My cold water splash: an airline pilot learns a painful lesson
My first (and I hope last) aircraft incident in 45 years of piloting took place a few years ago on the first really nice spring day, with clear skies and glistening water beckoning for the first seaplane flight of the season. I was a very new seaplane pilot at the time, though my IACRA paperwork showed 29,000 hours total time when I applied for the rating.
Kevin Malone has been passionate about flying from the age of 10 or so, and has flown professionally since earning his commercial certificate at age 18. He is recently retired from a 37-year airline career with a US major carrier, has always kept a hand in GA flying, and looks forward to doing more fun flying in the years ahead.