Welcome to the Monthly Insider for April 2019 (Volume 3, Issue 4). This month’s topic is Surviving a Plane Crash.
In our modern world, air travel is now commonly undertaken with no more thought than that of stepping onto a bus – except no one rummages through your pockets, takes X-rays of your person and possessions and treats you as a criminal. But I digress. Around eight million people fly commercial flights every day, and that’s not taking into account private planes or military aircraft. Think about that for a minute. That’s like the entire populations of LA, Chicago, and San Antonio getting on planes.
And nearly all of them do so with no more planning or thought than going to work on a typical day. While air travel is the safest form of long-distance travel, accidents do happen. We’re watching the investigations of a couple at this very moment. One was an Amazon transport, and the other was the newly infamous Boeing 737 Max. Fortunately for the former, only the crew were aboard, or the loss of life would be far worse.
With the thought in mind that accidents can and do occur, should we not at least think about them? I am amazed every time I have to fly. Sitting at the gate waiting for the most enjoyable boarding process to begin, I people watch. The ones that impact me the most are the young girls that show up in shorts and flip-flops wearing sleeveless shirts. Or the small child that mom and dad got up at the last minute to catch their flight and the child is still in that cute pink onesie.
None of these people have given a moment’s thought to having to wade through burning jet fuel to get out of the plane that is probably upside down. Their carry-on luggage probably has little use to them should they be stranded, injured, and lost. Do they have any means of starting a fire? Do they have any shelter material with them? Any way to signal or even cordage to use? While much of this can be salvaged from a downed airliner, it may also be on fire or scattered over countless miles of impassable terrain.
Even those of us who plan and prepare will throw hands up and say, “Oh well, the TSA won’t let me take anything,” and board our flight. In this edition of the Insider, we’re going to provide you some valuable information that, while highly unlikely, may one day save your life. That’s what we do here at Survival Dispatch, offer you the information to make a difference in a moment of crisis and surviving a plane crash is one hell of a crisis!
You can download the Surviving a Plane Crash PDF here.
Click here to see this month’s “Surviving a Plane Crash Call To Action” PDF with checklists and skill challenges to put your knowledge into action!
If you prefer to view the information in web site form, you can do so as well. Each section is linked below.
- Surviving a Plane Crash
- Three Items Everyone Forgets to Take on the Plane
- Build a TSA Compliant Medical Kit
- TSA Prohibitions on Commercial Aircraft
- Five Must-Have EDC Contents TSA Approved
- Basics of Medical Triage with Multiple Victims
- Dealing with Bleeding/Shock from Multiple Victims
- Top Items to Scavage from the Plane
- Building Shelter Out of the Wreckage
- Gear Spotlight
- How to Find and Fashion Self-Defense Weapons from the Wreckage
- Signaling
- Leadership in a Chaotic Situation
- What We’re Reading Now
- Rationing Supplies
- Water Landing Considerations
- Should I Stay or Should I Go?
- Sarge A “Going Home” Serial: Part 15