Off Airport Landing-What is your strategy?

[L. Trotter]

I was flying across our great country (SD to VA) this past week and enjoyed the views from above. Lots of open space, farm land, dirt roads, paved country roads, interstate highways and even drag strips. Along side many roads (dirt and paved) are telephone poles...perhaps 10 feet off to the side, some closer. Most roads are not very wide. The fields look smooth from 8,000 feet, but driving by I now they are far from a suitable surface to land on. On a low altitude forced landing you do what you can,typically with few options. 

Question.....What would you do in the event of a forced landing enroute with all the above options we commonly see (no airport in gliding distance)? If you would choose the standard farm field, would you drop the gear?

I understand each situation may dictate a unique need. The question is generic to provide a baseline understanding of which options exist and why.

[Yetti]

I still need to go out and measure our small county road, but I think if presented the option Probably go for the county road.  Generally in the country the powerlines criss cross the fields in direct lines to the houses vs parallel to the road.  Riding a 4 wheeler across the field at what seems to be a smooth field says it is not.  If a plowed field, going to land in line with the rows.  If a rice field or old rice field have to watch out for the water dams.

[Raptor05121]

I think 99% of my decision making would involve gear-up if I went off-airport. It would have to look very promising for me to lower the gear and risk it.

[Guest]

Gear down to let is absorbe energy while being torn off.

Clarence

[bradp]

Insurance company owns the plane at that point.  Whatever will save my butt more.  

[steingar]

Yeah, depends on the situation.  I'll try to find the flattest smoothest surface on which to crash my airplane.  Main thing is to decrease the energy to a minimum before touchdown, so less energy gets transferred into me and my pax.  Fly it as far into the crash as I can.  But yeah, insurance company owns the airplane at that point.

Ron Machado told a story about a freshly refurbished Stearman that lost an engine on takeoff from a strip in Florida.  They died trying to get that thing back to the runway.  There was a golf course straightaway right in front of them.

[FloridaMan]

Mooneys do well off-road. I know this from experience landing in a runoff, terraced downsloping field at the end of a runway. I dropped the gear because I needed to bleed off speed. I became airborne multiple times as the tributaries and terraces in the field dropped away. 

There was no damage to the airframe. 

Edited April 18, 2016 by Antares

[AndyFromCB]

Number one thing you can do in almost airport landings is to hit your nearest weather button on XM and find out the wind direction and land as much into the wind as possible. Touching down at 50mph vs 70mph with a 10mph breeze makes all the difference in the world. 

[AndyFromCB]

4 hours ago, M20Doc said:

Gear down to let is absorbe energy while being torn off.

Clarence

Your face will absorb the energy as it smacks the panel when you flip, being your nose gear will most likely fail before the mains (unless you're flying a Cherokee, in which case the nose wheel might stay attached even as the mains fail, I've seen a Cherokee looking like a Europa once at an airport). Even if you don't flip, introducing a sudden deceleration, even if temporary, is not optimum. I'll take a smooth 30ft from 50knots to zero with gear up, over the possibility of sudden, "instant" deceleration even from 20knots. Goal is to stop ASAP in a smooth fashion.

[TWinter]

When I fly I'm constantly looking and thinking, "what if?. In my home-drome there are lots of options.  Some have mentioned..county roads or back roads, that would be my choice. Gear down into the wind if I can. If taking a trip to a "civilization", like anywhere away from home, a major city or town. Well, I'm still scanning for the closest options, but mostly looking for clear area and the least populated areas.

This makes me think about my previous trips to New England and crossing the Adirondack area. As I was crossing I was thinking to myself, not much down there for an emergency situation other than a bunch of tall trees, hills and mountains. I kept a close eye on altitude (trying to stay high) and checking the GPS for closest airports..no matter big, small, private or military. I'd deal with the consequences after I got on the ground.

I guess you never know until it happens. Fortunately, we have lots of county roads and cotton fields. I would think gear down and a good prayer would be my preference no matter where.

