The brief piece I read on The Daily Beast, with a snippet from an AP story, gave a few details on the airplane crash in Alaska that killed former Sen. Ted Stevens.

The quote:

“Former Senator Ted Stevens lay dead in the mangled fuselage of the plane,” according to its report, while nearby 13-year-old William Phillips Jr. watched his father die. The four survivors, including former NASA chief Sean O’Keefe and his son, were forced to endure the Alaskan cold for hours with broken bones. Some rescuers credited their survival to the heavy-duty waders they were wearing (the passengers were embarking on a fishing trip); they helped to protect them from the rain and cold as rescuers struggled against bad weather to reach the site. Of the survivors, Sean O’Keefe is the only one currently listed in critical condition.


That's a nightmare scenario, and I'd love to hear Doug Ritter's comments on that. How do you prepare for something like that? I don't fly, but I know I carry in my car several blankets, extra warm socks, first aid kit, and in winter extra fleece hoodies.

Tim

(I know I'm not Doug but here are some thoughts-)

Car scenario is different than airplane scenario.

Airplane crash usually means that you are going to have what you can reach (if you can reach). Pinned in the seat/debris is not uncommon. (I had a flight instructor whose father was pinned in wreckage for 2 days before being found. She was advising me to drape my coat over the seatback rather than tossing it into the back of the plane.)

Having to wait hours for help is the best scenario.

There were experiences in WWII where the plane crashed, crew survived and scrambled out of the plane and had to watch as all their survival gear burned in the wreckage. "survival vests" were born from those experiences.

Good point.

This Canadian trapper was pinned under his 4-wheeler for days. He had plenty of supplies strapped to the vehicle but he couldn't access anything that was not on his person.

Everybody thinks they can get to whatever is in their pack... until the pack falls over the cliff or floats down the river.

the Alaskan bush seems a good place to practice being really prepared; cold/ wet weather gear, First aid kit ( extensive) and comm. gear.

A good jacket, boots and a day pack sized kit are a fine start....

Switlik has a few good ideas on how to carry your gear. Where I fly not sinking is a good start. . .

so I haven't had the misfortune to test mine. . . OTOH friends didn't have the opportunity to use theirs. Staying in the air is always Plan A. . .

Going into the Alaskan or Canadian bush (or flying over glaciers) without on-body survival gear sounds like a really fine case of poor planning.

Do you think there are people who do have kits with them, and complain that they've never had to use them? Probably.

My father always used to say that any landing you can walk away from is a good landing. I would amend that to: any landing that you can crawl away from or survive is a good landing.

Has the cause of the Stevens crash been even guessed at yet? Pilot error? Mechanical malfunction? Weather?

Sue

I have somewhat of a personal interest in this one and just watched a video segment on the msnbc.msn.com website. There is no indication of what caused the crash and they have not been able to interview any passengers yet. It is reported that the pilot was very experienced and had 29,000 hours of commercial flying time with Alaska Airlines before retiring.

The De Havilland DHC-3 Otter is an older but very reliable aircraft and is still used in daily flight operations. Harbour Air out of Vancouver Canada has 18 of these aircraft in current use.

You should always assume that you might have to get by on what is in your pockets. This includes wilderness scenarios as well as urban - I had the fire alarm go while I was away from my desk recently - found myself in the street, no access to carpark, just what I walked out in. Luckliy I had phone, wallet etc, but the stuff stashed in my desk and car wasn't available to me. Happily it was a drill, but it is a reminder

By all means pack more, but be aware