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Eric Basile – ATP, CFII, MEIFAASTeam 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!
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 Vy
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 Vx
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?
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!
KNOW YOUR AIRPLANE!
Always follow yourPOH recommended procedure
It’s as easy as:
irspeedest fieldockpit
ABC
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 underadverse 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 Velocity2) / 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 designedto protect occupants to 9 G’s in a
forward direction (1.5 G sideways and 6.0 G downward)
With this protection, very littlestopping distance is neededif 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 - 1998
Studied crash landings of GA airplanes with 10 seats or less from 1983 through 1992.
Data adjusted for pilot age, flight hours, type of landing gear, and IFR/VFR operation.
Forced Landing Study - 1998
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 http://www.crashandsurvive.com
Flight Training Handbook AC61-21
“The Impossible Turn” – FAA-P-8740-44
For More Information…
Questions?
http://www.geocities.com/piloteric2004/landings.ppt
Thanks for coming!
Scott Adams
