FAA: Pilot of Piper Malibu says Passenger Fell into Ocean; Search Ongoing - Polidicks

[QUOTE]MIAMI (AP) — A pilot has reported to the Federal Aviation Administration that a passenger fell out of his small plane into the ocean southeast of Miami. FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen says the call came at 1:30 p.m. Thursday from the pilot of a Piper PA 46 aircraft.[/QUOTE] [url=http://bigstory.ap.org/article/faa-fla-pilot-says-passenger-fell-ocean]Source[/url] [t]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/20/Piper_PA-46_Malibu.jpg[/t] That is a very difficult plane to fall out of. The hatch has to open up and out.

Surely that passenger would have been killed? Falling from the sort of height planes typically fly at would make the water act like concrete when you hit it.

[QUOTE=SweetSwifter;42863930]Surely that passenger would have been killed? Falling from the sort of height planes typically fly at would make the water act like concrete when you hit it.[/QUOTE] Almost certainly - the service ceiling of the PA-46 Malibu is 25,000ft. I would imagine this aircraft was doing some general aviation sightseeing along the coast at 4,000-5,000ft but I'd edge my bets they would have hit the water pretty hard even at that height.. Very irresponsible to open doors and hatches in flight.

Even if the passenger survived the initial impact, he would be badly injured and probably would die before he can be found.

that's really strange. you've really got to try to fall out of those things

well if you REALLY need to pee then you just REALLY need to pee

How the hell do you just fall out unless there was serious structural damage on the aircraft (although then this news article would probably cover that). Sounds like suicide to me.

[QUOTE=runtime;42864026]Almost certainly - the service ceiling of the PA-46 Malibu is 25,000ft. I would imagine this aircraft was doing some general aviation sightseeing along the coast at 4,000-5,000ft but I'd edge my bets they would have hit the water pretty hard even at that height.. Very irresponsible to open doors and hatches in flight.[/QUOTE] It only takes about fifty feet or so for a fall to become fatal, and that's not even including the terminal velocity of the person in question. People have survived falling out of airplanes before, but it's extremely rare, and there's often some sort of sort object (snow, glass, etc.) that cushioned their fall. At several thousand feet, the person who fell out would probably be mush.

I hate when this happens.

Foul-play anyone?

Piper Malibu sounds like a Jaeger name.

Wait, the plane's moving forward as this person fell, meaning they left the plane [i]also[/i] moving forward. That would mean they've most likely skipped quite a few times off the surface of the water, further reducing their chances of survival.

[QUOTE=JumpinJackFlash;42864744]Wait, the plane's moving forward as this person fell, meaning they left the plane [i]also[/i] moving forward. That would mean they've most likely skipped quite a few times off the surface of the water, further reducing their chances of survival.[/QUOTE] Skipping Stones, now with more fleshy provisions and vertical drops.

Don't some people skydive without parachutes by diving (properly) into the ocean? I think if you go in just the right way it isn't like concrete, right?

[QUOTE=Cheshire_cat;42864560]It only takes about fifty feet or so for a fall to become fatal, and that's not even including the terminal velocity of the person in question. People have survived falling out of airplanes before, but it's extremely rare, and there's often some sort of sort object (snow, glass, etc.) that cushioned their fall. At several thousand feet, the person who fell out would probably be mush.[/QUOTE] Well, we always fly with fully certified parachutes - even on flights that don't exceed 1000ft - and I was told when learning to fly that the chance of surviving if we had to abandon the aircraft even with that parachute are very very minute.. So I daresay you are right.

It's not uncommon for small aircraft to fly doors-open, [url=http://www.airmart.com/sites/default/files/styles/slideshow-full/public/Side%20with%20door%20and%20hatch%20N463ST.jpg]even with doors set up like the Malibu[/url], especially for photographers or videographers. Usually it's a fairly safe practice, but a sudden bout of turbulence can knock you out of the open door if you aren't expecting it.

[QUOTE=Cheshire_cat;42864560]It only takes about fifty feet or so for a fall to become fatal, and that's not even including the terminal velocity of the person in question. People have survived falling out of airplanes before, but it's extremely rare, and there's often some sort of sort object (snow, glass, etc.) that cushioned their fall. At several thousand feet, the person who fell out would probably be mush.[/QUOTE] Falling into water from 50 feet isn't necessarily fatal. Although it could be fatal depending on how said person hits the water, if you land feet-first there's a good chance of survival, even from far greater heights. A girl who graduated from my college in 2007 was working on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig when it caught fire, she and a coworker were left behind on the rig when the crew escaped in the lifeboats. She had about 30 seconds to decide to jump 120 feet down to the water, or be burned alive. They both jumped and lived to tell the story. I would imagine if this plane was flying very low, there's a slim chance of survival. I mean, maybe your legs/arms would be fucked to shit, but hey, survival is survival.

Someone should go on the liveatc.net and find the archive of him telling tower (ATC) that a passenger fell out. Would be really eerie to hear...

[QUOTE=Widgeon;42865939]Someone should go on the liveatc.net and find the archive of him telling tower (ATC) that a passenger fell out. Would be really eerie to hear...[/QUOTE] Miami Approach doesn't have any archive for 1730-1800 Zulu, so I think we're SOL until the NTSB releases something. [editline]14th November 2013[/editline] Wait, found something. Hang on, checking if it's legit. [editline]14th November 2013[/editline] You had to use your LiveATC account to hear it, so I mirrored it [url]https://www.dropbox.com/s/evhf95dj09xc88w/paxout.mp3[/url] Sounds like the Pax opened the door himself.

[QUOTE=JumpinJackFlash;42864744]Wait, the plane's moving forward as this person fell, meaning they left the plane [i]also[/i] moving forward. That would mean they've most likely skipped quite a few times off the surface of the water, further reducing their chances of survival.[/QUOTE] He was flying way too high for that to happen, the air drag would have killed the horizontal speed generated by the plane.

[QUOTE=Dacheet;42866857]Miami Approach doesn't have any archive for 1730-1800 Zulu, so I think we're SOL until the NTSB releases something. [editline]14th November 2013[/editline] Wait, found something. Hang on, checking if it's legit. [editline]14th November 2013[/editline] You had to use your LiveATC account to hear it, so I mirrored it [url]https://www.dropbox.com/s/evhf95dj09xc88w/paxout.mp3[/url] Sounds like the Pax opened the door himself.[/QUOTE] He seems pretty calm.

Good thing Horatio will be on the case, should be solved in no time.

[QUOTE=Bradyns;42867214]He seems pretty calm.[/QUOTE] Pilots are always calm.

[QUOTE=Cmx;42868109]Pilots are always calm.[/QUOTE] Calm? Not always. Good at hiding fear to sound cool on the radio? You bet your ass.

[QUOTE=Dacheet;42868228]Calm? Not always. Good at not panicking to keep the aircraft (or situation) in control? You bet your ass.[/QUOTE] Fixed that for you.

This is some CSI Miami level shit right here.

[QUOTE=DrDevil;42864053]Even if the passenger survived the initial impact, he would be badly injured and probably would die before he can be found.[/QUOTE] There is no surviving the impact. Even at 80 feet, it can be lethal if your entry is shit. If your entry is perfect and you're in hella good shape then you can maybe do 200ft, but not if you're also travelling at 140+ miles per hour horizontally It's possible the pilot murdered the passenger, or it was a suicide. But an accident, I doubt it