How can you find out how you will react in an emergency

SixPapaCharlie

SixPapaCharlie

May the force be with you
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First Officer 6PC
It's that time of year when planes are making the news.
None of these pilots are less skilled, less trained, or less prepared then the general flying population.

We get bits and pieces of info and put ourselves in their shoes and think "If he had just done X"

I 've read here how people react in an emergency
1. Panic
2. Disconnect
3. Jesus take the yoke
4. Remain calm and remember your training.
5. etc...

We know there are instances where the deck is stacked against you
This is the risk we accept when we rotate.

I believe if my engine quits, I am going to force the nose down, stay straight ahead, establish best glide whilst at the same time switching tanks and turning the fuel pump on.

I imagine a lot of people making the news had that same thought.
Is it possible to assess how one will really react in dire straits prior to actually being in that situation?
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
It's that time of year when planes are making the news.
None of these pilots are less skilled, less trained, or less prepared then the general flying population.

We get bits and pieces of info and put ourselves in their shoes and think "If he had just done X"

I 've read here how people react in an emergency
1. Panic
2. Disconnect
3. Jesus take the yoke
4. Remain calm and remember your training.
5. etc...

We know there are instances where the deck is stacked against you
This is the risk we accept when we rotate.

I believe if my engine quits, I am going to force the nose down, stay straight ahead, establish best glide whilst at the same time switching tanks and turning the fuel pump on.

I imagine a lot of people making the news had that same thought.
Is it possible to assess how one will really react in dire straits prior to actually being in that situation?
Click to expand...

We have a saying in law enforcement, "You don't rise to the occassion, you fall back to you highest level of training." I can see that equally pertaining to in flight emergencies.
 
You never know how you will react,untill it happens. That's why training Issa important.
 
JB1842 said:
We have a saying in law enforcement, "You don't rise to the occassion, you fall back to you highest level of training." I can see that equally pertaining to in flight emergencies.
Click to expand...

I like that one.


Adam Savage from Mythbusters has a saying.
"In an emergency, calm people survive"

I like that one too.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
I like that one.


Adam Savage from Mythbusters has a saying.
"In an emergency, calm people survive"

I like that one too.
Click to expand...

Was going skiing with a buddy, and he was driving. On a steep snow covered downhill left turn, he turns the wheel but the car keeps going straight. He freaks "What do I do, what do I do?" I kept calmly repeating "Doug, take your foot off the brake". After the third repeat, he took his foot off the brake, the wheels started turning again, and the car went around the corner.
 
You never had an "oh-****" moment in training?

I had several.

1. Go-around with full flap on a hot day -- 172 wouldn't climb and obstructions ahead
2. Carb ice ingestion on takeoff on a nice humid day (engine stumbled at 400 AGL)
3. Cut off in a busy pattern by another student following my base turn instruction from tower
4. Engine quit (flooded) on short final at high density altitude
5. Disorientation during ILS missed approach while under the hood at ~250 AGL
6. Door/window popped open in flight (multiple times)
7. Heat exhaustion practicing landings on a hot day in a Warrior (never again)

On most of those, I figured it out. On #4, I landed first. I didn't panic and didn't disconnect, and #1 in particular really helped the confidence (it was very early in my training -- and my CFI kept her mouth shut while I figured it out). And several were learning experiences that permanently affected my procedures. For instance, 350 hours later, I'm still checking engine RPM at the start of the takeoff roll, and I've aborted a few where it was less than the POH said.
 
Operant Conditioning. Do it over and over again. And over and over again. Until it's almost muscle memory.

The first time I had a real emergency, I stepped through the bold face without even thinking about it. But then again, my instructors had drilled me through those steps many, many, many times.

The sounds and sensations may be different in a real gacked situation, versus simulation, , but the process and response is familiar, even (nearly) automatic. You just do it, even surprise yourself by how much (and how fast) you initiate and complete without a lot of thought.
 
Won't know till you have one.
 
One thing I won't do is ask my wife or 17YO daughter for help. In two emergencies both of them panicked and their bodies froze while they just screamed.

I posted on a thread here yesterday about my first solo XC, and how the compass fell out due to turbulence. I just pushed it back in. While I have been terrified at times I don't think I've ever panicked to the point of making the situation worse.
 
Having dealt with a few emergencies, I can relate a few things.

Training is important but it isn't the only thing. It's on you to keep your brain functioning and aware. Training helps with that because you have learned a few steps or operations to perform but you can't just focus on those few steps because few real world events exactly match our training. For example, while you were turning on the pump and switching tanks did you miss that your pax accidently closed the mixture? or that you were headed straight for a barn and needed to turn right?

