All helicopters are capable of landing in the water. It’s just that most can only do it once!
That said, there are a few helicopters that can water land and take off again … with the help
of yellow duct tape. Ok, it's not exactly duct tape, but a super sticky sealing tape
that prevents water from getting inside the helicopter and destroying the electronics.
The CH-124 Sea King has a boat hull design, allowing it to float on water for a limited
period of time, which not only is a useful capability during emergency landings,
rescue missions and Special Forces operations, but also to earn some cool
points to be redeemed with this princess later!] That’s because the pilot was none other than
Prince William, who performed a “waterbird” landing on a lake in Prince Edward Island,
Canada, while simulating an engine failure on the CH-124 Sea King helicopter. Cool points!
But why prior to landing their helicopters on water,
pilots had to check-in with their maintenance department,
how CH-47 Chinooks ended up losing their water landing capability, what amphibious ops have to
do with ducks, and why this Chinooks cabin is getting flooded is not what you think .
Since its inception, the CH-47 Chinook was meant to have water landing capability. This
is why designers added sealed-off compartments on both sides of the helicopter's sponsons. The
hull itself was also made watertight with critical components being sealed off. And most importantly,
the underside of the helicopter was specifically designed to not house any electronics. These
design choices resulted in an aircraft that was able to land on water with waves up to 4
feet tall. That said, the Chinook could float on water only for about 30 minutes. That’s because
water would slowly start to leak into the hull. Although, by installing a bilge pump,
Chinooks could float on water even with the engines off, as long as the APU kept the
batteries charged. Just like with the Sea King, the vents on the Chinook needed to be sealed,
and an additional 27 drain plugs had to be installed. The US Army used Chinook’s amphibious
capabilities on multiple occasions during the Vietnam war. But the most recent employer of
this capability was the Army’s Special Forces from the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment.
The most unique feature of water landing is the Delta Queen Maneuver, which means … mmm … I have
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When Special Forces require extraction in a timely manner, either from a river, lake or sea,
Chinooks would fly to a pre-designated pick-up point. Meanwhile, the Special Forces would get
themselves to that location on a Zodiac boat, as the Spanish Army’s Special-OPS are doing in this
case. The Chinook would then land on water while maintaining some of the lift at the front of the
aircraft. This would push the rear cargo hold under water. To prevent all of the cabin from
flooding, a water dam is placed halfway through the cabin. When the cargo hold is fully submerged,
the zodiac boat would drive into the helicopter. This is much easier said than done, since the
cargo hold is incredibly tight. If the zodiac is not properly aligned, it could end in disaster,
both for those on the boat and on the helicopter. In this case, the Spanish Special Forces come in
quite slow. However, during real combat, since bullets are flying, the zodiac would normally
drive into the helicopter at high speeds, which makes it incredibly risky. Once the
zodiac is inside, the ramp is raised slightly while the pilot raises the helicopter to drain
the cabin from water. The thing is, this cool capability comes with a hefty cost.
After each water landing, the aircraft needs to be grounded until it is thoroughly cleaned. To do so,
the floor of the Chinook needs to be taken out. A corrosion inspection would also be performed
after each salt water landing. What’s even worse is that water landings are extremely damaging to
the wheel bearings, which means they have to be replaced. Because of this extremely time
consuming and expensive maintenance, the pilots needed to ask for permission from the maintenance
department before conducting water landing drills. In many cases, the answer was a, you guessed it,
flat out “NO”, unless the helicopter was already scheduled for substantial maintenance.
Only then would the pilots get the go-ahead. Over the years, militaries around the world
that operate Chinooks figured out that water landings were not really worth it for several
reasons. The newest generation of Chinooks, the CH-47F, has digital flight controls,
meaning that the helicopter is packed with electronics. While older analog Chinooks had
no electronics in the underside, the newer versions do. This means increased risk of
electronics malfunction during water landings. Combine this risk with high maintenance efforts
and water landings were simply not worth the cost, especially when you consider the alternative.
