Airplane safer to crash in the water or land?

Technically this all has to do with the circumstance and the conditions. For the most part it is safer to "crash" or "crash-land" an aircraft on land. At the velocity of flight water is just as dense and hard as concrete and can do considerable damage to an aircraft structure. Water can be preconceived to be the safer option because it is much more open and flat. However, water is unpredictable and unstable, there can be waves, differing depths, other invisible or submerged threats. If a successful water landing is achieved then there is still the issue of sinking, cold water, being stranded.

It is safer and easier to control the variable in a land crash scenario.