Pilot Survives Ditching And Shows It Can Be Done

Most pilots fear ditching an aircraft into the ocean but one aviator recently proved even the worst of situations can be survivable. Bob Justman's RV-8 (file photo of RV-8 below) was cruising at 1,000 feet over the beautiful waters surrounding the Hawaiian islands on Sunday morning, when at 8:52 a.m., he lost engine power as he flew to Lihue from Honolulu. Justman promptly radioed the Honolulu ARTCC and set-up for a ditching approximately 60 miles from Oahu. Fortunately, he was under ATC's watchful eye as he made a last call about 200 feet over the water's surface. More importantly, his previous training helped him get out of a bad situation. Once into the water, Justman immediately went to work getting out of the airpla