as a pilot you trained for emergencies knowing that more often than not
everything will be fine but things can go wrong and there may come a day when an
off airport landing leaves you stranded with only the gear you have in
your airplane in this video we'll look at a few things you can do to prepare
for this challenge and help maximize your chances of getting found quickly
when it comes to survival preparedness the regulations offer no clear guidance
on what equipment you should carry in the continental US and Canadian
regulations can be interpreted differently by different pilots
regardless the burden is on you to plan appropriately and as in most things
aviation related increasing your chances for post crash survival begins during
the flight planning stage simply stated filing and activating a flight plan both
with federal agencies and friends and family is the single best thing you can
do to improve your prospects in the event of a forest landing the
consequences of not filing a flight plan and having let's say an engine out where
you're forced to land someplace can be very high we will not start a search
until there has been a declared missing aircraft and that's only going to happen
when a family member or someone comes forth to say that so-and-so
didn't make it back home for dinner and they were and we knew that they were
going to go out and fly an airplane and then at that point it becomes
detective work so it could be upwards of 48 hours before we even launch the first
airplane in the event of no flight plan and it could even be longer than that in
the event of someone flying out and not having somebody at the other end
expecting them
in all the cases where we found an accident site quickly they were
inevitably had a flight plan and they were following the flight it's the ones
that go two weeks are usually missions and with no finds at the end of which
those usually the ones that there were no flight plans or it was a case of
maybe there was a flight plan but someone didn't follow it also if
available receiving ATC flight following enroute is a great way to keep another
set of eyes on you and if you're qualified opening an IFR flight plan
will increase your visibility to ATC and let them know you're out there even in
areas of sparse radar coverage when planning your trip it's easy to think
mostly about the point of departure and the destination you look at the weather
and airspace between the two but how often do you consider the terrain along
your route consider what it would be like to make an emergency landing at any
point along that path are you prepared to spend several hours or even days in
this spot what weather conditions are expected for the next few days sometimes
the answers to these questions may lead you to slightly alter your route of
flight to more closely follow a known Road or fly closer to populated areas
while this may potentially add to the overall trip the benefit of help
arriving sooner in an emergency could outweigh the extra time and cost another
balance that must be struck comes when determining what equipment you should
carry for survival situations every pilot or passenger would probably have a
different idea for the best survival gear to have onboard but all would
probably agree on the basics that are applicable regardless of where you fly a
survival kit at the very minimum should have space blankets not only for the
visibility aspect because they're very shiny but you know for the warmth and to
you know provide some form of emergency shelter those are very easy to pack down
into a flight kit I keep two in my flight bag at all times wherever
happened to be and it's it doesn't take up a lot of space
how and when you'll use each item in your survival kit will vary but other
useful considerations include a PL beat or other satellite based communication
device a signalling device such as a battery-operated strobe light whistle
and/or signal mirror items needed to build a fire waterproof matches a
lighter fire starting material a flashlight a knife or multi-tool a
length of parachute cord or other strong and light rope snacks or store-bought
energy bars a means of storing and purifying water a portable battery pack
to recharge your phone EFB or other electronics be sure these items as well
as the first aid kit are secured in a place that is easy to reach from the
door items that have been thrown to the back of the aircraft may be inaccessible
depending on how hard you come down another idea is to keep your gear in a
survival vest a post-crash fire may force you to egress with only the
clothes on your back the choice of clothing for you and your passengers is
extremely important in addition to dressing for the weather at your point
of departure or destination you should also carry clothing for the terrain and
weather you'll encounter on route sandals and shorts may be appropriate
for your destination but not so much if your route of flight takes you over high
mountainous terrain for example you should be prepared to spend the night in
that climate if you have to land there this means carrying extra layers of wool
or synthetic clothes that will still insulate you if they get wet often
overlooked items are gloves cold hands make any manual tasks more
difficult and are the first to succumb to frostbite opt for wool or synthetic
