I was an HC-130 rescue pilot with the NY Air National Guard, and we did A LOT of rescues in the north Atlantic, the best piece of rescue equipment you named was the signal mirror! You would be surprised how far away we can see that reflection from! Second best piece of equipment would be the EPIRB. We can hone in on that with a lot of accuracy with the equipment on an HC-130. It is REALLY hard to visually see anyone in the water from 1000 feet up, even flying right over head, so I would recommend the smoke flares once we are overhead, and depending on the sea state, a dye marker would also be very useful for spotting you!

Ditched 2 months ago in the pacific. Managed to get out an accurate position report. Doors all open . Fixed undercarriage but didnt flip. Plane sunk in less than a minute. Survived the impact and all 4 passengers out. Deployed liferaft and epirb and 6 hours later was rescued. Even tho it was 3 meter swells it was warm pacific so all survived.

This is an aspect of aviation that I know nothing about, really interesting. I really enjoy all the details you throw in. Thanks for sharing.

You are so right! I was litterally blown away about 5-6 years ago when a WWII P-47 Thunderbolt performing some flyby's over NY Harbor and lost his engine. Guy did a splendid job ditching it but got caught up in his harnes or some other object in the cockpit and drowned going down in the plane. You would think a single cockpit with a sliding canopy would be the BEST possible situation, just undo your seat belt and stand up and out of the cockpit being it is upright and he was upright. The HUGE engine and prop pulled the nose down very quick. What an ironic ending, beautiful, sunshiney day, harbor was smooth, if any ditching was survivable, this should have been it, but ironically, it was his time to go! RIP! Great report and valuable insight, THX!

Awesome video! Preparation is everything.

Fantastic Kerry. Your knowledge is is bountiful, thank you for sharing!

Super interesting video!! You will probably save someone’s (or several people) life with this information and your input. Keep ‘em coming!

Thank you Kerry. Excelent Vlog! I modified/shortened a fishing vest, equipt it and wear it on every flight. Onerlend or overwater, with variations of safety gear accordingly. I see ill not fly without it. Build good habits.

You’ll need a marine capable VHF to call a ships, but it would be really useful to have it if ditching. All ships monitor channel 16 at 156.8 MHz (FM) so your radio needs to be able to cover this. Maybe an extra handheld in the luxury ditch bag, they are just a few hundred bucks. Marine VHf coverage is basically what you can see with your eyes, but as it is not possible to call a ship via satellite phone (unless you know their number and it is connected) this is a vital device at open sea.

You're extremely thorough in your explanations, and I appreciate that.

Very informative video! Thanks for sharing your thoughts and ideas!

You said land perpendicular to the swells. Don’t you mean parallel? In 1975 I ferried brand new single engine Cessnas-just domestically. The company was one of the biggest:Floair. The twin Cessnas were ferried all over the world. Those pilots were the most seasoned, and had many stories. I applaud you for doing what you do. I get nervous flying my bonanza from Ft. Lauderdale to Bimini-just 60 miles🤪. My first time crossing the North Atlantic, was in a twin. At first I was nervous. However, my twin was a Boeing 767-300😜. 650 crossings, and I never ditched🙏🏻

Thank You, that's some vital information for a guy like me, who lives inland and has no porspect to either sailing on nor flyinfg over the atlantic.

Good calls Captain. I flew survey offshore in a Cardinal RG and we had everything packed and ready just like you advise. FYI, if the windshield does not break like the 182 lady, you are waiting for the cabin to fill with water, pressure equalize, and then you can get out. No survival suit needed for Texas and Louisiana area.

This is excellent, thank you Kerry!!!!!

Absolutely fantastic and highly educational video. Thanks for taking the time to post. Especially like the idea of the "flask"!

Kerry, I read your two books and really enjoyed them. As well, thanks for this excellent video. Another thing that I would add is dye marker. Its a packet of colored powder about the size of your fist that you can throw into the water and it colors the sea water a bright orange or whatever bright color other than the ocean water and can easily be seen from above. Airliners crossing water carry it in their life rafts.

