The pilot of a Cessna Skylane was crossing one end of Lake Erie at night. Unable to glide to land following fuel exhaustion, he handed each passenger a sealed life jacket. But none aboard knew what to do with it, and all but one drowned after an otherwise successful ditching. It made me wonder how many took his advice and purchased survival kits. Pitifully few, I fear.
Safety is a tough sell.
During the survey of 37 pilots, we also discovered that only two were carrying a supply of water even though seven were heading for destinations in or across part of the Mojave Desert. Dehydration is one of the most agonizingly painful forms of death, but it is one of the easiest to avoid, and the equipment required is the least expensive. In an age when it is fashionable for people to tote a bottle of designer water wherever they go, it boggles the mind that a pilot would embark on a flight across the desert with his family and friends and not load up with a generous supply of water. Not at all. People have died of thirst in all parts of the country.