How do you know if you'll keep your brain functioning in an emergency? Dunno, but it seems two things help. The first is embracing that you are the person in charge so you know it's your job to fix it (whatever "it" may be). The second is to get real experience with emergencies. Most of us get better with practice and the same is true for practicing emergencies. It can be sorta tough to arrange an emergency at the drop of a hat. For me, I worked in an industry where emergencies weren't uncommon...
 
Take up BASE jumping, that will sort ya quick. And always nurture your inner pyschopathologies. Not caring if you live is the path to living. Or you can try to be an old timid pilot.:lol:
 
I think the best way to find out is to book simulator time.

There are more than a few Cirrus simulators around. Not cheap, but you can run through a lot of emergency scenarios in an hour. If you ende up scheduling at the one near Atlanta, I'd love to watch.

I know in my one encounter I died without pulling the chute, as I've related before. Quite eye opening.
 
MAKG1 said:
You never had an "oh-****" moment in training?

I had several.

1. Go-around with full flap on a hot day -- 172 wouldn't climb and obstructions ahead
2. Carb ice ingestion on takeoff on a nice humid day (engine stumbled at 400 AGL)
3. Cut off in a busy pattern by another student following my base turn instruction from tower
4. Engine quit (flooded) on short final at high density altitude
5. Disorientation during ILS missed approach while under the hood at ~250 AGL
6. Door/window popped open in flight (multiple times)
7. Heat exhaustion practicing landings on a hot day in a Warrior (never again)

On most of those, I figured it out. On #4, I landed first. I didn't panic and didn't disconnect, and #1 in particular really helped the confidence (it was very early in my training -- and my CFI kept her mouth shut while I figured it out). And several were learning experiences that permanently affected my procedures. For instance, 350 hours later, I'm still checking engine RPM at the start of the takeoff roll, and I've aborted a few where it was less than the POH said.
Click to expand...


"Oh S***" moments" I guess I have had some. These stand out as my "teachable moments"

Pilot who was to be number 3 behind me was actually taking my number 2 spot. Very close call. I hadn't really trained for it but full power and a climbing turn saved my bacon

1st time out of the pattern, I didnt understand mixture as well as I should have and got myself thinking I had carb ice when the engine started to sputter. I was really truly scared up there all alone. All I knew was my engine was goofing up and wasn't responding the way I wanted. I found my field, lined up, mixture full rich and the engine came back.

I had another moment that was just bad planning / rushing. Aborted my takeoff on a grass strip, headed for the trees on a 104 degree day with my carb heat on because I rushed through the checklist. Stupid! Even the proper takeoff after was a little close for comfort.

I have posted this one before.
Geese on the runway in the flare. Training worked.
 
I've had a few exciting moments, not necessarily emergencies, but could have turned out less than optimal. I noticed two things that made a difference - decide not to panic, and realize you probably have more time to deal with the situation than you think you do.
 
People react in different ways depending on the person and the nature of the emergency. You won't know until you actually have that particular emergency. Does one react the same for an alternator failure as they do for a engine failure? Nope.

I've seen videos in the Army of pilots yelling at the top of their lungs because they were about to die. Also seen vids in the Army of pilots with crippling conditions that worked through the problem and sounded cool the whole time. Training helps but individual personality is a factor as well.
 
I once watched two guys work out of an emergency. I was on the ground with a handheld, and loaned it to the guy next to me. He and the pilot (who was dealing with a broken elevator cable on a Pitts and was having a very hard time keeping it under control) were really interesting to observe. I learned a lot - take a deep breath, fly the airplane, don't do anything that will make the situation worse, make a plan, and work the plan.
 
I think I'm probably somewhere between calmly saying "We're gonna be in the Hudson" to screaming "oh shinola we're going down in the freakin' river!"

I will say that I have handled almost all emergencies and near emergencies of various sorts in my life fairly well. So I am at least hopefully confident that I will handle a true in air emergency well enough to see another day.
 
You don't know for sure, but you can catch a glimpse by being tested in realistic simulations.

I spent years getting the crap beat out of me in drills when I was a reactor operator in the navy. That leads to two improvements. First you get to practice what it is that you need to do under realistic circumstances. Second you get bloodied and get over it. After it happens a few times you get past the "Oh, ****!" adrenaline rush and on to the "Time to get it done!" stage faster. The calm has carried over into non-navy, real life events that have happened to me. You approach problems with a different, more calm attitude.

That said, the best thing you can do go get some realistic training. Don't be upset when you totally screw it up the first few times. Study, practice, prepare, and put it to the test. I hear Flight Safety will wear you out for a fee.
 
I can't really say how I will react to emergencies in general but two sets of experiences strongly influence my flying in general.

First is my model flying experience, particularly but limited to RC. I've crashed a couple dozen and watched many dozens go in. No threat to life, just $$$ and pride. But one does learn what a stall is in its many forms and I KNOW I will never react to a situation by stalling it in. It's akin to jumping off a roof or driving off a bridge. Keep the wing flying, push don't pull, etc.

