Mountain Search Pilot, Part III

Hands-on survival training is one of the most valuable features of the Montana Aeronautics Division Mountain Search Pilot Clinic. All participants spend a morning or afternoon with crash survival experts, practicing techniques that can save their lives. Pilots who are prepared for wilderness survival are much more likely to be alive and well when searchers find them than those who haven’t thought much about what happens after an airplane crash.

The instructors teach that the most important tool in a pilot’s kit is his brain. A wrecked airplane is a treasure trove of survival equipment, if crash survivors just put aside panic and think. If the pilot has done a careful job of making an emergency landing, the airplane fuselage is likely to be intact, and can be used as shelter from the elements. Hypothermia (loss of body heat) is the most frequent killer of people stranded in the mountains, so shelter is the number one priority. A metal aircraft fuselage will keep people dry, but can be very cold unless some insulation material is used to line the interior. Seat upholstery, paper charts, extra clothing, blankets, cushions, tree boughs, dry moss, leaves, or any other material available can be used to create a cocoon around the survivors.

Of course, a fire would be nice to keep warm and to signal searchers (the smokier, the better.) What, you say you packed no matches? The aircraft battery can be used to spark a fire, and the engine oil and fuel can help get the blaze hot. If the ground is too wet to build a fire, the spinner off the propeller can be used like an hibachi. Mix oil with some soil, and light the fire with wires off the battery. Add a little oil as necessary, and the fire will put out billows of smoke for a long time.

Pieces of aluminum skin off the airplane can be used to collect rainwater or melted snow for drinking, to signal search aircraft by reflecting the sun, or even for cooking, if you happened to bring any food along. Wings make good shelters from hot sun if heat is more a problem than cold. Nighttime condensation can be carefully scraped off wings early in the morning, if water is scarce. All these tips assume that the pilot wasn’t very well prepared for an unplanned wilderness experience. The wise pilot always travels with some essential equipment on board.

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