 

-Tom

[Samurai Husky]

What about a gear up water landing? Seems like if you are out east or mid west, you should have plenty of lakes to choose from?

Yea, the plane will be totaled from water damage, but as the other users say, its not your plane anymore.... 

Through out training we have been discussing roads, golf courses, fields etc. But i see very little about water. Why is that?

Sorry, thought i would ask because its something i too think about when flying.

[wishboneash]

31 minutes ago, AndyFromCB said:

Number one thing you can do in almost airport landings is to hit your nearest weather button on XM and find out the wind direction and land as much into the wind as possible. Touching down at 50mph vs 70mph with a 10mph breeze makes all the difference in the world. 

Having the widget for the METAR and winds aloft (Garmin Pilot) is quite helpful. I keep track of the surface winds as the plane flies along. I probably wouldn't have time to do this on an engine out, unless I have a lot of time.

[gsengle]

Water will kill you. You get knocked out, you drown. Water is last choice generally.

Here is my advice.

1) always know which way the wind is blowing... Helps to know where you can glide to and then how to turn to minimize GROUNDSPEED at touchdown.

2) always know how to get to the nearest airport page on your GPS. In fact look at it as part of what you do on a long flight.

3) fly on the high side. And have a copy of the glide distance chart right on your clipboard.

Greg

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[AndyFromCB]

3 minutes ago, wishboneash said:

Having the widget for the METAR and winds aloft (Garmin Pilot) is quite helpful. I keep track of the surface winds as the plane flies along. I probably wouldn't have time to do this on an engine out, unless I have a lot of time.

You've got all the time in the world at cruising altitude...I assume you'll be hitting nearest anyway to first try to find an airport.

[wishboneash]

17 minutes ago, AndyFromCB said:

You've got all the time in the world at cruising altitude...I assume you'll be hitting nearest anyway to first try to find an airport.

Point well taken.

[ArtVandelay]

Water will kill you. You get knocked out, you drown. Water is last choice generally.

Here is my advice.

1) always know which way the wind is blowing... Helps to know where you can glide to and then how to turn to minimize GROUNDSPEED at touchdown.

2) always know how to get to the nearest airport page on your GPS. In fact look at it as part of what you do on a long flight.

3) fly on the high side. And have a copy of the glide distance chart right on your clipboard.

Greg

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Remember the winds at the surface may not be (and usually aren't) the same as at altitude.

If you have to go down at night, water that shows up on your chart may be your best option. Your headrests will float in a pinch.

Food for thought...

[Hosshawk]

Water would rarely be my last choice, especially if I'm by myself.  Houses, buildings, trees and mountains are some of the things I would put in my last choice category.  A water landing is very doable if done correctly.  It's my opinion that landing somewhat flat, with the gear up, prop horizontal, and the door open, in fairly calm water very doable.  Things to consider: water temp, a good floatation device, quick release shoulder harness, and getting as close to the shoreline as possible.  A radar altimeter would be nice during the day, and much more important at night.  Adding untrained and unbriefed passengers would have a big impact on my water, no water decision.  Possibly putting a water landing in my last choice category.  There are so many things to think about when adding other people's lives to the mix.  The variables are endless, but if prepared I think a water landing can be a good option.   

[jlunseth]

I have spent a lot of time hunting pheasants in the farm fields of the Midwest.  I mean a lot.  I hate the ground.  Cultivated fields have furrows as deep as the landing gear.  I have walked fallow fields that were left cultivated years earlier, they look all nice and green and smooth and it is pretty easy to hurt yourself walking it.  It is the worst walking I can think of in bird hunting.  It has changed a little bit because there is not so much full cultivating going on anymore, there is more and more no till or low till.  But you can't tell from the air how the ground has been treated.  Not until you are there and it is too late.  Give me a solid piece of prairie or a hill any day.  So if I have to go down in the Midwest I am not big on the standard instruction to stay away from roads and pick a field bc of all the electric around the road.  Forget it.  I am going for the best road I can find, if tarmac that would be even better.  I have a friend who had to do that in a Bonanza V-tail.  He was a little daunted by the electric along the road but made the landing just fine, no damage, then taxied the plane off the road and up a slight embankment to a stop.  All good.  He got out.  Forgot to set the parking brake.  Plane rolled back and damaged the tail.  So set the brake after you make this landing. 

