Information to pass along to my family

Nathan Miller

Nathan Miller

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Oct 5, 2019
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Washington, D.C.
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Display name:
Nathan
So, I'm typing out an email to send to my family, should I ever go missing in my plane. All of my family is in the same metro area, so it's unlikely I'll fly somewhere to see them. I'm going to get into the habit of at least texting my mom if I'm embarking on a cross country - which will happen more frequently now that I'm starting my instrument training.

I imagine most of the information is overkill. I'll start simple with a headline "If lost, call my tower and they will assist and direct the next steps". I imagine that will be the case - if the tower can't help directly, they can point them in the direction of people who could. I'm also including more information just so they can digest it / have it in one place and at the ready.

-I've included the tail number, make/model, and a picture of my plane.
-I've included a link to my flight history on flight aware. (ADS-B makes live and historical tracking way too easy :)
-I've included phone numbers for my local airport's tower, as mentioned, and the tracon.
-I've included the names, phone numbers, and email addresses for my partners in the plane.
-I've mentioned that I have a Virb camera over my shoulder than records anytime I flip on ship's power.

Probably overkill, hopefully this email to them will never have to be used.

Thoughts? Anything else to include? Anything I should pare back for simplicity?
 
I would give them the same info as found in a flight plan.
 
I put the FlightAware link for my tail number on my wife's cell phone. That seems enough to me.
 
Carry, and use, a SPOT (or similar) device on every flight. Even if it is destroyed or rendered inaccessible during a crash, at the very least they (anyone with access to your SPOT page) will have track data and a ping within 10 minutes (or less with more expensive plans) of your location.

Carry it whereever you go and you can make neat looking maps like this:

Screenshot_20200529-143637_Firefox.jpg
 
My wife knows my tail number. I text when I am departing and tell her when I should be safely down. I’ve always texted ahead of that time to say I’m safe.
 
Nathan Miller said:
So, I'm typing out an email to send to my family, should I ever go missing in my plane. All of my family is in the same metro area, so it's unlikely I'll fly somewhere to see them. I'm going to get into the habit of at least texting my mom if I'm embarking on a cross country - which will happen more frequently now that I'm starting my instrument training.

I imagine most of the information is overkill. I'll start simple with a headline "If lost, call my tower and they will assist and direct the next steps". I imagine that will be the case - if the tower can't help directly, they can point them in the direction of people who could. I'm also including more information just so they can digest it / have it in one place and at the ready.

-I've included the tail number, make/model, and a picture of my plane.
-I've included a link to my flight history on flight aware. (ADS-B makes live and historical tracking way too easy :)
-I've included phone numbers for my local airport's tower, as mentioned, and the tracon.
-I've included the names, phone numbers, and email addresses for my partners in the plane.
-I've mentioned that I have a Virb camera over my shoulder than records anytime I flip on ship's power.

Probably overkill, hopefully this email to them will never have to be used.

Thoughts? Anything else to include? Anything I should pare back for simplicity?
Click to expand...
I'm going to sound like an A$$, sorry.. but did you send an email like this when you got your driving license, or took up skiing, scuba diving, mountain biking, hiking, (etc). It's an illustrative point I guess.

Flying can be remarkably safe (really, GA is as safe as you make it).. the way non aviators feel about private flying and the already heightened anxiety of "small planes are always crashing" if I ever did something like this it would just freak them out more, with no real benefit to me. If I'm flying anywhere I'm either on flight following or an IFR flight plan, if I go down they'll send help much faster than a lay person

However.. to answer your question, I do usually text my gf when I take off and land, mostly for her peace of mind and basic courtesy

The first few times I brought my non flying friends on weekend trips they did send their family's the tail number and flightaware link.. part of that was for their peace of mind, but part of it was also just cool factor thing "look you can track me just like you can track that Delta flight!"
 
