How Not to Crash a Plane—and Tips for Survival if You Do

We continue to wreck airplanes for the same reasons we always have, but there are plenty of things we can do to survive—if not avoid the mistakes in the first place. Respected aviation author Rick Durden and Larry Anglisano talk about tailwheel airplanes, twins, and jet safety considerations and a bit about the Cessna 340 in this episode of the Smart Aviator Podcast.

Larry Anglisano
Larry Anglisano
Smart Aviator’s Larry Anglisano is a freelance writer who is an active land, sea and glider pilot with over 25 years experience as an avionics specialist.

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Tom Waarne
Tom Waarne
3 months ago

A really good article. How about floatplane ditchings and flippings, cold water survival and cold weather preparedness? Not everyone is lucky enough to have a 4,000 ft. runway nearby. And then there’s the blackflies and no-see-ums in the balmy summer months. The folks dealing with grizzlies/browns know enough about what to do– it’s the rest of us locals who think every flight ends at the hangar or the dreaded dispatch desk where your wallet is exposed to the realities of cost.

Joe O'Boyle
Joe O'Boyle
3 months ago

A video segment or 2, (maybe 3) in 20 minute segments about mountain ops would be very educational to us flat landers out east. Not too long for most folks, just enough to get good information for dealing with challenging issues of mountain ops.

roger anderson
roger anderson
3 months ago

Long ago, someone told me that for every 10 miles an hour you are above 60 mph when you crash, your chance of getting killed doubles. Haven’t personally verified it though.

Stephan Nelle
Stephan Nelle
Reply to  roger anderson
3 months ago

Kinetic energy is 1/2*m*v^2, so all else equal, the you have twice as much kinetic energy going 85 mph as you do at 60 mph. It is from the ratio of the squares of the speed, i.e., 85^2 / 60^2 = 2. Going 70 mph vs 60 mph is 70^2 / 60^2 = 1.36.

roger anderson
roger anderson
Reply to  Stephan Nelle
3 months ago

Thanks.

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