Not something I think I'd want to experience.

How common is this, and how unusual is it that everyone walks away from it?

Any suggestions for what a passenger can do to maximize chances of survival, once it becomes clear you're landing on the plane's belly?

Non synthetic clothing in case of fire for starters.You wouldn't want them melting on your skin now....


BOATMAN
John

Taking a brief glance at some of the accident statistics from the NTSB that covers between 1991 and 2010 accidents, where there are multiple fatalities or 1 fatality and major damage to Part 121 (Airline) aircraft, are uncommon.

As far a some survival tips, don't wear synthetic fabrics that melt in high temperatures, do wear real shoes and not sandals, flip flops, know where the closest exit is...keep in mind it may be behind you, if you are sitting in an emergency exit row take a look at the instructions for how to open it before you may be called upon to do it in a hurry, wear your seatbelt, and very importantly listen to your flight attendant they are there for more than serving you beverages.

Unless it's a completely fouled up situation you will be informed before hand that the airplane is making an emergency landing. The times where there isn't time to make preperations are shortly after takeoff where there just isn't time beyond making a brace call.

A true belly landing is very survivable if done on smooth surface and wings level.

If one gear won't come down, you want it to be the nose gear.
That leads to a symmetrical touchdown and slide-out. Also very survivable on smooth surface.

One main gear down is not as good but with underwing engines it's still not too scary. That engine will slide pretty well on pavement though it (the engine) won't be reusable afterwards.

I'd be a LOT more concerned about smoke in the cabin as the outcome of that isn't as much in the pilot's skilled hands.

Does the pilot have the nose pitched up a bit throughout the landing? Looks like all the smoke and dust are coming from the tail section as it slides along the runway.

I don't think there's much to do beyond knowing the standard safety measures that every passenger should familiarize themselves with when they board a flight. Actually, the fact that you "only" have to know that to maximize your chances of surviving are a testament to how safe these planes are.

Did they evacuate everyone using the emergency slides? It's hard to tell from the video. Is that the forward slide deployed, or a stairway, in the video?

Seems to me that once the aircraft touches down, the pilot is just another passenger along for the ride. Besides shutting stuff down and trying to mitigate any fire danger, the flight controls are pretty much useless.

From that video, it looks like they did a very nice job on approach and touchdown. They stayed on the runway and mostly intact -- very nice.

Emergency slides were deployed (showed up in a different video).

Nice job by the pilot.

Not so - you never stop flying the thing until it comes to a stop. Maintaining directional control and proper pitch input would be important.

Retractable gear aircraft are "designed" to belly land - it should be quite survivable. The greatest danger would probably be stampeding passengers.

Nope, in modern day swept wing jet airplanes you touch down at a speed where the airplane is still flyable and thus have control in the aerodynamic surfaces.

That pretty much sums it up. I would add, when you reserve your seat look at the seating chart for the plane and pick a seat that isn't too far from an exit. What scares me the most when thinking about an airplane evacuation is the thought of being trapped behind a bunch of clueless or panicked people who are between me and a safe exit. In a lot of crashes, people survive the impact only to die from inhaling smoke and toxic gases while waiting to get out. Therefore, I try to pick an aisle seat that is within just a couple rows of the nearest exit if possible (I've thought about going for the exit row, but don't feel right about taking up one of those seats when there are a lot of people who need the extra legroom more than I do...I'm short). I think there was a statistic somewhere that said survival chances go down dramatically once you're more than 6 rows from the exit. I'm not surprised...we all know the traffic jam that happens in the aisle when getting off a plane normally.