Although, statistically, air travel is safer than driving, the easiest way to avoid an inflight emergency is to drive. However, research before leaving the ground is critical if you have to fly. The TSA website is a great resource to stay updated on what you are allowed to bring on your person, what and how you need to pack certain items, and what you can’t take at all. https://www.tsa.gov/travel/travel-tips/travel-checklisthttps://www.tsa.gov/travel/travel-tips/travel-checklist

The next thing you need to research is your connecting locations. What if you get stuck there? What if you need to take a specific form of public transportation to get from one end of the airport to the other? A friend of the show, Brian Duff, has a fantastic article on preflight preparation on his site Mind4Survival.com. Brian also stresses the importance of researching what is happening at your destination. Have there been riots or a big game?

My thoughts always go to self-defense items that I can still carry. We often talk about tactical pens or architect pencils that you can have anywhere, including a plane. Brian also suggested some clever items that most airlines allow: flashlights, hard-sided luggage, or even items on board, like coffee pots or fire extinguishers.

You must consider your luggage like your everyday carry kits and bug-out bags. Brian did another article on Mind4Survival.com on how to pack this baggage. He pointed out that you can never assume you will have access to your carry-on bag unless it can fit underneath the seat in front of you. You should immediately replenish items you could not carry when you reach the ground.

According to Joe Phelan in his article on LiveScience.com, there are three types of emergency landing with varying fatality rates. Forced landings are immediate landings at an airport due to mechanical failures and the like. Ten percent of individuals involved in these types of accidents perish. A precautionary landing is much more survivable. This is when the plane can fly, but flight is not advisable. Only point zero, six percent of individuals involved in these landings perish.

The last type is the type our hero faces in Virgis, a ditching. This is when the plane is forced to land on water. One of the most famous ditching landings is The Miracle on the Hudson. Flight 1549 was forced to land the plane on the Hudson River after it hit a flock of geese in 2009. Although everyone survived this landing, ditching has a twenty percent fatality rate.

The plane may dump fuel and adjust the cabin pressure to prepare for an emergency landing. The attendants are trained to keep you safe. They will inform you when and where the plane will land. They will also advise you on how to prepare yourself and/or your children for that landing. They are there to help the disabled and lend medical assistance. They’ll let you know if you can take your stuff with you.

There are good and bad places to land. Hopefully, you are near an airport, but the worst places to land are remote areas, conflict zones, high seas, or land that has just been destroyed by an earthquake.

After landing on water, there is no telling how long the plane will take to sink, but it will. Most aircraft have life rafts. Most of the time, there will be a significant number of injured people. It’s true that no one died when the plane landed on the Hudson, but 100 of 155 passengers were injured in some way. Don’t worry about your stuff. The aircraft is usually retrieved from the water, and you will get it back.

Works Cited:

• Duff, Brian. “Everyday Carry On Kits for Air Travel.” Mind4Survival, 23 May 2022, https://mind4survival.com/everyday-carry-on-kits-for-air-travel/.Accessed 19 April 2023.

• Duff, Brian. “M4S 023: 7 Air Travel Preparedness Tips for Preppers.” Mind4Survival, 20 October 2022, https://mind4survival.com/7-air-travel-preparedness-tips-for-preppers/. Accessed 19 April 2023.

• Phelan, Joe. “What happens when a plane makes an emergency landing?” Live Science, 7 February 2022, https://www.livescience.com/what-happens-during-plane-emergency-landing. Accessed 19 April 2023.

• “What Happens If An Airplane Lands in Water?” Simple Flying, 2 May 2020, https://simpleflying.com/aircraft-water-landing/.Accessed 19 April 2023.