gloves for most circumstances and if you fly much over water neoprene we've
actually had a pilot that died due to hypothermia because they did not dress
appropriately for the terrain they were flying over and
we're flying over high mountains successfully had a forced landing but
searchers didn't find this individual for over or four or five days and they
had survived with little injury the initial landing only to die of
exposure because they had no clothing suitable for the terrain that they were
happened to have wrecked at and that that's one thing I would brief
passengers ahead of time that pretend you have to stay overnight wherever it
is you're flying
you survived a forced landing with no signs of civilization for miles
now what once you're free from the aircraft take stock of your situation
your first priority will be to address any medical emergencies to the best of
your ability your second order of business is to try to communicate your
situation and location make sure your ELT is on but consider it may have been
damaged if your avionics are still working you may be able to pull GPS
coordinates from another idea is to use your sectionals your paper sectionals
latitude and longitude coordinates printed along the inches that could be
an argument for flying with them if only for backup if your radios are working
and it's safe to be in the cockpit try to reach ATC on the emergency frequency
121.5 or the last frequency you were on with them keep in mind however that
since radio signals rely mostly upon line of sight communication there is a
good chance that trees or other terrain features may block the signal and
handheld transceivers while better than nothing have limited range on the ground
GPS communication methods such as a satellite phone work better here if you
have a PLB activated if you have a battery-operated strobe light keep that
near you you'll want to turn that on quickly if you hear airplanes overhead
or other signs of a search party lastly try your cell phone and don't be afraid
to move around the airplane in a short distance to find the best signal you can
even if you can't get a signal out cell towers will continually try to ping your
phone and this information can be very useful to search and rescue personnel
keep your spare batteries close to you such as in an interior shirt pocket
batteries lying in the cold tend to die very quickly your body heat can
significantly extend battery life most experts agree that if you are lost
don't leave the aircraft it's much easier for search parties to spot the
large surface area and contrast of a downed airplane than it is an individual
it's a very bad idea to wander away from that
accident site unless you can see the road or civilization or something that's
very close by then it's definitely a bad idea because more times than not we will
find the accident site first and trying to spot a person from the air is almost
impossible that's why it's important to be visible and to be visible means
staying with an accident site with an airplane that said if you see a clearing
in an area near the airplane in which you can lay out emergency signals such
as your space blanket or build a fire by all means do so they need to make that
aircraft more visible for searchers in the air if at all possible with space
blankets with with anything at hand that can contrast themselves in the natural
environment keep in mind that the International sign of distress is items
grouped in threes in a triangular pattern three fires three piles of rocks
etc lastly the importance of a positive attitude and the will to live cannot be
overstated all of the survival equipment and technology available will do you no
good if you've given up hope and are paralyzed by despair but also realize
that in the best of circumstances it will take time for the rescue operation
to even begin searching for you even with a flight plan opened it may be
several hours before search and rescue operations locate the site add to that
the time it will take to scramble EMS resources and the severity of the
terrain and weather involved especially if that weather is what forced you down
the reality of the situation is that you could spend a very long time waiting to
be rescued your goal is to be as comfortable as possible during that time
there is no such thing as a routine flight most of the pilots have found
themselves in a survival situation probably never thought of forced
off-airport landing would happen to them but it did the more you research and
prepare the more ready you will be if it happens to you every survival situation
is different and we can't possibly cover them all here but there are some steps
you can take that will improve your chances always file and open a flight
plan and obtain ATC flight following pay closer attention to your route of travel
and consider the terrain you're flying over not just the airspace you're flying
through carry a survival kit with extra clothing a space blanket signalling
devices and a GPS enabled communication location device at a minimum always be
learning enroll in a first aid course or take a survival course to practice
skills you hope never to need for more information a list of survival resources
including the survive beyond the forced landing downloadable PDF can be found on
the AOPA Air Safety Institute website at WWF - Institute org slash spotlight
slash survival