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Passenger emergency landing checklist

MT12

FRIEND
Montana
This last weekend I took my girlfriend on a scenic flight down the South fork of the Flathead River in the Bob Marshall wilderness here in Montana. She had just spent a week floating the river, so it was to be fun to show it to her from above as well as to check out the fall colors. I try to remember to monitor 121.5 as we tool through the backcountry, just in case. As we were about 6 miles south of Meadow Creek the radio started with the horrible wail of an ELT going off. After a quick 'Oh Crap', which scared her cuz she didn't know what that noise was, and a check to make sure it wasn't my ELT we flew towards meadow creek.

In the middle of the runway, bull's-eye on the center designator ring was an upside down Citabria. More Oh No's...Long story short (if its not already too late for that) we landed short, raced up to the plane to find it empty. I got on my handheld and called to another plane who I had heard earlier to help us out and try and reach FSS or Center. He couldn't get FSS, not a surprise. I gave him center's freq because he didn't know it and he went up to 10,000 and rang them up. Relaying what we had found. In the meantime we started to try and locate the pilot. (who as it turns out had crossed the river, and hitched a ride to a ranger station some miles away. He was fine, so all's well that ends well.)

So on the long flight home we got to talking about what we had come across that morning and how it might have come out differently. All of the What if's. As we jumped out of my plane I told her to grab the hasty bag and follow me. So some of her questions were: what's in the bag; how did you know how to get a hold of center; what is center; what if we would have crashed what should I have done; how did you know how to get a hold of that other airplane; what's an ELT, how does it work; how would I (her) know what frequency to use on the handheld.

Now in my own defense I thought I give a pretty good pre-flight passenger briefing: how the seat belt works, where the survival gear is, how to exit in case of emergency and that sort of stuff. But I realize with our discussions that a briefing like that wouldn't have done her much good if I had taken a dirt nap and she had to figure out how to use the airplane's resources to make herself known to possible rescuers.

Now onto the question part of this diatribe. Does anyone have an emergency/crash landing check list for your back seaters; what's in it and so forth.


I'm now committed to putting one together that at the very least will have a placard on my handheld with some of the important frequencies, a good label on my panel for the 406 switch and a pocket stuffer that says things like:
REALLY tighten you seat belt and shoulder harness
Open the door at 50 feet above the ground
Brace yourself.
ELT located in tail section of plane (spare antenna in the baggage compartment
and....

I'll hang up now and listen to your responses.
 
I try to keep the sat phone and gun on my body or close so I can stick it in my shirt. I tell passengers if they don't drag me from the burning wreck they will surely die:sad:. I also tell them not brace for impact with there feet, just keep the knees bent or we will die for sure. Phone numbers are on laminated card with sat phone.
DENNY
 
Anyone in my plane will know where the survival pack and medical kit are located. The ELT switch requires a three second brief to familiarize a newbie. My sat phone location is always within reach. My sat phone PIN number is deactivated and RCC's number is speed dial #1. Turn phone on, wait for a signal icon, hold #1 to call for help. Even a distressed person can do that. Keep it simple.
 
Other than giving a passenger a briefing like you are doing there isn't a lot that can be taught in a few minutes. I'd suggest attending Montana Aeronautics survival course. They offer two programs. I think the summer/fall class starts about now. The winter class is fun too with snow cave construction and overnighting and good tips for winter survival. I took it three times. I think non-pilots are welcome during the lecture part of both sessions.

A PLB stuck in a passenger's pocket will help as will a 406 ELT. There aren't too many folks monitoring 121.5 nowadays like you were. I do but only because I've got a dedicated 121.5 DF radio in the Cessna. I never do in the Cub.

The South Fork is my favorite place to fly in April. No one is in there yet and the valley is loaded with wintering elk.
 
Other than giving a passenger a briefing like you are doing there isn't a lot that can be taught in a few minutes. I'd suggest attending Montana Aeronautics survival course. They offer two programs. I think the summer/fall class starts about now. The winter class is fun too with snow cave construction and overnighting and good tips for winter survival. I took it three times. I think non-pilots are welcome during the lecture part of both sessions.

A PLB stuck in a passenger's pocket will help as will a 406 ELT. There aren't too many folks monitoring 121.5 nowadays like you were. I do but only because I've got a dedicated 121.5 DF radio in the Cessna. I never do in the Cub.

The South Fork is my favorite place to fly in April. No one is in there yet and the valley is loaded with wintering elk.

+1

Dont over complicate it. Wear a survival vest yourself, and demo to your pax what's there briefly. If it's a newbie, be careful.....it's easy to scare the crap out of them. Frequent pax, give a more thorough brief, maybe give them a PLB with strict instructions on its use....but ONLY if you really trust them. Believe me, many people will "fiddle" with stuff, and a PLB is not something you want them fiddling with.

MTV
 
http://www.aopa.org/-/media/D96F2875491F45079BF9A70C3C5EA1BB.ashx

Theres a generic one from aopa manly the second page. I try and monitor 121.5 and I know they say to transmit on it in an emergency. My thought and what I breff passengers on is use the ctaf I'm on. At least up here they cover a large area and people are more likely to be monitoring the ctaf then 121.5. I show them the radio and master with a simple set of instructions how to use it. Also how to manually turn on the elt. I'll try and find it I think it was aopa had a video on briefings that wasn't bad.
 
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