Second is cross country soaring and the inevitable off field landings. I've found myself more than once committed to a field and a landing that I didn't really want to make. You just fly the ship, react to what's in front of you and put it down. And if you pick the wrong spot or come up short, you do the next best thing and crash it in a survivable way. Done that too. I've felt the grip of fear more than once while flying but fear doesn't equate to panic. You just hold it down, feed off the adrenaline and fly the ship to a stop.

But those experiences create some blind spots as well, e.g. I'm slow to reject a landing and go around. Watching the geese video, clearly doing a go-around was the smart thing to do. I had a similar experience in sailplane but hit a goose with a wing (thought it was the stabilizer). Question; what should one do if you hit a goose before being able to take evasive action? Go around to try and avoid hitting others or continue the landing in case of airframe damage? Hmmm....
SixPapaCharlie said:
Geese on the runway in the flare. Training worked.
Click to expand...
I'm still trying to figure out if that's my home field - 8NC8. Looks like it but can't find my hangar so...
 
2 kinda sorta silly examples.

1) punk-ass kid eman1200 learns how to drive a car like a complete madman, a skill which would later save his life:

as newly licensed kids we would beat the living sht out of our cars, doughnuts, wholeshot drifting around the development in wet weather, slammin on e-brakes in the snow, you know, fun stuff, spinning our cars every which way. well later on in college a girl I had the pleasure of allowing to sleep with me lent me her car. I was coming back to connecticut from jersey in the snow, driving way too fast on the highway, when the back end of the rear-wheel drive car started to slip....then slip back further the other way, then slip back the other way so I was perpendicular to the direction of the highway, facing the concrete median, then back 180 degrees the other way.....the whole time I'm calmly (can u be calm whilst sheitting ur pants?) turning the wheel in the opposite direction, 'controlling' the car while it does it's best to pancake me into a sure death at an early age. coupl'a skids later I'm back facing the right direction truckin on down the highway. 'holy sheite', I thought to myself, as I realized all that time doing stupid stuff with my car just saved my life. lesson here, in a weird way, practice practice practice so when you encounter that situation for real, you won't even think, you'll just do.

2) very low-time pilot eman1200 encounters his first "oh sht" moment in the plane:

night flight with my other pilot bud, very low hours but pretty comfortable flying at night. on short final we lose all electrical, no radio, lights, intercom, nothin but complete darkness. it wasn't much more than a nano-second where my brain just said "meh, I'm still flying, just fly the plane", as I'd heard hundreds of times while training. I had a thread about the situation when it happened, and while we all agreed, it isn't even close to an 'emergency', but the first time it happens to you you might view it as such, and how you handle it may determine the outcome. it would be real easy to get distracted just long enough (ie a couple of seconds) for it to be an entirely different outcome. lesson here.....over train so that when it happens the training kicks in.

safe flying, y'all.
 
FlySince9 said:
Watch this video... If this guy didn't die, anything is possible if you just keep your head and fly the plane...

I don't know how I would react... But this video made me realize the outcome to an emergency, no matter how dire, is never inevitable!


https://video.search.yahoo.com/sear...=58b17cb1efa66603a815a45d53856daa&action=view
Click to expand...


Then its going to mess up everything you know when you see the making of that video :D

https://video.search.yahoo.com/sear...=91886721342a677b6c7d21839a09d8a1&action=view
 
Run a tank dry ...

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!

Switch thank...

Oh god - you have my first born...

Wait...

I'm SUPER PILOT!!!!
 
I think that your average pilot, with sufficient training, will react just fine to an in flight emergency. I'm not God's gift to flying by any means…..very average IMHO…….but I have never reacted adversely to a serious emergency. The panic sets in when a guy doesn't know what to do, but barring a really inexperienced pilot, there just aren't that many times when there is nothing to fall back on. Step 1: Use ATC……..USE ATC……USE ATC. If you don't have a wingman, they are the closest thing to having one. Step 2: punch the clock……no fast hands in the cockpit, force yourself to take a deep breath and figure out what the problem is…..whether that be a complex failure, or just simply admitting that something isn't right. On that last point, many many more people have died from simply losing situational awareness in an otherwise benign environment, than have died due to a really complex catastrophic mechanical failure and not knowing what to do with it. I know the thought of engine failure/fire/smoke in the cockpit/etc gets the blood pumping, but the things that kill guys statistically are all self induced (CFIT, running out of gas, over max gross weight takeoff attempt, etc).
 
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James331 said:
Won't know till you have one.
Click to expand...

Agreed, mostly. And the emergency doesn't have to be aviation-related.

