AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2023 - 22

PROFICIENT PILOT
Thoughts
about survival
Ignoring safety procedures at your peril
BY BARRY SCHIFF / AOPA Foundation Legacy Society chairman
FORMAL RECURRENT TRAINING gives airline and business pilots
an annual opportunity to review emergency procedures and
practice using emergency equipment. So, it was no surprise
when my fellow pilots and I returned to the TWA training center
after lunch some years ago and found our assigned classroom
filled with fire extinguishers, oxygen equipment, smoke goggles,
and other gear. Each of us got to extinguish fire in a wastepaper
basket, don a smoke hood, and so forth. When we were through
with these drills, our instructor reached into a large carton and
tossed a packaged life jacket to each of us. Another boring drill.
How many times had we practiced donning a Mae West? The
room filled with muffled groans and expletives.
As we began to open the plastic wrapping, the instructor
said, " Hold it, guys. Not so fast. Don't do anything with those
jackets until I give the word. Wait until I count to three. Then
put them on and inflate them as quickly as possible. Pretend that
your aircraft is sinking. Every second counts. "
Big deal, we thought.
" One. Two. Three. Go! "
As we again began to rip open the plastic pouches, the lights
went out unexpectedly. The room turned black. There were
sounds of confusion. More expletives.
Thirty seconds later the lights came on, and we were told to
stop what we were doing. Each of us felt the stinging embarrassment
of failure. If it were not so deadly serious, it would have
been comical. Not one of 20 veteran airline pilots had come close
to properly donning his life jacket.
Having emergency equipment aboard the aircraft is one
thing; being able to use it in challenging conditions is another.
Airline passengers generally seem to be blasé about emergency
procedures. Ever notice how so many of them ignore the
safety demonstration before departure? They busy themselves
with newspapers and magazines as if to suggest they know all
this stuff. But actual emergencies prove that they don't know all
this stuff. During an emergency evacuation, for example, many
passengers tend to rush toward the cabin door through which
they entered. They either pass up emergency exits along the way
or fail to use closer exits that are in the opposite direction. (One
of the first things an airline pilot does when boarding an airliner
as a passenger is to take note of the nearest exit.)
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AOPA PILOT / April 2023
During a loss of cabin pressure, many passengers prove again
that they ignored the safety briefing by not pulling down sufficiently
on the oxygen mask (to start the flow of oxygen) before
attempting to use it.
General aviation pilots also have the obligation to educate
passengers before departure. We must ensure that they understand
how and when to use seat belts and shoulder harnesses.
It is imperative that a pilot demonstrate how to use the doors,
windows, and emergency exits in case he becomes incapacitated
during an accident. Some years ago, for example, two passengers
were entombed in a fiery Piper Arrow because they did not
know about the top latch and could not open the cabin door.
I am not sure which is more sinful, having emergency equipment
and not being able to use it properly, or not having it
available in the first place. For whatever reason, many pilots fail
to equip their aircraft with such necessities as fire extinguishers,
survival kits, and first aid kits. (In some countries, these are
required aboard all powered aircraft.)
The least expensive and most easily obtainable survival
equipment is water, but many pilots fail to take more than a small
bottle on cross-country flights. One can change the errant habits
of some of these pilots by describing to them what it is like to die
of dehydration following a forced landing in the desert.
The summer temperature in the desert sun can reach 150
degrees Fahrenheit. To remain cool, the body perspires and can
lose up to 2.5 pints of water per hour. After a day or so, sweating
ceases because the body has no more water to give. The tongue
swells and speaking becomes impossible. Crash survivors can
develop such a raging, overwhelming urge to drink that they
resort to sipping urine and fuel. Delirium sets in, and people
imagine that the sand is a lake and begin to " drink " it, but the
throat is so swollen that swallowing is impossible.
Water can no longer save such a person. A cut does not bleed
because the blood is too thick. Body temperature rises. And just
before this gruesome death, some discover that they have only
enough water remaining to cry
tears of pain.
What is so sad about this is
how easily it can be prevented.
BarrySchiff.com
BARRY SCHIFF is author
of the award-winning
trilogy The Proficient
Pilot, Volumes 1, 2, and 3.
http://www.BarrySchiff.com
AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2023

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