You and your fellow flying club members are trained to handle in-flight emergencies, but are you prepared to endure a forced landing? Of the millions of GA flights every year, only a few end with unplanned off-airport landings. Even though the odds of a crash are slim, the potential consequences are harsh—which is why you should prepare and take basic precautions. To help, the AOPA Air Safety Institute (ASI) offers a video, publication, seminar, and web page of resources dedicated to this topic.
Funded by the Canadian Owners and Pilots Association (COPA) and the Donner Canadian Foundation, ASI’s new video, Survive: Beyond the Forced Landing, covers the importance of flight plans and flight following, and the need to consider terrain along the route of flight where an emergency landing may be necessary.
Learn about survival kit essentials and what actions you can take to help reduce the time it takes to get found. Showing the video at a safety meeting would be a great way for your flying club to learn together about communication techniques with air traffic control and other authorities, appropriate medical care and the use of basic survival equipment, such as emergency locators, strobes and space blankets, and suggested items to carry in a survival kit.
The 16-page accompanying publication includes a priority checklist, suggested items to include in your survival kit, and a list of other online resources. Print the publication to carry in your flight bag and share with your flying club members.
In addition to the video and guide, ASI’s in-person seminar (After the Crash: Surviving an Aircraft Accident) is currently being presented at locations nationwide. From route planning and emergency rations to signal mirrors and sat phones, the seminar takes a user-friendly, common sense approach at maximizing your chances of survival and rescue after a crash. We’ll talk about:
Click here to see a video preview of the presentation, and to see a listing of dates and locations. We hope to see you and your flying club at one of the seminars!
Lastly, to find all of these programs and much more in one place, check out this Safety Spotlight webpage. There’s even a link to get discounted survival gear and other products plus a chance to win a $50 Aircraft Spruce gift card by using promo code AOPAWPS (offer expires on May 31, 2015). One winner will be announced each month!
Safe pilots are always learning, and the Air Safety Institute’s goal is to ensure pilots have a wealth of information to keep flying safely. Our educational programs are funded through donations from pilots dedicated to forwarding that mission. Show your support by donating to the AOPA Foundation today (www.aopafoundation.org/donate).
