These slides are from a talk given at Watsonvile, CA on April 25, 2012.

I flight instruct at United Flight Services in Watsonville as well as independently. I own a 1966 Mooney based here as well. I havent yet had to make a forced landing luckily but have had a few instances in my flying career where I experienced engine roughness and other trouble where I needed to think about a landing spot and return to the airport. I also enjoy spending time outdoors hiking, camping, traveling, and using my airplane to get there. Some of the trips Ive taken have put me over unforgiving and/or remote terrain. Because of this I think that being aware of the risks of a particular flight is important, as is managing the risk by training and equipment selection should a forced landing be necessary.

What kicked this planning into overdrive was the trip I took last year a bucket list trip to fly my Mooney to Alaska and back. I was an incredible experience and I want to put it back on the list to do it again.

Over the northern end of the Rocky Mountain trench, near the B.C./Yukon Territory border. Not much around civilization-wise. Landing would have been on a gravel bar at a river bend, or perhaps in one of the lakes in the area.

Over the Kaskawulsh glacier, Wrangell-St. Elias mountains between Yukon interior & Alaskan coast climbing thru 14,000 on oxygen. Heard tour operator in the area flying C206/207 significantly lower. Passengers got a great view. Heres an example of different tolerances of risk! I didnt have much interest in flying at the altitudes where the tour operator was. I can understand if you would not be comfortable in a single engine airplane at the altitude I was at either. There are no guarantees, other than to avoid the risk completely and sit on the couch. That carries the risk of a less interesting and fulfilling life! I believe that one must analyze the risks of a particular flight, and then if one chooses to accept the risk, to make a plan to reduce it.

Could it happen to you? Could your engine fail? Does gravity exist? What does flight training cover? AFH discusses forced-landing technique PTS tasks for simulated forced landing Good practice to hit your spot, power off, in the pattern but then what?

I cant possibly give a comprehensive course on survival in an hour talk. My goals of the talk are to enable you to critically examine each trip you to do -Analyze the risks that exist -Reduce the risk by developing a plan for the trip. That plan could mean extra gear. It could mean reviewing prior training. It could mean new training, or it could mean changing plans to something with less risk -The summation of this critical thought & planning is increasing your ability to survive. Theres more to it, though, and well touch on that later.

Lets pause a moment to consider what risks wed face if we went down on along a particular route, and then see if that is acceptable to us.. The first things I look at are what terrain features surround a route and what the environment looks like there in case I need to spend some time awaiting rescue. Big fields, farm houses, and a highway nearby near the coast. A temperate climate, help not too far away. Not a bad place to land. Regardless I want to also look at the worst-case weather in the area. What are the temperatures? Will it rain on me? Is there fresh water around if its a remote area?

This was in Monument valley. There are sporadic settlements around but we might not be able to land near someone. The ground might be quite rough. Wed be looking at hot, dry conditions in the summer and cold winter nights. Are we prepared to wait out rescue for a couple of days in these conditions?

The Minarets near Mammoth Mountain & the Sierra Crest. Steve Fossett went down in a Decathlon nearby. Ive had some of the best outdoor experiences in the vicinity. Steves case was probably weather & wind related and he may not have stood a chance but what if we did have control of the airplane? Where would we put it down? From my vantage point on this and similar trips I had planned my altitude altitude so as to be able to glide to either large meadows where I know there arent big rocks, or to a point where I could cross the Sierra crest and glide down to the flat-lands and Hwy 395 off to the east. This required climbing to 14,000-15,000. Lower down, a precise ditching in a small lake might be the best bet. Could we get enough gear out to survive a freezing night after such a ditching? If not what could we do about it? Higher altitude..

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Water could also be the best option despite our initial thought that were following a coastline. Heres the Big Sur coast. The northern and southern extremes have some landable areas, along with Pt. Sur in the middle. Most are not. If we want to see the sights from 2,000-4,000 altitude,, there is a good stretch where putting it into the ocean near a beach is our only option. It isnt as cold over night, but again will we survive the night? How will we signal for help?

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A sufficiently long trip will cross multiple climates and types of terrain. Be prepared for anything.

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Particularly when planning a long trip, its important to look out to the sides maybe significantly so to see what wed be exposed to in case we decide to divert or deviate from course for weather or other reasons. The distance from civilization will determine what we need in terms of equipment to call for help or signal rescuers. This is a sectional excerpt from the Rocky Mountain trench just south of where one of my first photos was taken. A landmark on the chart reads Cabin. At the southern end is a small town with a gravel airstrip, and a flight service RCO.

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So how to we figure these things out? -Sectionals, topo maps (google) -Talk to other pilots. Post on a message board and ask about the region -NWS can give you a weather forecast taking into account elevation at a particular spot just click on the map. Temperatures can vary wildly when doing a mountain over flight. Plan for the worst weather along the route -If were considering something where we might ditch, how cold is the water, and how big is the swell?

Lets take an example trip from here town to San Luis for an expensive hamburger. Which way do we go? Down the valley, or take the scenic route: The coast. (Show of hands): How many in here have flown the valley? The coast?

