Is it Safer to Land on Water or Land?
Passengers may think that in case of an emergency, it’s easier and smoother to land on water than on land but even Capt. Sully will agree that this is not true. A rough landing on land is much safer than trying to put the plane down on water. Why, you ask? For starters, pilots only practice ditching in the simulator and that too just a few times.
While water may look like a smooth surface, the size of waves and density make it rough. Then there’s the possibility of the plane literally breaking apart if the pilot makes a hard landing. Plus the plane can get flooded making evacuation much harder than it would be on land.