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