Survival: Are You Ready?

We have a great Survival Briefing coming this next weekend at our monthly EAA meeting. Please plan on attending.

I’ve got to say I am not as prepared here in the Lower 48 as I was in Alaska. A false sense of security here, for sure.

I guess flying over such a populated area all the time leads to this attitude.

In Alaska, I always had a sleeping bag and a full-on survival back pack crammed full of stuff that if I did go down would help get thru the first three days. If I made it down alive.

Mind you, I always filed a flight plan in Alaska. I wanted to be looked for. When was the last time any one of the readers has filed a flight plan? I bet you couldn’t even get half way thru a VFR flight plan without having the receiving agency asking you a bunch questions. Like how much fuel on board? How many people on board? How long your flight will be and who to call in emergency? I had a Master Plan on File.

When I was learning to fly I had to file a flight plan every flight. You ask why? Quite simple: it’s Alaska. It’s just as common as pulling carb heat when you reduce power. Why do that? Because it’s Alaska.

What is a Master Flight Plan? A master has all the information on file except for the immediate flight. Like where I was going, time enroute, fuel on board, souls on board. I would call on the phone before a flight or call when airborne and file just after I was done talking to local ATC.

I can’t begin to tell you how many pilots did not file a Flight Plan and how many went down and either were NEVER found or found a few days later. Get it? Yep, that’s right, they are still out there somewhere. There’s a C-402 still out behind Talkeetna. It was seen by a guy that got lost back there and he didn’t know where he saw it because he was lost.

Your engine quits and you go down, the stuff in the flight bag or back pack is in the plane, and the plane is on fire or at the bottom of a lake. You made it out — that’s the good news. You filed a plan and told your best friend where you were going and your wife. They will be looking for you soon. Do you know how long it takes for the standard ELT to be found? 40 minutes on the first pass of the satellite. How long does a 406 Mhz ELT take?

A friend of mine lost his sister in a crash. It was five years later they found the plane at the bottom of a lake just off the Yukon river. The only reason the pilot saw that plane was the weather was bad and he was low over the trees off the river. Flew over the lake low and slow and saw the metallic reflection under water. Yes, everyone was still in their seats.

Now whatever you had in your pockets is your survival gear. I flew around with everything in my pockets that I needed to start a fire, along with signaling devices, be it a mirror or flares or smoke. Every rescue person in the search airplanes will tell you they will see a light before they see anything. The next thing they see is smoke.

They also told me start the biggest dang fire you can. If you didn’t run out of fuel and your airplane is in one piece, didn’t burn and isn’t at the bottom of a lake. And you don’t have any broken bones. You are on a non-sked camping trip. Man, you are doing good! Most don’t get off that easy.

ELT’s - Emergency Locator Transmitters I have the 406 MHz ELT in my airplane. Ya, it’s more money and Ya, it’s not required. But I have one for a couple reasons. They will almost instantly find me. They know right where I am, via GPS coordinates. Plus, when the signal goes off they have a number to call. That’s enough for me. Not to mention the 121.5 ELT’s are not exactly on that frequency. Have you had yours checked for frequency accuracy?

Ha, a passenger at Rust Flying Service misunderstood the pilot briefing one day. He told them if “we go down and I haven’t armed the ELT push this here button to On.” Well, yep, you guessed it. When they started down…the passenger pressed the button. Almost immediately Rust got a call from the Rescue Coordination Center (RCC). The call went out over company frequency and everything was OK, and RCC was told to stand down.

Dressing for the Conditions

I dressed like I was going to have a problem. I dressed in the winter with full arctic gear. In the summer, I had a coat on and really good boots like in the winter. Why? Because its Alaska, of course. I got told when I was learning to fly to never wear tennis shoes again when I showed up to fly. Yep, same reason…it’s Alaska. Dress like you are going to have a problem…you probably will. Think about walking out around here. Are those flip flops going to get you far?

When I was Chief Pilot of the Iditarod Air Force way back in 1990, I invited the survival guys come in and brief us. Everyone sure learned a ton of information. It was all in a book somewhere. But reading the book when you’re down is not the time to learn survival.

I even went out and practiced starting fires. Fires don’t start well in the cold. He told us some secrets on how to start a fire when It’s really cold. Bic lighters don’t work when they are cold. Like 20°F.

One time before I left Alaska for the Lower 48, this guy sets out one day in the summer to go to his cabin 120 miles away. He never showed up. RCC looked for him for three days. The Civil Air Patrol looked for him longer. Then one day they found him. Nowhere near where he said he was going. Did he file a plan? Nope. His wife knew where he was going but he never called or checked in. Now, this is just one instance that happened. He went around the LONG way because weather was bad in front of him but never bothered to tell anyone. He was found in a cabin on the other side of the Kenai peninsula. He ran out of gas. Put the plane down on the beach. Wrecked it and the tide took it out. Who found him? A boat that was going by. He made an SOS signal on the beach with logs. Happy ending. Many weren’t.

You can go down here in the lower 48 and be half a mile from the road and in these big trees never be found.

Ha, a bunch of my buddies went deer hunting out in the Gulf of Alaska. They filed a plan, closed it, and had a due back home time. When they didn’t show, the call went out and RCC was dispatched to the last known location. There they were still on the beach. Waiting out the weather. They said it was real cool. The helo came out of the clouds landed and asked are you these guys and they said yep. The crewman got back in the helo and left.

Another time another guy in his new C-180 went deer hunting on the same Island. Got five deer loaded them up and headed back. Weather was bad in the pass and it was getting dark and almost out of fuel put it down on a beach. Wrecked the plane. Pulled the plane above the high tide marks. No one hurt and they had lots to eat. They flagged down a boat and got out of there. The boat hoisted the plane off the beach. Put it on the deck and away they went.

Build a fire, have a mirror. We have so many devices now to carry on our person. But also carry the tried and true old-fashioned stuff. No batteries required stuff.

I have gone out just before dark and brought fuel to guys that ran out of gas. Yes, they went past good airports and ran out of gas in sight of Anchorage. Almost making it don’t count, folks.

I’m headed back up to Alaska. I’ll reenergize my Master Flight Plan. I’ll be flying the Bush in Beaver on Floats for the Summer. The company keeps track of me at work. Plus, when I’m out in my plane I’ll have the company following me and FSS.

Oh! now we have Sat Phones that we can call in and let loved ones and FSS know we are on the ground and weathered in or at our destination out of radio range.

It’s all about getting found fast and alive.

I bet you are wondering does he file a plan here? Yes, I do. I file with my wife and I call her when I get to where I’m going.

Hey, I got a question. How many folks fly over the water here and are always with in glide distance of land? Is 2500 feet going to Friday Harbor Direct high enough? Or is it a violation of FAR’s. 4500 might be high enough but 6500 is far safer. Just so you know, the only time my engine runs rough is when the tail of my airplane leaves the shoreline and when the sun goes down.

Fly Safe.

Mike Radford