Displaying items by tag: air crash

15th October 2010

Investigators Praise Pilot Who Ditched Into Irish Sea

The pilot of a light aircraft that ditched into the Irish Sea last year has been commended for his flying skills and quick thinking after taking the plane down safely.

John O'Shaughnessy was flying the two-seater plane from Wales to Wexford on 11 August last year when the accident occurred off Tuskar Rock, just 15 minutes away from his destination.

He executed a 'belly landing' and was spotted by a nearby ocean rowing team who came to his aid before the Coast Guard arrived.

On Wednesday (13 October) the official investigation into the incident found that engine failure was to blame and not pilot error. However, accident investigators also found that the standard pre-flight checks were not fully carried out.

The report praised O'Shaugnessy's actions in ditching the plane "despite the fact that he was not particularly familiar with the aircraft".

Investigators said that the engine failure was "probably due to fuel starvation relating to a fuel-vapour related problem". They also noted the lack of a flight plan for O'Shaughnessy's journey.

Published in Offshore

Tagged under

Esailing & Virtual Sailing information

The concept of e-sailing, or virtual sailing, is based on a computer game sailing challenge that has been around for more than a decade.

The research and development of software over this time means its popularity has taken off to the extent that it has now become a part of the sailing seascape and now allows people to take an 'active part' in some of the most famous regattas across the world such as the Vendée Globe, Route du Rhum, Sydney Hobart, Volvo Ocean Race, America’s Cup and some Olympic venues too, all from the comfort of their armchair.

The most popular model is the 'eSailing World Championship'. It is an annual esports competition, first held in 2018 and officially recognised by World Sailing, the sports governing body.

The eSailing World Championship is a yearly competition for virtual sailors competing on the Virtual Regatta Inshore game.

The contract to run the event was given to a private company, Virtual Regatta that had amassed tens of thousands of sailors playing offshore sailing routing game following major offshore races in real-time.

In April 2020, the company says on its website that it has 35,000 active players and 500,000 regattas sailed.

Virtual Regatta started in 2010 as a small team of passionate designers, engineers, and entrepreneurs gathered around the idea that virtual sailing sports games can mix with real races and real skippers.