Pilot Recounts Ditching Off Mexico

A wet-behind-the-ears commercial pilot on his first paying job emerged, along with his passenger, relatively unscathed from a dunking in the Sea of Cortez off Baja California on Friday. Mike MacDonald said his training kicked in to ensure the happy outcome for him and his passenger. MacDonald, 47, of Burnaby, British Columbia, was about three hours into a flight with a marine biologist spotting and recording marine wildlife off La Paz, Mexico, when the engine quit on the Cessna 182 he was flying. They were about 1,500 feet above the open ocean seven miles offshore. After several unsuccessful restart attempts, he switched to prepping for ditching at about 800 feet ASL and got himself and his passenger as ready as possible for the water landing.

He and the young female biologist he was flying, whom he did not identify, got out of the sinking airplane safely and spent several hours bobbing in the water in their inflated life vests before they spotted, and were able to make handheld radio contact with, a rescue vessel to direct them to their location. Both were checked out and released from a local hospital a few hours later. MacDonald was about six weeks into his first professional gig when the dunking occurred. It wasn't his first engine failure, however. He successfully deadsticked into Pitt Meadows Airport, near Vancouver, a few months ago after a catastrophic engine failure. He got his commercial ticket shortly afterward and is planning to get his multi-engine and IFR ratings.

After a couple days of reflection, MacDonald said the most recent incident was overall a positive experience. "I wouldn't wish it on anybody, including myself, but now that I've been through it, I'm glad to have experienced it, because it tells me that I can do what is right when needed." he said. MacDonald's cellphone also survived and he has a video and photo record of the day. He put together this account of the experience in a social media post.