[Steve Dietrich]

I have watched a couple of gear up landings on runways .  Generally they are great landings and very short roll(slide)

Gear down off field landing - if there is any chance of the airplane sliding even a bit I would leave the gear up. The thinking is that there are two things which create a very high G off field landing - hitting something very solid like the side of a concrete building and having the nosewheel tuck back and the nose dig in. You see a lot of fixed gear aircraft land on beaches and flip,  aircraft folds at the firewall. 

I think gear up you'll slide for a bit but not as far as you think  . 

on small country roads it may be snug between the signposts and culverts.  Generally the powerlines are set back a bit further.   As another writer noted the lines generally cross the highway at intersections or homes.  if there is agriculture or oil they also have drops for pumps that frequently cross at the pump shack.  

The seaplane course I took included training around and under powerlines .  Without this I might be more caviler about them and clueless as to strategy. 

If you are going to hit a fencepost or tree you want to focus on not hitting the cabin or the inner half of the right wing.  The reason is leaving a fuel free escape route .  Even a typical chain link fence pole will penetrate the tank until the plane is slowed (there are some really grim pictures from a 231  crash in long beach ca years ago .  There's also some photos of a mooney which lost power under 0/0 conditions near Bakersfield and landed in a vineyard . 

 

 

[thinwing]

I am in the water landing group...as long as it's close to shore ,no more than 50 ft ,25 better gear up flaps up a Mooney will do so just fine and take longer than you think to sink.The only place better would be a gulf course fairway but they tend to be 1200/1500 max.The absolute best (even better than a runway)would be a frozen lake 2 months into winter...gear up ...no damage..Last choice ...heavily timbered mountainous terrain...not survivable

[M20F]

Gear up and aim for the nearest beer sign. 

[bradp]

In mountainous terrain where do you look for a landing spot?  I tend to focus on valleys as they seem  to be the places that have fields, clearings, creeks or other places with relatively sparse trees. 

[Browncbr1]

My CFI told me a few times to pick a cow or grass pasture over a corn field because the deep ruts between corn rows..   I tend to take his word for it, as he had been in 17 forced landings over his career and lives to tell about them...     When I go over mountains, I try to plan along roads, golf courses, and reservoirs..   As to gear up or down, I think it depends on how well you could determine how smooth and dry the surface is..  I like reading others' posts on their experience/thoughts.. hopefully if the time ever comes, this thread will help someone make the best choice.. 

[Steve Dietrich]

17 hours ago, thinwing said:

I am in the water landing group...as long as it's close to shore ,no more than 50 ft ,25 better gear up flaps up a Mooney will do so just fine and take longer than you think to sink.The only place better would be a gulf course fairway but they tend to be 1200/1500 max.The absolute best (even better than a runway)would be a frozen lake 2 months into winter...gear up ...no damage..Last choice ...heavily timbered mountainous terrain...not survivable

Few people realize how cold the ocean is off the pacific coast north of Santa Barbara, most all year.  The shock is stunning and the effective time in the water is not long. Winter diving off the CA coast, even with a wet suit , is not fun. 

The good news is that in low swell conditions the landing is probably going to be pretty good and the plane will likely  float for a while.  When I flew 1EW there were two vests in the pocket by the CP knee.  I'm pretty sure getting out and closing the vents, door and baggage compartment will make the plane float for a longer period.

 

[xrs135]

I remember reading somewhere that ditching in the water resulted in a greater than 85% survival rate! I'll take those odds, especially flying over the Sierra's... lakes are often my #1 choice.

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