Water landing

Not to be confused with Landing (water transport) or Splashdown (disambiguation).
"Ditching" redirects here. For the intentional absence from school, see Truancy.

A Twin Otter float plane completing a water landing

In aviation, a water landing is, in the broadest sense, an aircraft landing on a body of water. Seaplanes, such as floatplanes and flying boats, land on water as a normal operation. Ditching[1] is a controlled emergency landing on the water surface in an aircraft not designed for the purpose, a very rare occurrence.[2] Controlled flight into the surface and uncontrolled flight ending in a body of water (including a runway excursion into water) are generally not considered water landings or ditching.[3]

  1. ^ "Ditching light aircraft on Water" (PDF). www.caa.co.uk. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
  2. ^ National Transportation Safety Board (December 1998). "NTSB Aviation Coding Manual". Archived from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
  3. ^ "Jet Airliner Ditching Events". www.airsafe.com. Archived from the original on 29 April 2006. Retrieved 9 July 2021.