Nathan Miller said:
-I've included the tail number, make/model, and a picture of my plane.
-I've included a link to my flight history on flight aware. (ADS-B makes live and historical tracking way too easy :)
-I've included the names, phone numbers, and email addresses for my partners in the plane.
Click to expand...
These three are pretty redundant.
-I've included phone numbers for my local airport's tower, as mentioned, and the tracon.
-I've mentioned that I have a Virb camera over my shoulder than records anytime I flip on ship's power.
Click to expand...
Not sure these two are necessary.

Actually, I'm not sure why it isn't just "if I'm overdue, call one of the airplane partners".
 
There are two reasons to give this kind of info to a family member.

1) If they are the kind of person who calls you every time there's a small plane crash on the news to ask "was it you?" If they know the make/model/colorscheme/tailnumber, hopefully it'll cut down on the panicked phone calls because they'll know it's not you. Knowing flightaware/flightradar24 can help here too.

2) To use them as a "flight plan", who will call someone to rally the troops if you go missing and don't check in at the end of a particular flight. One text "taking off soon, expect three hours!" and another later "on the ground!". I regularly use my husband for this -- we call it the "wife plan". He's also a pilot and would know what to do and is familiar with the plane, because, y'know, he, like, owns it and all. Technically.

It sounds like you're looking for purpose #2, and that the family in question are not pilots or knowledgable about "the system". In that case, I would maybe keep it simple and just give them a) the tail number, and b) two phone numbers to call (one primary, and one backup), of people who would know everything necessary to start the cavalry-sending process, like maybe one of your partners (if they are reliable people who will pick up), or maybe Flight Service. Someone who will know all the other phone numbers.
 
I can't imagine how a tower controller could help. They are responsible only for operations within their airspace and do not get involved with flight plans,etc. If you file a flight plan, your relatives could call 1-800-wxbrief to talk to someone at Flight Service who could track down the flight plan....but while that would start the search operation in motion it would offer no help on finding your position. The tail number is essential, of course. "It's a little airplane....I think it is white" would not help. A TRACON is only good within 30 miles or so of the facility, and it is unlikely that you would be talking to a terminal controller anyway. When you use flight following you are talking to Center, and that phone call to Flight Service will cause them to contact the appropriate Centers...you do not need Center phone numbers.

As noted by others, a personal locator beacon is what you want...ideally, one that broadcasts your GPS position. Not cheap, but consider the alternative....down in the middle of nowhere with no communications capability at all.


Bob Gardner
 
bobmrg said:
I can't imagine how a tower controller could help. They are responsible only for operations within their airspace and do not get involved with flight plans,etc.
[...]
As noted by others, a personal locator beacon is what you want...ideally, one that broadcasts your GPS position. Not cheap, but consider the alternative....down in the middle of nowhere with no communications capability at all.
Click to expand...

My thinking was my local tower could confirm I've taken off from there that day and/or direct my family to the right people.
I will provide the 1-800-wxbrief number instead.

I should mention that 95% of my operations are while I'm in touch with Potomac Tracon. Aside from that, I have yet to see any of my flights that haven't been tracked on flight aware. ADS-B had an unexpected hidden benefit.
 
I'd just leave a note where you were going and what plane, when you're supposed to get there and back. If you go missing for a week or so, they'll figure it out. Carry a SPOT for extra coverage if you like.
 
I second the use of SPOT, although maybe not as much now as before ADS-B. I can send a pre typed message with the check in button (like leaving or arriving on time), or a different pre typed message with the help button (like delayed or diverted), and of course the 911 button. If your spot is tied into flight service then that gets the E word out there with one button. You can also text a link to a map page that leaves a breadcrumb every few minutes. I realize you have to pay for it but I think it is worth it.
 
WDD said:
I'd just leave a note where you were going and what plane, when you're supposed to get there and back. If you go missing for a week or so, they'll figure it out. Carry a SPOT for extra coverage if you like.
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:yeahthat: :goofy:
 
William Pete Hodges said:
I second the use of SPOT, although maybe not as much now as before ADS-B. I can send a pre typed message with the check in button (like leaving or arriving on time), or a different pre typed message with the help button (like delayed or diverted), and of course the 911 button. If your spot is tied into flight service then that gets the E word out there with one button. You can also text a link to a map page that leaves a breadcrumb every few minutes. I realize you have to pay for it but I think it is worth it.
Click to expand...

