If the MD82 went down in the Goajira peninsula, it's seems less than 100 miles wide. The crew probably didn't really have a choice, but one wonders if there were a choice, wouldn't you choose ditching to trying to land on ground off an airport? We just had a little discussion of ditching. Does anyone know of survivals when bringing a large jet, say 737 or bigger, to a stop without touching down on an airport surface first? There are some big flat surfaces than aren't airports. but there don't seem to be many of them. Is coming down on a beach ditching? Gerry http://www.pbase.com/gfoley9999/ http://www.wilowud.net/ http://home.columbus.rr.com/gfoley http://www.fortunecity.com/victorian/pollock/263/egypt/egypt.html