Ditching

Ditching is a controlled emergency landing on water when it is no longer possible or practical to continue flight to an airport. While extremely rare in modern commercial aviation, ditching procedures and equipment are required for all aircraft that operate over water beyond a certain distance from shore.

Aircraft certified for extended overwater operations must carry life rafts, life vests, emergency locator transmitters (ELTs), and survival equipment. Flight attendant briefings on overwater flights include specific ditching instructions including brace positions and evacuation procedures.

The most famous successful ditching in recent history is US Airways Flight 1549 on January 15, 2009, when Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger and First Officer Jeffrey Skiles safely ditched an Airbus A320 in the Hudson River after both engines were destroyed by a bird strike. All 155 people on board survived.