Newer versions of the SPOT devices (I still have a SPOT II) allow for more than the three canned messages. They have an actual keyboard and you can send normal text message via satellite fomr anywhere within the coverage area.

There are other options, of course, and some may balk at the $14/month subscription fee (at my subscription level anyway), but like you said, well worth the price...
 
My note will say to tell the circling lawyers to F-Off. I've told my wife that she is not to sue anyone if I die hang gliding or flying.
I text a "landed safely" to my wife when doing both activities. I don't expect my relatives to handle SAR. I'm on FF or an IFR flight plan if I'm going anywhere and have 121.5 on Comm 2 when knocking around.
 
Nathan Miller said:
I did. :D

The Garmin GNX 375. $11 AMUs.
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Very useful IF you are within range of a ground station, at a high enough altitude and are actually in the air... Useless out of range of the ground station, below some altitudes, and crashed on the side of a mountain somewhere. Especially after the electrical power quits.
 
Two words:
Flight
Following
 
My wife is Ukrainian. She knows where I've been before I even get there!

My wife tracks my on my iPhone (location sharing) and via FlightAware. If I ever go way cross-country, I'll get the Garmin InReach Explorer + and just have her track me that way.
 
OMG.
I'm sorry. I just can't. I love my family. I'm a rusty pilot that hasn't been in the air for 22 years YET. But that's another story (and Covid has been THE delaying force in that for the last 5 months)

I don't tell my family every time I get in my truck and go for a ride. I don't give them my licence plate number and the phone number of the nearest highway patrol office and remind them that I drive a white Sierra.

And while the myth that flying small aircraft is "safer than driving" has been substantially debunked, it is only marginally more dangerous. And, since I drive much more than I plan to fly... At least for now, being in the truck is more likely to kill me (especially in a state in which rudimentary equipment like turn signals are more of an "option" than ADSB is in the flying realm).

I'm not going to carry a tracking device, nor will I have a chip implanted under my skin.

Let me repeat, I love my family. But I'm not going to prepare them for my untimely demise or even temporary incapacitation every time I "get out of bed" or some other risky enterprise I may choose to embark upon.

Fine, call me an old curmudgeon who wants to die with his boots on and to heck with his loved ones. It ain't so. I love them enough not to tell them I'm living life and that's a risky business (that for all of us, ends sooner than we'd like).

Not gonna happen, wouldn't be prudent at this juncture....


fly to the scene of the incident, or be recovered at the scene of the tragedy
 
Nathan Miller said:
Thanks for adding absolutely nothing to the discussion
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I'm sorry, that was too long to read... Here's my contribution and I'll paraphrase you.

You're right it's "overkill," every bit of it.

You ask for an opinion, you get it. That's how that works.

I apologize if it's not how or what you expected.

fly to the scene of the incident, or be recovered at the scene of the tragedy
 
Nathan Miller said:
Fine. To hell with my family.
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Nope. Not what I said.

But if that is how you equate loving your family, why on Earth do you pursue an avocation that is risky enough that you feel you must prepare them for your demise every. single. time. you. engage. in. it?

See, that is the nature of email. It's temporary, especially in the case of flying where the course and destination are different every time.

That's like the "open only in the event of my death" letter... Every time you fly? Really??? AND if it survives, you can even watch all the grizzly details of how I met my demise from my nifty camera that comes on the minute I flip the switch!

How about... I'm going flying today. I'm leaving about "x" I'll be done about "y"

I mean really?




fly to the scene of the incident, or be recovered at the scene of the tragedy
 
CharlieD3 said:
Nope. Not what I said.

But if that is how you equate loving your family, why on Earth do you pursue an avocation that is risky enough that you feel you must prepare them for your demise every. single. time. you. engage. in. it?
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Oh wow. THAT'S what you got out of my post? Wow. No wonder you're flying off the handle.
 
