Eric Basile – ATP, CFII, MEI FAASTeam Lead Representative Surviving Forced Landings Surviving Forced Landings

Keys to Successful Forced Landings  Proper preflight planning  Understanding airspeed  Coping with stress  Knowing your airplane!  Approach and impact management  Practice!

 July 21, 2001: Chenoa, IL  Piper Cherokee 6 loses power on takeoff and stalls in turn, 2 fatalities  Probable cause: “The inadvertent stall the pilot encountered during his turn with an in-flight loss of engine power due to fuel starvation on initial climb- out and the improper in-flight decision he made to continue the turn. Factors were the fuel starvation and the incorrect fuel tank selector position.” Could this happen to you? Observations of surrounding farmland revealed suitable landing areas for a forced landing

Preparation for an emergency landing begins well before the flight! There is NO reason for an engine failure to automatically result in a serious or fatal accident!

KNOW YOUR TERRAIN!

 Use a sectional or aeroplanner.com to study the route beforehand!  Study the local airport area on arrival – Google Earth  Plan routes (as best as possible) to provide suitable landing areas  Consider increasing altitude to provide greater gliding distance DO NOT: DO:  Become GPS dependent  Lose situational awareness

The absolute most important thing you must do right away is establish a glide!

Gliding  Best glide speed – greatest forward distance per unit of altitude lost -Typically only published for maximum gross weight! -Can be approximated for lower weights (see formula) -This speed will be near V y

Gliding  Minimum sink airspeed – least altitude lost per unit of time -To be used when range is not important but endurance is. -Full nose-up trim glide -This speed will be near V x

We need to eliminate the “rote” level of understanding of best glide speed!

Maximizing Glide Range A constant-speed propeller should be placed in high pitch (LOW RPM) to decrease drag

Characteristics of a good emergency landing site?

 Unless terrain is exceptionally severe, a good landing spot is probably close by!  Draw an imaginary circle from spinner to wingtip – you will ALWAYS be able to land within this area  Don’t forget the area BEHIND you! Where the %^#*! do I land?

 Typical GA aircraft glides at a ratio of 10:1 – this corresponds to a glide angle of 6°  Use the “rule of thumb” – thumb extended at arm’s length subtends 4°  Therefore, anything within 1½ thumb lengths below the horizon is probably reachable (no-wind condition)

Managing the Approach Federal Aviation Administration

Managing the Approach Federal Aviation Administration

KNOW YOUR AIRPLANE!  Best Glide Speed / Associated Conditions  Emergency Procedures / Troubleshooting  Develop a Flow Check

KNOW YOUR AIRPLANE!

Always follow your POH recommended procedure It’s as easy as: irspeed est field ockpit A B C Federal Aviation Administration

DON’T PANIC  Many pilots react to an emergency by freezing up or being indecisive  When panic sets in, the pilot reverts to passenger status!  Most forced landing fatalities are caused by a failure of the MIND more so than a failure of the aircraft.

DON’T PANIC Federal Aviation Administration

DON’T PANIC Federal Aviation Administration

Poor Response to Stress

Better Response to Stress

The success of an emergency landing under adverse conditions is as much a matter of the MIND as it is of skill! Suggest you consider the Air Force’s philosophy: “I will maintain aircraft control, analyze the situation and take appropriate action, and land as soon as conditions permit.” DON’T PANIC

The Speed’s the Thing! Kinetic Energy = (Mass x Velocity 2 ) / 2 Doubling groundspeed (velocity) quadruples total destructive energy Reducing groundspeed by half reduces the destructive energy to one fourth All that energy has to go somewhere!!!

The Speed’s the Thing! Even a small change in groundspeed, from pilot technique or wind, will affect the outcome of a forced landing Impact at 85mph is twice as hazardous as one at 60 mph Impact at 120 mph is three times as hazardous as an impact at 70 mph

General aviation aircraft are designed to protect occupants to 9 G’s in a forward direction (1.5 G sideways and 6.0 G downward) With this protection, very little stopping distance is needed if speed can be dissipated uniformly over the available distance Example: 50 mph groundspeed = 100mph groundspeed = 37.6 feet 9.4 feet

The Speed’s the Thing!  Touchdown during an emergency landing should be at the slowest controllable speed using all available aerodynamic devices.  “Stalling it in” can be fatal! - the airplane is built to land on the wheels - not on the nose or roof!

Your SURVIVAL is primarily determined by your speed and your angle of impact! The Bottom Line on Speed?

Before Touchdown  Brace for impact/doors?  Shut off all possible sources for a postcrash fire – electrical and fuel systems  Brief your passengers and keep them in the loop – remember, they may be the ones opening doors for you or shutting switches off!

Which would you prefer – Beans or Corn?

Forced Landing Study  Studied crash landings of GA airplanes with 10 seats or less from 1983 through  Data adjusted for pilot age, flight hours, type of landing gear, and IFR/VFR operation.

Forced Landing Study  62% of forced landings resulted in no injuries - only 5.2% resulted in a pilot fatality  Three major risks for a pilot fatality include: - fire or explosion after landing - failure to use a lap belt or shoulder harness - aircraft is completely destroyed

Survival and Rescue  File flight plans and stay in touch…  Prepare an emergency survival kit to deal with adverse conditions

Low Altitude Q: Why do pilots continue to kill themselves by turning back to the runway at low altitude? A: Few pilots TRULY understand the consequences of such a dangerous maneuver!

Low Altitude Federal Aviation Administration

Low Altitude Federal Aviation Administration

Low Altitude  Turnback-specific study – the initial success rate was only 42%  Even after repeated practice, the success rate only went up to 62%!  Conversely, 100% of the straight-ahead landings were successful  Consider the negative effects of landing downwind at a higher groundspeed!

Low Altitude  Have a plan for engine failure on departure - When it occurs, it’s too late to put together a plan!  Fight tendency to turn back after departure - Familiarize yourself with safe landing areas at your airport  The bottom line? TURNBACKS DO NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCE OF SURVIVAL!

Stalling the airplane nearly always results in fatalities at low altitude!

Under periods of high stress… we do not rise to the occasion – but instead sink to the level of our proficiency! Under periods of high stress… we do not rise to the occasion – but instead sink to the level of our proficiency! Therefore, the importance of training in ALL emergency situations cannot be emphasized strongly enough!! Practice!!!

What you can do starting today!  Get together with your favorite CFI to hone skills you probably haven’t used in a year or more!  Employ the techniques we’ve discussed  Practice the following: spiraling descent from cruise altitude, medium and low altitude engine failures

 Be Prepared!  Don’t Panic!  Know your airplane and procedures!  Know your terrain!  Manage the approach, including airspeed!  Touch down as slowly as possible! Conclusions

 “How to Crash an Airplane and Survive” by Mick Wilson  Flight Training Handbook AC61-21  “The Impossible Turn” – FAA-P For More Information…

Questions?

Thanks for coming! Scott Adams