Eight years earlier in 1986, Jimmy Buffett spent a week at the Naval Aviation survival school in Norfolk, Virginia, according to the Kingsport Times-News. While there, he had to escape an underwater helicopter crash simulator, among other types of training exercises. He took the training so the Navy would allow him to fly in an F-14 Tomcat that took off from an aircraft carrier. The Navy pilots from the 45th Advisory Group in Key West nicknamed him "Brillo" because of his hair.
When Buffett's seaplane went down off Nantucket in 1994, his training helped him escape. In addition to his naval survival training, he had a whopping 1,500 hours of total flight training (that's over 62 nonstop days, as a reference). This training included 400 hours of flight practice in multi-engine aircraft and 190 hours in the plane that nearly took his life — the Grumman G-44 Widgeon seaplane, which was his personal plane.
Buffett had gotten his Commercial Pilot License at the age of 39, a full nine years before his 1994 near-crash and one year before his naval training. Aside from the Grumman Widgeon, Buffett over his life also owned a Falcon 900, Falcon 50, and Cessna 208 Caravan. In other words, he was not only extremely enthusiastic about flying, he was nothing near an amateur. And still, accidents can happen.
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