Something else you could add to the survival bag is a credit card. Seems a bit of a weird one but if you end up in a foreign country, it will be hard to get hold of money so a credit card can be really handy (ideally visa/mastercard if you're flying around non-US territories cos most places don't accept AmEx) because while you can get a replacement passport sent to you, most banks won't send a card to anywhere but your registered address plus that can take time to arrive. Shipping uses a higher frequency than aviation. The distress channel (ch16) is 156.80MHz so if your radio will reach that, you will be able to use that channel though it is unlikely to have more than 100miles range and I would think that your aircraft radio may be restricted to 118-137MHz and shipping is 156-174MHz. The personal EPIRB and assuming that radio is submersively waterproof, would be handy as a herc can manage the comms to shipping. Not used a sat phone in a while but my recollection is that the aerials can be a bit fickle. That might not be so bad now theres many more satellites up there. Can the flares, water and other essentials be packed in with the liferaft so there's only 1 item to get and you can put some luxuries in with your drysuit bag? I belive liferafts typically have things like water stills and other emergency suypplies packed inside them. Something else that can be really handy for the raft is a scoup (for water rather than in case you fancy an ice cream) and a sponge. Often bigger race yachts will carry 2 liferafts so they are easier to deploy than 1 larger heavier one. On the sydney-hobart race in 1998, one of these yachts sank and the crew had to get into the liferafts. The one where they kept it all as dry as possible inside, everyone survived but the one where they didn't and just lay there waiting, had fatalities and the survivors were all in much worse shape. Seems an odd thing again, especially with a good survival suit, but keeping the liferaft dry can have a big impact on survival

Excellent video on this topic.

I wear my flight helmet when doing over water flights. You can’t exit the plane if you’re out cold. Agree with all and I’m surprised how many pilots launch without planning for the worst. I’ve crossed the Tasman Ocean seven times and was ferrying a C400 TTX to New Zealand when I had an engine oil over temp situation. Shit gets real really fast…

Test all potential 'survival equipment' prior to Needing to use it in a survival condition. Goto a lake inflate the raft, get all your stuff into it then see how hard it is to use. In a real emergency you don't want to be trying to read instructions. Ditto for anything you are carrying for a land-based ditching as well. Take it all on an overnight camp and you'll quickly see what has value and what doesn't.

Great video. I did an underwater egress course a number of years ago and highly recommend it. It was challenging even in a nice indoor swimming pool. Doing it for real in the ocean would be a completely different matter.

Thanks for this very informative video! One thing about life raft: I thought same as you: The bigger the better! But during a sea survival training from AOPA here in Germany we were told that the life raft shouldn’t be too big, because it can become unstable and flip (in strong wind, e.g.). Buoyancy is too big when there’s only one person in a 6 man (or even bigger) raft. Very important point, tying the raft to something, not just throw it!! They told us to tie the raft to the aircraft, not to you or another person. That’s different from what you say. The line that you use to tie and trigger the raft is supposed to break off before the plane or boat sinks, so it does not sink the raft as well.

Great video, definitely makes you rethink what survival gear you have onboard the aircraft. Very well could save your life one day.

Well, I am certainly happy to see that Kerry is still around, I remember watching him on I believe the Discovery channel like 10 years ago or so. I can't remember but I think it was about ferry flights. Certainly a dangerous profession.

Thank you for the informative video. Only ex RC pilot and aviation geek using once and a while useful info to save people. Most important in emergencies: keep your head cool and only run when you have to

Love these videos. More please!

Really excellent video. Loved those video clips you inserted.

Wow! Legend have personal channel, immediately subscribed.

Very good video on this topic - thank you. Wished I saw this five years ago. Meanwhile I crossed the pond three times in my RV-8 which is sure not ideal for ditching, would prefer a Mooney or Cirrus for it. I came up basically with the same equipment plus a satellite tracker and same thought on the live raft. What I did additionally is make the plane buoyant with foam in the wings so it would not sink and so stayes with me enabling me to retrieve my emergency equipment without time pressure. I also had a breathing tube attached to the mouthpiece of a snorkel for some breathing when the airplane flips (what I would expect with great probability). Helmet just in case I bang the head on the frame knocking me out - also for insulation against the cold. Don´t ask me why I did this in the first place! But it was very rewarding!

Most people have no idea how hard it is to get into a raft in open water, great video!

Happy to find your site. Loved your book "Ferry Pilot"

You can buy an ALSE vest pretty cheap online. Also, may be too involved, you could mail the flares back to the US.. Great info I hope I never have to use 😉

Very good advice for anyone flying across water in a GA - nice one kerry

I’m really enjoying your videos. Keep them coming! I also wanted to pass on a request/recommendation to get your books on Audible. I know I’ll be getting them as soon as they do. Thanks!

I would include the flares and leave them with the airplane after delivery. The small cost could be included with the delivery fees. I believe the USCG publishes an AMVER report. Automated Merchant Vessel Emergency Response or something similar where vessels report their position for just such emergencies.

A Closed Cell Foam Sleeping Pad, (the accordian folding versions are the smallest) float and will insulate you if you are sitting on it in the Raft.

