What's the practicality of landing on a deserted island to save someone?
With a plane or ship, I'm sure there are things like not having a runway or FAA permission would make it impossible to land at will if you saw a castaway.
With a plane or ship, I'm sure there are things like not having a runway or FAA permission would make it impossible to land at will if you saw a castaway.
Coffee Drinker
The most likely scenario would be a ship is sent to the location and the ship stays off shore where the water is deep enough and then launches either a helicopter or small rescue boat that can go onto the island to rescue the person.
It is possible to land a small aircraft on a sandy beach if there's a stretch that long enough and flat enough, but they would probably not take the risks
david
Call a rescue team that's equipped with the appropriate transport, ie an amphibious plane or a helicopter or boats.
F
You can land on a flat Sandy beach if it’s big enough. On the Island of Barra in the Scottish Hebrides, scheduled flights use the beach as a runway. Of course the timetable has to fit in with the tide.
Old Man Dirt
A pilot would want to make sure there was a safe way to take off before landing! Odds are that the location would be sent out over the radio and forwarded to the Coast Guard or USN (and any other ships in the area) to effect a rescue.
FanMan
FAA permission is not needed to land off airport. If there was a big enough field or hard packed sandy beach to land on, no problem.