Single-Engine Flight Over Open Water Goes Direct Into Danger

Decision to accept ‘shortcut’ from ATC leads to harrowing experience.

Wednesday, December 03, 2025 at 08:00 AM ET

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The author says, ‘All I thought was, ‘Great, I can save some time going direct,’ and he accepted. (He did the math later, and it only saved about 12 minutes.) [Illustration: Joel Kimmel]

Key Takeaways:

Pilots should critically evaluate ATC route changes, particularly those introducing new risks like flying a single-engine aircraft far offshore, and not blindly accept them for minimal time savings.
Pilot responsibility for weather avoidance is paramount; do not expect ATC to keep you out of bad weather, especially when communication may be unreliable.
When flying over open water, ensure adequate safety equipment (e.g., raft, personal ELTs, worn life vests) is onboard and accessible, and avoid flying out of gliding distance to shore if possible.

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The plan was simple enough. My girlfriend—now my wife—and I were going to fly to the Bahamas to meet up with my brother, his wife, and my dad. The plan was to first connect with my brother in Fort Myers, Florida, then hop over to Palm Beach, and finally fly to Freeport. I should note that I always file IFR on these types of trips.

The first leg, from Georgetown Executive Airport (KGTU) in Texas to Gulf Shores International Airport (KJKA) in Alabama, was uneventful. We fueled up and received a weather briefing that indicated the usual convective activity over Florida, but our proposed IFR route looked fine.