True about the ditchbag. What you don't have on you is unlikely to go with you. My plane sank in less than a minute. Had a lifevest on with a Lazer torch and waterproof torch in the pockets. Managed to save a bag that fortunately had tomatoes in it. That was our watersupply.

I would suggest instead of a knife, a keyhole/punch/drywall saw as a general in the plane item. Its like a dagger, but one long side is a crosscut saw. A knife wont help you deal with anything wood, and the saw will do nasty things to anything made of meat. i havent tried it on cordage so you would want to test that.

Kerry I gotta say I love your channel.. I used to watch the show you were on. I found your channel yesterday after watching videos on TNFLYGIRL and glad to find your channel. You got some good advice and stories.

sea marker dye, if you didn't mention it. Pop one before raft entry, in the event you don't make it inside. (God forbid) Try to time the flight for maximum daylight search, in the event of ditching. A wick free solar still, may be on the market soon, which would be a great raft upgrade. However the epirb will likely make it so you don't need it.

The pc12 is arguably one of the safest planes in the world

Thank you for sharing

Green laser can be seen 20 miles away. It is very easy to point, they are small. Very effective- even in daylight.

Kerry, I enjoyed your book, ferry pilots and single handed sailors have always fascinated me. Have you read Smokey Yunicks bio? What a life that guy lived , great stories about ferrying B17’s over the Himalayas to Formosa . Just a bit of constructive criticism (as a recording engineer) get that mic oriented better with the front capsule closer to you and aimed directly at your mouth, the way its set up the cardiod pattern is getting all room reflection. A Heil mic with off axis rejection would suit your needs better(co designed by Joe Walsh of the Eagles) or even a shure sm58 which rejects room noise better (doesn’t look as cool, works better) Anyway thanks for the content, love the vicarious high adventure!

What about a gun for when the ocean wildlife come exploring? Especially if you see a fin out of the water

Dam single engine crossing you do is impressive

hi Kerry. I stumbled over your channel. Remember seeing you in a tv show doing ferry flying. It’s interesting to hear your thoughts on which raft you use. I get it big raft is a good idea to have big raft. But isn’t very heavy? I love sailing and do offshore racing. And on some races we have to carry a raft and I’m kidding you not they are heavy. So when you chose a raft A size B heavy C if you kick open the raft don’t do it in the aircraft :-). And I think idea to tigh the raft to your body is interesting, you know that raft can sink 50 feet before it will open and blow up. Keep up the good work. The show stoped showing in Sweden remember your doter flying with you did she get into the ferry flying business?

Wow, I hope the pay is good. Good briefing.

I was involved in a ditching scenario the other day. Pilot reported the door of the Cessna 207 was impossible to open due water pressure. He (like the others) exited out the rear "cargo" doors.

Garmin inreach & greatland laser for ground to air signal what about a strobe

Interesting video. Does it make sense to fly along shipping routes? Also, sounds like a very good idea to be not only on 121.5 but on 156.8.

Hope I never have to ditch!

Have you tried to get into the raft with your survival kit inside your survival suit? It maybe worth trying.

I think there is a yaesu handheld you can jail break so it receives and transmits on marine and aviation bands

I’m not a pilot but I was wondering if it’s possible to put the plane on autopilot and parachute out of the plane maybe tied to a large life raft

turn the fishing vest inside out?

@KerryDMcCauley … Not a pilot, but worked on the water for 10 years and went through U. S. C. G. Survival training more than once. You have to give it a good think before you don your suit inside. The buoyancy of the suit will kill you if the only egress is below you in the water. Maybe get your feet, legs and butt in it and save the rest for later. You should be training donning the suit in the water in case it comes to that. Second, I would be bringing a helmet on every crossing to wear for the water landing only. If you get knocked out it’s over. Stay safe!

4:15 laugh till almost choke 4:22 😂

That AT2020 mic is facing away from you! It's a cardioid pattern. It will have "Back" printed on the side you need to face away from you.

Well done! I’d be inclined to also wear a manually inflatable PFD in the event of separation from the raft…out of respect for Mr. Murphy. Contents of the luxury bag besides more food and water???

Don’t know if that’s an iPhone you have or not, Kerry, but is the new satellite SOS functionality in the iPhone something you’ve investigated using instead of having an actual satellite phone now?

Ok, I am ready to begin as a Ferry Pilot. Where do I start?

What about Flex Seal? 🥳

If it ain't waterproof....it dies.

Why not a garmin in reach ?

I thought you wear your survival suit while in flight? I would think it’s easier than after crash trying to get dressed.🧐

First. 0:31

Why on earth are you guys forced to fly single engine planes on such treacherous routes ? Is life that cheap in those parts ?