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Im making assumptions here based on the kind of airplane I fly. Perhaps if you are in a super cub or similar, a ridge-top landing on land would work. Still, the Santa Lucia range is for the most part extremely rough.

Note that we typically lose radar contact after passing Monterey and dont get it back until near our destination. VHF comms can even be tricky. How do we call for help? A flight plan is a good idea here. A PLB even better.

Heres an example of using Google earth to check out a route ahead of time. Here were even viewing things from 3000, a reasonable touring altitude. You can size up things like the distances to the next beach and decide if thats an acceptable altitude. Or perhaps you have a super cub or something similar capable of landing on a ridge top. Im not suggesting you needed to fly hundreds of miles on google earth before a trip, but if you dont know the risks youre exposing yourself to, it can be a useful tool.

Its not my place to judge here! What one of you is comfortable with another may not be What one chooses to accept, another may not I have an airline pilot friend and we talked about flying Big Sur.. Hed rather take the Salinas valley in a single-engine airplane. Cant blame him! What if we are confident we could make it, but are taking passengers who may not survive a forced landing in that type of area? They are in our care What are some of our options if we think its too risky? Take the inland route (Salinas valley) Sit on the couch at home Go another time maybe the swell is too big, or there is fog obscuring the water Drive Convince your buddy with the twin go fly you, and pay the avgas (make sure hes proficient)

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-- BREAK Lets pause a moment and take a look at a video I found on youtube which shows a forced landing in a C170. This was from the late 1980s. We can discuss it afterward. Heres the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTiGU5TiYCE When done with the video lets resume. Well go into how to manage the risk if we decide to make a trip.

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Mental preparation.. Developing the Will to survive is common to nearly every piece of training material I came across researching this talk Think back to an aviation incident you have heard about recently on TV news one where there was an in-flight emergency but with a favorable outcome. Perhaps a cabin depressurization. Youll probably read the reporter writing that the aircraft plunged (pilots executed an emergency descent), and they find a passenger to interview who stated I thought we were going to die. We know better than this because were familiar with flying. But what about the aftermath of a forced landing? If we havent been in such a situation, now were the ones who are unfamiliar. I dont want to be the pilot who has failed to plan or train to an extent where I just give up and say Im not going to make it. I dont want any of you to be that pilot either. There are some common mistakes people make in a survival situation. These include acting impulsively, or getting locked up and not acting at all.

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Remember the 5 hazardous attitudes in some of the FAA literature? Three of them are common potential problems to be aware of when studying survival psychology.

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Maybe youre alone. Maybe your guilty because someone got hurt. Maybe youre injured. Stress and emotional response is normal. The goal here isnt to eliminate these responses but to be prepared to manage to function despite them. For more info: US Army survival handbook has a good discussion on survival psychology. Links @ the end of this talk. Lets think back to the video. They were calm and collected after the landing. The kids were having fun by the fire. They built a shelter, and were staying with the airplane awaiting help

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Before we get into specific actions and equipment to think about, here are some common actions to have in your mind should you need to make a forced landing On the ground, If you feel at all like youre in a frantic or panicked state, or perhaps just feel the urge to rush: Remember the acronym: STOP sit down, assess the situation, think about your actions, make a survival plan, and execute it. Remove yourself & passengers from immediate harm. Assess and treat injuries. Signal for help. Stay with the aircraft. Its a lot easier to spot than you are.

Remember radar is line of sight. If youre low (sight seeing, weather) you may not have it Even if youre up high, you may not have it in mountainous areas. Crossing the high Sierra, radar coverage is usually good at 11-12K though Yosemite. East of there, we need need 15k+ to be in contact over the crest. If youre going somewhere remote, dont count on radar. I had no flight following, no blinking light on my transponder from a few minutes outside Vancouver, B.C., all the way to Anchorage!! If you do use flight following and I hope you do dont count on a search being launched if you go incommunicado. File a VFR flight plan as well. Now if you can get a mayday out thats great! I posed this question to a controller at norcal TRACON when I went there for a tour.

A very good idea for flights with partial or no radar coverage, and in addition to flight following they give you a VFR Golden ticket: Use both! In a non-radar environment, give position reports.

Ive been in the habit of using duat.com to file VFR. Its just my nature. Then I discovered when I called FSS on the phone about a plan Id filed, using geographic landmarks in my route of flight. The routing was gone. Duat accepted it, they didnt have it. The route needs to be airports, navaids, or distance/bearing from those. Call FSS for more specifics (i.e. lat/lon). Instead use the flight plan REMARKS section for geographic points following xyz river, etc. For example when overflying the Sierra from here to Bishop, I might file the flight plan as WVI to BIH, route MPI (Maripose), O24 (Lee Vining), MMH (Mammoth), direct. Then get fine-grained in the remarks.

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From CAP presentation: AVERAGE with VFR flight plan: 18.2 hours! = 20 hours! Would be useful to know the std deviation of these times.