When it comes to special forces insertions and extractions, thanks to helocasting,
you don’t even have to land in the water to achieve your objectives. Helocasting is a
technique extensively practiced by the US Army, to insert infantry units into
an area of operations. This involves using various helicopters, including the Chinook,
which would fly 10 feet above the water surface while traveling at a speed of
about 10 knots. The Special Forces team members would then exit the aircraft, usually in pairs,
and then swim to shore. What’s great about helocasting is that you can teach it to anyone,
not just the Special Forces, and it only takes about 20 minutes to practice it on land. After
that you just get inside the Chinook and you’re ready to jump. But just because you
can teach it in 20 minutes, it doesn’t mean people can perfectly learn it in 20 minutes!
While exiting the helicopter is quite easy, the real problem is what comes next: swimming to
shore. Even during simple training, without any gear, it can be physically quite exhausting. Now
imagine performing helocasting with 50 pounds of gear and weapons. For this reason, instead
of making soldiers swim to shore, you make them ride. This is why sometimes helocasting involves
an inflatable boat which would be deployed from the helicopter for over-the-horizon operations.
And that’s where the ducks come into the picture. There are three types of operations that involve
helocasting and inflatable boats: hard duck, soft duck, and rolled duck. When a fully inflated boat
is deployed from a helicopter, that’s what you call a hard duck. When the helicopter’s cargo
hold is too small for a fully inflated boat, the boat is only partially inflated during
transport and is fully inflated at the insertion point. This is called a soft duck. Finally,
a rolled duck is when an un-inflated boat is deployed from a helicopter. That’s all
good for insertion, but how do you extract the team afterward without landing in water?
When it's time for extraction, in most cases, it’s possible to find a piece of land near the
body of water, from where a full extraction can be performed. And this eliminates the need to
land the helicopter in the water. That said, if no suitable landing location is nearby,
you can still extract the team by hovering over the water and having the personnel
climb up a rope ladder to get back inside the helicopter. Yes, it’s very physically
demanding, but you gotta do what you gotta do. Although, you don’t have to climb the ladder,
because alternatively, the helicopter can just lift you out of the water using a rope
and a harness. And this is exactly what the Special Patrol Insertion/Extraction system,
also known as SPIE is used for. SPIE was developed as a way to rapidly pick up or
drop off personnel by a helicopter, in places where landing is not possible due to water or
rough terrain. All you have to do is just wear a harness and attach a carabiner to the SPIE rope.
But even with all these alternative developments, some within the US Army are advocating for the
resumption of amphibious landings, suggesting they still have some advantages. Let's say an
enemy missile sinks a US Navy ship. Helicopters that can’t land in water
would have to use ladders and ropes to pick up the survivors. A Chinook, on the other hand,
would be able to rescue them by landing on water, so they could swim into the helicopter.
Now you might think water landing would speed up the rescue operation, but there is a reason the
US Coast Guard no longer water lands their HH-52 Seaguards and the HH-3F Pelicans.
Sikorsky HH-52 SeaGuard is capable of landing and taxiing on water in order to rescue those
in need. But this isn’t a fast process per se. In reality, it would take a few tries to
fish a person out of the water. See, while flying, the onboard computers make it easy
for helicopters to hover in place. The pilot doesn’t have to do everything manually. But
it’s much harder to control a helicopter that is sitting on water, due to waves and currents.
Plus, the Coast Guard now has rescue swimmers, who made it a much faster process to rescue a
person and lift them out of the water when compared to s water landing rescue. And
since amphibious operations already came with hefty maintenance costs, in the mid 1990s,
the US Coast Guard retired their last helicopters capable of water landing,
the HH-3F Pelicans. But there is still one more reason why water landings are
not as popular as they used to be, and that has to do with the risks involved.
The Soviet Mi-14 is a helicopter that is still in active service. An interesting feature of
this helicopter is its two inflatable barrel-shaped floats that allow it to
sit on water with ease. Multiple versions of the Mi-14 were built for various roles,
which included a passenger ferry, a military variant that could carry either a single torpedo,
or 8 depth charges, and a search and rescue version. But as you can see,
operating a helicopter with giant rotors in even slightly wavy conditions can be quite
risky. Unfortunately in this case, only 12 out of 15 people on board made it out alive.
Aside from the helicopters mentioned so far, Sikorski CH-53 helicopters are also capable
of water landing. In addition, the CH-46 Sea Knights that are still in service could also
land on calm water and float for up to two hours. But the risks associated with such
maneuvers is yet another reason why these days, helicopter water landings are rarely practiced.