resulted in fatalities. Although survival rates vary by time of year and water-body type, the overall general aviation ditching survival rate is 88 percent. Yet, even that record is somewhat misleading; the potential ditching survival rate is actually a bit better.

The Aviation Consumer Action Project, a Ralph Nader group, says that in an attempted water landing, a wide body jet would “shatter like a raw egg dropped on pavement, killing most if not all passengers on impact, even in calm seas with well-trained pilots and good landing trajectories." Possibly because ditchings are both virtually nonexistent and virtually nonsurvivable, the Federal Aviation Administration does not require commercial pilots to train for them. Instead, it has various rules about how close planes must be to an airfield on land.

• On 15 Jan 2009, US Airways Flight 1549, an Airbus A320, ditched into the Hudson River in New York City, after reports of multiple bird strikes. All of the 155 passengers and crew aboard escaped and were rescued by passenger ferries. Survival rate was 100%.

• On 6 Aug 2005, Tuninter 1153 (an ATR 72) ditched off the Sicilian coast after running out of fuel. Of 39 aboard, 20 survived with injuries including serious burns. The plane's wreck was found in three pieces. survival rate was 59%.

• In 2002, Garuda Indonesia Flight 421 (a Boeing 737) successfully ditched into the Bengawan Solo River near Yogyakarta, Java Island after experiencing a twin engine flameout during heavy precipitation and hail. The pilots tried to restart the engines several times before taking the decision to ditch the aircraft. Of the 60 occupants, one, a flight attendant, was killed. Survival rate was 98%.[7] Photographs taken shortly after evacuation show that the plane came to rest in knee-deep water.[8]

• In 1996, Ethiopian 961 (a 767-200ER) ditched in shallow water 500 meters from land after being hijacked and running out of fuel. Unable to operate flaps, it impacted at high speed, dragging its left wingtip before tumbling and breaking into three pieces. The panicking hijackers were fighting the pilots for the control of the plane at the time of the impact, which caused the plane to roll just before hitting the water, and the subsequent wingtip hitting the water and breakup are a result of this struggle in the cockpit. Of 175 on board, 52 survived. Some passengers were killed on impact or trapped in the cabin when they inflated their life vests before exiting. Most of the survivors were found hanging onto a section of the fuselage that remained floating. Survival rate was 26%.

• In May 2, 1970, ALM Flight 980 (a DC-9-33CF) ditched in mile-deep water after running out of fuel during multiple attempts to land at Princess Juliana International Airport in the island of Saint Maarten in the Netherlands Antilles under low-visibility weather. Of 63 occupants, 40 survivors were recovered by U.S. military helicopters.[9] Survival rate was 63%

• In 1963, an Aeroflot Tupolev 124 ditched into the River Neva after running out of fuel. The aircraft floated and was towed to shore by a tugboat which it had nearly hit as it came down on the water. The tug rushed to the floating aircraft and pulled it with its passengers near to the shore where the passengers disembarked onto the tug; all 52 on board escaped without injuries.[10] Survival rate was 100%

• In 1956, Pan Am Flight 943 (a Boeing 377) ditched into the Pacific after losing two of its four engines. The aircraft was able to circle around USCGC Pontchartrain until daybreak, when it ditched; all 31 on board survived.[11][12]Survival rate was 100%

• Also in 1956, Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 2 ditched into Puget Sound after the flight engineer forgot to close the cowl gills on the Boeing Stratocruiser's engines. All aboard escaped the aircraft after a textbook landing, but four passengers and one flight attendant succumbed either to drowning or to hypothermia before being rescued. Survival rate was 87%

• Jun 19, 1954 - Swissair Convair 240

• de Havilland Australia DHA-3 Drover - Apr 16, 1952

• Miami Air Lease Convair CV-340, December 4, 2004, Mall lake, Florida, 2 occupants, 2 survivors, 100% survival rate

• Antillian Airlines Flight 980, 02 May 1970, The flight was scheduled to fly from New York to St. Maarten. Because poor visibility, the aircraft could not land at St. Maarten and was diverted to San Juan, Puerto Rico. Five minutes later the crew was told the weather had improved at St. Maarten and were directed back. After 3 missed landing attempts at St. Maarten, the crew asked to be diverted to St. Thomas. By this time the plane was low on fuel. While flying to St. Thomas, the aircraft ran out of fuel and ditched into the ocean. Improper management of fuel by the crew. Inadequate warning given to passengers before the ditching with 23 of 63 passengers survived.