Surviving the post-crash

http://openlibrary.org/b/OL4721176M/Plane_safety_and_survival

The Eric Andersen book Plane Safety and Survival is older, but excellent, guidance on assembling a kit. They are basically free on Amazon.

I was at a FAAST presentation a few weeks ago by a local physician who held out this book as a great one:

http://www.amazon.com/98-6-Degrees-Keeping-Your-Alive/dp/1586852345

I haven't gotten a copy yet.

Interestingly he had a very simple set of suggestions: 3mil garbage bags, fire starter, quickclot, wool caps and gloves. His presentation also emphasized that attitude was more important than equipment.

I haven't purchased a PLB yet but the club is holding out on upgrading to 406Mhz PLBs so if I crash before Christmas someone can drudge up this post and file it under "ironic"

www.uscg.mil/hq/cg5/cg534/EmergencyBeacons/GetA406ELT.ppt
 
alaskaflyer said:
I don't know. But window punches or hammers are only good for tempered glass as Crashaxe wrote above, not Plexiglass or even laminate glass such as your car's front windshield.
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I myself only fly in the most dense areas of the East Coast so survival after the crash doesn't concern me too much. I DO carry a 3.75inch partially serrated pocket knife with a seatbelt cutter and window punch. Though as before mentioned I doubt the window punch would do much SO I figured I could use the blade to get through with enough adrenaline pumping.
 
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alaskaflyer said:
I am en ENTP so filter my posts accordingly
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Two great things here!

I love the jacket you posted. I will do the homework and make sure to add a survival section to my website.

Second, I had never heard of an ENTP. I read the link, and quickly realized I am one also. Great post, and great find.

Thanks for both!!
 
alaskaflyer said:
Homework: After reading this story, how would you change your own current habits and equipment to prepare for the crash? Smart-ass answers aside?

http://www.webcitation.org/5kbKDKdEJ

A lot of what-if's to reflect on too.
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Were you involved in this search? Just read the article. Wow.

That last line--Haber got his wish. :yikes:
 
I'm not checking the links because I have a kit and vest with 406 ELB on the seat that I'm either wearing (when off the beaten path) or can slip an arm through the sleeve. The more I read about surviving, the more I'm convinced that what you're wearing is survival equipment and what you're carrying in the plane is camping equipment. Sparky's first crash with J. C. and now the Haber event (fire within seconds of the crash) are enough to convince me that a 406, strobe and basic tools that leave the plane with the pilot are worth 10 boxes of survival stuff adding fuel to the fire.
 
wabower said:
I'm not checking the links because I have a kit and vest with 406 ELB on the seat that I'm either wearing (when off the beaten path) or can slip an arm through the sleeve. The more I read about surviving, the more I'm convinced that what you're wearing is survival equipment and what you're carrying in the plane is camping equipment. Sparky's first crash with J. C. and now the Haber event (fire within seconds of the crash) are enough to convince me that a 406, strobe and basic tools that leave the plane with the pilot are worth 10 boxes of survival stuff adding fuel to the fire.
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No dispute here; I agree 99%. The 1% is because that vest with 406 ELB on the SEAT won't help if things develop so fast that you don't get your arm slipped through the sleeve in time. Impact deceleration will send it on the floorboards, perhaps out of reach.

That said, I doubt very many pilots actually do as much as you do. It's one of those "I know that" but "I don't do that" things.
 
The 406, water, strobe, big knife and condensed survival kit are in the vest pockets, the cell phone is in my pocket. I've become accustomed to wearing the vest and usually do so (like today). If it's hot as hell and I'm just going to the lake in radio contact and squawking, that's makes for pretty good odds they will find me. Flying the backwoods is different. I don't fly the swamp at night.

TangoWhiskey said:
No dispute here; I agree 99%. The 1% is because that vest with 406 ELB on the SEAT won't help if things develop so fast that you don't get your arm slipped through the sleeve in time. Impact deceleration will send it on the floorboards, perhaps out of reach.

That said, I doubt very many pilots actually do as much as you do. It's one of those "I know that" but "I don't do that" things.
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TangoWhiskey said:
Were you involved in this search? Just read the article. Wow.
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ayup.

The other thing I consider is dressing for the crash. Is it better to worry about fire, or the weather conditions for survival? Unfortunately in today's world of technical spun fleece what works really well for one isn't so great for the other. Wool is still great though.

There was a crash a winter or two ago where a DC-3 carrying thousands of gallons of fuel for delivery had an engine catch fire and they were forced to put it down in the tundra. A UH-60 was training on the (relatively) nearby army base and responded within minutes. Even so both crewmembers suffered frostbite. One guy was wearing tennis shoes. The other was wearing appropriate footwear but had only a medium weight jacket on. Temps were dang cold but not so cold that you wouldn't see similar temps north of the Mason-Dixon line in the CONUS.

I don't know. Yes, we fly in terrain and circumstances up here that are different than most of you. But not that different. I did most of my flying in the beginning in the canyon country of northern Arizona/Southern Utah. Not a lot of pay phones you can walk to there either.
 
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