Alaska and Canada specify that survival kits must be kept in
small planes. Are kits usually kept in an accessible places?
If the plane was on fire or sinking into water, getting the kit
out quickly could be really important.
Even if the plane stayed half submerged in very cold water,
a guy might get hypothermia while trying to find and recover
the survival kit.

If you are a passenger in a small plane, the pilot will tell you where it is kept during your safety briefing.

Well, I'll tell you what I do. I'm a lowly private pilot, so I have to rent. They won't let me keep those keys.... <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />
Consequently, I'm forced to carry anything I want in the plane with me. This is a royal pain to me, because it limits how much I bring. My kit stays in my Flight Bag, which is on the backseat right behind me. If I have passengers, then I'll put it behind the rear seat in the baggage area. In a Piper Warrior (PA-28-151), this area is easily reached by those backseat passengers while keeping their belts on. If its on the seat behind me, I can reach my bag and kit without looking or turning around. In the event of an Emergency, like an engine out, I'll go for it after the plane is stopped, on the ground.

If it's going to be a ditching, I'm going to get the plane set up for my Best Glide Speed, then go for my life jacket. I'm always close enough to land that the Kit won't help me, plus it's not geared for water, with the exception of signalling stuff. I'd go for my Vertex Handheld Radio before I went for the kit over water. (waterproof Radio).

If I needed them to, I'd tell passengers to get it out and hand it to me.

If I had my own plane, then I'd keep the kit where it could be reached easily. Read as, not bolted down. Solo, it'd be next to me. With passengers, where they can reach it with belts on.

To stay with your idea of hypothermia, well, I'd get it out once I'd determined that engine wasn't restarting and take it with me.

Man, do I ever hope I never need that thing....

Happy Flying,
Kyle

Frozen,
Are these kits usually kept in an easily accessible place?
I can imagine a kit buried under gear and freight.

Packman,
[color:"blue"]I'm forced to carry anything I want in the plane with me. [/color]
If connecting from an airline, how do you have firestarting stuff
like butane lighter, flare, etc?

[color:"blue"] Vertex Handheld Radio [/color]
I assume this is air band. Do you recommend that model?

[color:"blue"]Man, do I ever hope I never need that thing.... [/color]
Yeah, it could be very grim, even if you are not injured in the
crash, hypothermia and starvation (aggravated by cold) could
be expected. If you make the kit too big, you might start leaving
it behind.

Canoe/Kayak people often wear life jackets that cover and
insulate the torso. I do not know if any of these have a collar that
supports the head (mine did not).

A critical amount of gear on your person, with a more comprehensive kit onboard. More accessible is better, but every aircraft and loadout is different; thus compromises have to be made.

When I've flown in helicopters, the kit was in a big duffle in the cargo compartment, which isn't very big anyway. I haven't flown too often in small fixed wing aircraft, but it is possible that alot of cargo could get in the way.

Flying in Canadian military aircraft north of 55 degrees latitude, all passengers are required to have a complete winter kit with them right at their seat. This regulation was implemented after an incident near Alert (83 N), where a Hercules aircraft went down in a blizzard.

Hi guy's, it's that guy from downunder again, with my thoughts on where to carry your PSK in light aircraft. I tend to break my PSK into two packs, one in which I carry my priority items ( Aircraft radio, Sat phone, 406 Mkz PLB, Signaling mirror, Whistle etc... ) is carried in a small pack placed just near my seat firmly restrained, but not so that I cannot quickly detach it from it's fasteners. The other larger kit ( tarps, cookiing gear, food, Gerber saw, rope, water supplies etc ... ) I place in a priority location in the back luggage area, above any luggage / freight. Unlike many of you, I do have the benefit of holding on to the keys of 9 single / 6 Twin aircraft and 3 choppers ( piston, turbine, and pure jet ). I also carry a personal survival kit in my flight bag, or in my flight suit.

Well, I haven't had an issue with that yet. I've only flown privately from my own local airport. If I want to go flying somewhere I've never been before, I usually go with an instructor from a Flight School in the area. For example, I did this in Hawaii. That way, I log the Time and get a free tour out of it. However, I can dodge the airline mess in regards to my pocket PSK, as there is no butane or anything similar in it. Sparklite and a few different kinds of matches, plus the Sparklite Tinder Tabs. But, I guess I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

You're correct, the Vertex is an Air Band radio. I highly reccomend this model, actually. I'm sure there are other similar out there, but I'm not familiar with them. It's not the cheapest model on the market, at about 400$, if I recall correctly. But, the features make it well worth it. It has transmit-recieve capability on both airband and on 2 & 10 meter HAM, plus FM recieve and NOAA recieve. Best yet, It's tested to the JIS-7 standard, meaning it's been proven waterproof to three feet for thirty minutes.

You're more than correct about hypothermia, although its not as big a concern here in Florida as it can be elsewhere. Yes, it can become an issue if you get wet or arne't properly clothed, but that's the same everywhere.

Part blessing, part curse, is my storage options for my kit. The fact that I'm forced to take it with me each and every time I leave the plane for the day limits its size, and consequentially, its weight. Right now, it's fairly compact. (10" X 8" X 4", plus an externally attached knife.)

With regards to the life jacket, I sincerely hope not to need it. Available at my Aircraft rental place are life rafts for rent. Sometimes, I invest if I'll be going over a lot of water on a flight. I'd much rather be in a raft than a vest. I'm going to be investing in a high-quality vest after this holiday season, I hope. Probably a Mustang Survival vest. Thoughts, anyone?

Happy Flying,
Kyle

[color:"blue"]
Packman said:
If it's going to be a ditching, I'm going to get the plane set up for my Best Glide Speed, then go for my life jacket. I'm always close enough to land that the Kit won't help me, plus it's not geared for water, with the exception of signalling stuff. [/color]

If you are ditching in water but close to land, wouldn't the kit
be very useful, once you reached land. Or, would the kit be
such a burden, in the water, that you might expire before
you made it to land?

Does anyone's kit float? Or have an attached inflatable device?

Yes and no. As you said, it could indeed slow me down in the water, so it might get left. Mine doesn't float as of right now. I'm working on it, but haven't come up with anything useful yet that won't add so much bulk as to make it useless.

Also, the Mayday call that I'd be broadcasting should help me.

Actually, as I type this, I'm remembering an ironic story. About six months ago, we had a Grumman Commander (100,000$ plane, brand spanking new) have an engine failure after takeoff. Water in the tanks, IIRC. Well, the guy ditches successfully in the bay just beyond the airport. Any life jackets or life rafts would have been little or no use to him or his passenger. What happened? Well, after his successful ditching, he and his passenger jumped off the wing, and walked through the 4 feet of water back to shore and asked the guys fishing to please allow them to borrow their cell phone. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> Fortunately, no one was hurt, except for their pride.

But, getting back to your statement, that was poor phrasing on my part. Allow me to reword: I'd go for my life jacket first, becauseI 'm not sure how long I could tread water, especially if I'm hurt. The Kit won't help me much in the water. I'd try to take my kit and go for shore, once there I'd break it open. I'd also forgotten to mention my PSK that stays in my pocket when I'm in the plane. that one is guaranteed to leave the plane with me.

Apologies, that was poor phrasing on my part.

-Kyle