Nathan Miller said:
Oh wow. THAT'S what you got out of my post? Wow. No wonder you're flying off the handle.
Click to expand...
"So, I'm typing out an email to send to my family, should I ever go missing in my plane."

I guess you're not sending this every time you fly.

I guess they'll stick this email in a folder "Nathan" just in case they need to read it because you haven't checked in.

Fine. I get that. I guess.

Now, I'm sure you wore a helmet and maybe knee pads when you learned to ride a bike... But, when you fell off and skinned your elbow, did the whole extended family in the metro area do the "round robin" phone calls to notify each other of the road rash?

Look, I'm sorry I intruded. Again, you asked for an opinion. You got one. I fail to see the logic, but that's just me. I'm insensitive that way, I guess...

Good luck in your endeavors... And please, see my signature for the best advice I can give you on how to avoid having that email read.

fly to the scene of the incident, or be recovered at the scene of the tragedy
 
Got to do what you feel needed for you and your family. No one right or wrong universal answer that fits everyone

Me? I think about what I want to accomplish.

If it is to make family feel less nervous, then I tell them where I leave from, where I’m going, and when I get there. Anything more isn’t going to make them feel better.

If my objective is to enhance my rescue if something goes wrong, then family isn’t going to be able to add anything beyond the response I get when the ELT goes off, people call 911 when seeing a plume of smoke, when the rental place sees their plane missing, etc.

If my objective is to protect my family if somebody bad happens then I buy life Insurance or quit flying. We have our wills updated in the secure fire box - but you should do that regardless if you fly or not
 
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Where I put the key to the safe deposit box.
Everything they need or want to know is in the box.
I’ll get myself out of trouble, thank you. ADSB, flight following, flight plan, PLB. If that’s not sufficient, then I’m not around and get to the box before you do anything else.
 
murphey said:
Where I put the key to the safe deposit box.
Everything they need or want to know is in the box.
I’ll get myself out of trouble, thank you. ADSB, flight following, flight plan, PLB. If that’s not sufficient, then I’m not around and get to the box before you do anything else.
Click to expand...

BTW - if you are the sole owner of the Safe Deposit box and you're not around, they'll need a court order to open the box. Advice I was given was to keep the important papers it accessible in a home fire / water proof case.
 
WDD said:
BTW - if you are the sole owner of the Safe Deposit box and you're not around, they'll need a court order to open the box. Advice I was given was to keep the important papers it accessible in a home fire / water proof case.
Click to expand...
Yes, I know.
 
PLB. Our club has them in all four planes and the board members would know where I was before my wife even knew I was missing. You could talk to your partners about splitting the cost also if you or they are interested. A text to your mom is totally fine. I’m leaving XYZ for ABC. Text you when I get there around 7.

If you really want to make things easier try to fly within gliding distance of civilization. There’s lots of pilots who are never found.
 
woodchucker said:
PLB. Our club has them in all four planes and the board members would know where I was before my wife even knew I was missing. You could talk to your partners about splitting the cost also if you or they are interested. A text to your mom is totally fine. I’m leaving XYZ for ABC. Text you when I get there around 7.

If you really want to make things easier try to fly within gliding distance of civilization. There’s lots of pilots who are never found.
Click to expand...

The very first accident in the NTSB database is from 1948.

The NTSB didn't even exist until 1966. So how is there an accident from 1948 in there?

Well, the plane wasn't found until 1987. And when a plane is found, the NTSB investigates, even if it crashed before they existed.

Also, remember Steve Fossett? When he disappeared, one of the tactics they used to try to find him was to take a bunch of new aerial/satellite photos of the areas he may have been flying in and use people (via Amazon's Mechanical Turk) to look for the plane.

They didn't find Fossett... But they did find about a dozen other planes that had crashed and were missing until that point! :eek:
 
They did eventually find Fossett . Or evidence of Fossett. By accident much later some hikers found debris. One piece is which was a chewed drivers license. To put it gently, his remains were returned to nature.
 
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