I fly mostly over water and have lost 2 engines over water, one at about the same altitude, one at 2,000 feet. Sightseeing, at low altitude, with 4 people on board, it's easy to be nervous and try to start the rear engine. With the benefit of hindsight, it seems to me that if he had feathered the rear prop promptly he would have made it to one of the two nearby airports. In the map shown below I have put boxes around Key Biscayne (near where the rear engine failed), the ditching area, and the two airports.
Ernie
|