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Think back to the video. They activated their ELT and it was picked up by a satellite. If you still have a 121.5 ELT, these are NO LONGER monitored by satellite! If you filed a flight plan and SAR is launched, they will be flying over listening for the ELT. In absence of that, youre at the whim of a random aircraft flying over monitoring guard to hear it, and call it in. If you are a renter pilot, do you know where the ELT is in the rental aircraft? Or how to activate it? Ask!

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So weve analyzed our route of flight for hazards. Weve decided on the ATC & FSS services to use, and know our aircraft. Lets turn to additional equipment. Remember those climates we discussed at the start of the presentation. Different needs for different climates, surfaces, and ultimately risks. I like to have a base set of gear I carry with me all the time, and then add/remove as necessary for a special trip.

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What does this tell us? Managing injury and preventing drowning comes first. Staying warm (or cool, in an extreme heat situation) comes next At a minimum, plan for these two (remember those response times). Add more as the situation demands it, or further from help Water is a necessity if well be in a remote climate without any. Food is a luxury

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Above and below the line. Above: Plan for it all the time. Below, review on a case-by-case basis.

I took a two-day Wilderness 1st aid course before my Alaska trip. It was great! I need to get a refresher on the skills I learned last year. I did learn that a lot in first aid is common sense stuff. REI outlet = cheap first aid kits. Some of the kits are awfully scant. Think about the possibly injuries from deceleration. Get a basic kit and augment: Extra 4x4s, rubber gloves, antibiotics. Sunscreen, bug spray. You may even find the occasional use for the kit in a non-survival situation.

Next most important: Ensure help knows where you are. If you were on radar and declared a mayday, your last-known position will be pretty close.. But what if not? What will be the search area if you flew a few miles after the last radar contact? Could they find you? The price and capability of the PLB is really hard to beat. Im not here to sell things but this is, I hope, my ticket home if I ever go down (show PLB) Beyond that theres the matter of having a searcher find *you* once theyre on scene. People are very difficult to see from 1000 or even 500 AGL. A brightly colored tarp and signal mirror are small, light, cheap, and durable. The tarp is also rain shelter. Flares are a possibility too, and I had to carry them (AK & Canada regs).

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Epilogue: During the talk several folks pointed out some of the benefits of SPOT that I was not aware of: 1. Youre leaving a breadcrumb trail no matter what. If you disappear, chances are youre within one breadcrumb of the last one. 2. You can press the emergency button in the air, while flying. The unit already has a GPS lock with your position.

The goal is to maintain body temperature not too hot, not too cold Clothing is your first line of defense. One of these soaks up water very well and is great if you have extra water on a hot day. The other lives outside in the rain. Synthetics (check out these pants!) can be great.. Out in the rain without getting cold. A post-crash fire could be a real hazard, though. Ultimately its up to you. You do have simple tools to take the airplane apart, right? Usually a small & regular sized Philips

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Yes, this stuff adds weight. But ask yourself if you can last the typical response time if you go down in a particular place. Again, the risk is up to you. This is one area where the regulations give us a lot of latitude. Vests are required if were taking a paying passengers, for example, sight-seeing over water. For other part-91 not for hire ops, they are at our discretion. One thing I would do differently for my next trip with a lot of water exposure is to get the constant-wear life vests. West Marine has these. Then modify it with pockets, etc sewn on for critical gear that is tied on to me, like my signaling equipment. The amount of water you carry will be something you need to make a call on. The hotter/dryer it is, the more youll need. The further from rescue, the more youll need. Ive carried a gallon or two per person, to last a few days. By the way, if you have no water and do have food youre better off going hungry. It takes water to digest foods. Over the mountains, I throw in my standard camp gear 2-man tent, down sleeping bags. If I have these after landing, Ill be comfortable. During winter, Ill throw in our duffel with ski gear: Parka and pants for each person, heavy gloves, wool socks, ski hats. Now we have a much better chance of spending the night.

A lot of folks suggest that a vest with the essentials small first aid kit, your PLB/signal mirror, and basic tools for fire and shelter construction is the way to go. Not a bad idea. If I go to AK again and fly the coast, Ill probably get a constant-wear life vest with pockets or other attachment mechanism for these essentials. If you arent wearing it, make sure you can get it out of the airplane easily. Buried in the baggage area isnt good enough. I slide mind behind a passenger seat, or buckle it into the back seat where I can unbuckle easily. However, I very seldom fly with > 3 people Here is an example of our military aviators theyre wearing their entire set of gear should they go down. You can find similar vests (surplus) on ebay. Fishing/photo vests are also a popular choice.

I consulted a friend of mine who got his commercial flying start flying single-engine land planes carrying cargo out of Juneau. He had to be ready to ditch. He assembled a dry bag with dry clothes, lots of fire starters, and a rainproof shelter. I tried to emulate that with my dry bag.

Note separate mini-kit that I carry when I go hiking. Flares, fishing stuff reqd in Alaska. A firearm is no longer required. I do think its a good idea in grizzly country but absent being in a war zone I think a firearm is a low priority, and I am a shooter.

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Links for this stuff @ the end of the presentation.

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