MIA85FA254

The student plt stated that after dinner, which included a small amount of wine, he went to the arpt to clean his acft, then elected to go for a short flt. He intended to stay within 25 mi of the arpt, but found himself over lakeland. He landed at a strip to call, but there was no telephone, so he took off again. While returning, the plt diverted toward the west to avoid a storm. Subsequently, darkness occurred & the student became lost & disoriented. He saw a highway & flew along it while trying to identify a familiar landmark. Eventually, the plt flew out over the edge of the gulf of Mexico & inadvertently descended into the water. After coming to rest, he crawled out of the acft & fell into the water, but got back onto the wing of the acft. He reported that while he was waiting to be rescued, he rinsed salt water & gasoline from his mouth & drank from a bottle of ginger ale. A bottle of wine was fnd in the acft. A check of the plt's blood showed an alcohol level of 0.07 gm% (0.07%) & a trace of diazepam.