Welcome back to our Word of the Week!
Every week, we look together at a word that is either interesting, funny or mysterious and that appeals to all of us in the aviation community.
This week, we’ll take a look at the verb ‘to ditch’
ditch (v.)
UK /dɪtʃ/ US /dɪtʃ/
The verb ‘to ditch’ can have two meanings in English, but you will see that, even though they are different, there may be a tiny connection in their meaning.
The general English meaning of ‘to ditch’ is: to get rid of something or someone that is no longer wanted
For example: Since the traffic jam was lasting for too long, Bob decided to ditch his car and continue on foot.
Now, when we are on board an airplane and the pilot tells you to prepare yourself to ditch, that is in general not too much of a good news as it means to land an aircraft in water in an emergency
For example, Capt. ‘Sully’ Sullenberger did a splendid job ditching his Airbus on the river Hudson after a complete power failure due to a birdstrike.
Maybe just pay attention and stay alert if you hear your flight crew announcing a ditching…