Simulated emergencies can be made to feel realistic and teach process, which is very important, but you ultimately know they are simulated. Real problems that occur during training help but you know there is someone there to "save" you.

The one non-emergency thing I can think of that gives a decent clue is how you have reacted to high stress situations that involve a requirement for immediate self-reliance or a need to "step up" and handle it. Those tend to be a little more common.
 
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SixPapaCharlie said:
It's that time of year when planes are making the news.
None of these pilots are less skilled, less trained, or less prepared then the general flying population.

We get bits and pieces of info and put ourselves in their shoes and think "If he had just done X"

I 've read here how people react in an emergency
1. Panic
2. Disconnect
3. Jesus take the yoke
4. Remain calm and remember your training.
5. etc...

We know there are instances where the deck is stacked against you
This is the risk we accept when we rotate.

I believe if my engine quits, I am going to force the nose down, stay straight ahead, establish best glide whilst at the same time switching tanks and turning the fuel pump on.

I imagine a lot of people making the news had that same thought.
Is it possible to assess how one will really react in dire straits prior to actually being in that situation?
Click to expand...

I think it could be reasonably simulated with 48-72 hrs of no sleep and a Class D sim. Otherwise you just have to wait until you're looking straight at death to find out.
 
Ive figured out pretty quickly in police work and skydiving how I think I'll handle an aircraft emergency. Ive had a few (dozen) high stress police situations including several shoot / don't shoot incidents. That'll get your heart rate going. And Ive had 7 parachute malfunctions requiring a reserve deployment. Now granted, the EP's for a skydiver are pretty simple, but I have also had a tandem drogue (the big sky anchor we drag behind us) caught around my leg. That will definitely get your attention. Ive learned: Stay calm and work the problem. You have the rest of your life to figure it out. How long that will be is largely dependent on your ability to think under pressure.
 
Practice, practice, practice, practice, practice. Practice everything.
In the end, you just never know what you will do until it happens.
 
Shepherd said:
Practice, practice, practice, practice, practice. Practice everything.
In the end, you just never know what you will do until it happens.
Click to expand...

You can get a pretty good idea of how you will react though since the situation doesn't seem to relate to the reaction, just that your have recognized that your death is now immediately imminent.
 
JCranford said:
Ive figured out pretty quickly in police work and skydiving how I think I'll handle an aircraft emergency. Ive had a few (dozen) high stress police situations including several shoot / don't shoot incidents. That'll get your heart rate going. And Ive had 7 parachute malfunctions requiring a reserve deployment. Now granted, the EP's for a skydiver are pretty simple, but I have also had a tandem drogue (the big sky anchor we drag behind us) caught around my leg. That will definitely get your attention. Ive learned: Stay calm and work the problem. You have the rest of your life to figure it out. How long that will be is largely dependent on your ability to think under pressure.
Click to expand...

Now there is a quote worth remembering....:yes:
 
When I had about 12 hours the chief CFI at our club got me really good by pulling the throttle at about 400 AGL while climbing after a go-around from a simulated engine out. I immediately dropped the nose and zeroed in on a field to put it down. This all happened in about 5 seconds before I looked over at him and noticed his hand was on the throttle and it was pulled all the way out.

I was signed off to solo after that flight.
 
35 AoA said:
I think that your average pilot, with sufficient training, will react just fine to an in flight emergency. I'm not God's gift to flying by any means…..very average IMHO…….but I have never reacted adversely to a serious emergency. The panic sets in when a guy doesn't know what to do, but barring a really inexperienced pilot, there just aren't that many times when there is nothing to fall back on. Step 1: Use ATC……..USE ATC……USE ATC. If you don't have a wingman, they are the closest thing to having one. Step 2: punch the clock……no fast hands in the cockpit, force yourself to take a deep breath and figure out what the problem is…..whether that be a complex failure, or just simply admitting that something isn't right. On that last point, many many more people have died from simply losing situational awareness in an otherwise benign environment, than have died due to a really complex catastrophic mechanical failure and not knowing what to do with it. I know the thought of engine failure/fire/smoke in the cockpit/etc gets the blood pumping, but the things that kill guys statistically are all self induced (CFIT, running out of gas, over max gross weight takeoff attempt, etc).
Click to expand...

You would think that, but that doesn't explain the many high time, sufficiently trained pilots spinning in during actual emergencies. Which brings us full circle back to the OP's post. All of those pilots under normal circumstances would know that the most important thing at that time was 'DONT STALL', yet they did.

Thats why he is asking:
"Is it possible to assess how one will really react in dire straits prior to actually being in that situation?"
I say no.
 
Gucci Pilot said:
I learned a lot about myself and how I would react in the simulator.
Click to expand...

But you knew you could just step out of it, death, carnage and litigation weren't hanging in the balance of your performance.
 
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