Flight Chops: Survive a Forced Landing in the Winter Wilderness

Ashley Burns

Friday, December 01, 2017 at 12:35 AM

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Key Takeaways:

Pilots are responsible for their safety, including survival after a forced landing using only their aircraft's onboard kit.
Flight Chops' Steve Thorne attended a "Survival Shakedown" course to learn essential survival skills for such an event.
The course was an intense but highly educational experience, resulting in a two-part video series documenting the challenges.

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This week’s throwback Thursday edition of Flight Chops begins with a simple question: Could you survive with nothing but the kit in your airplane? “It’s the responsibility of the pilot in command to keep their aircraft and passengers safe,” Steve Thorne, AKA Flight Chops, explains in the opening of this video from earlier in the year. “That includes dealing with a forced landing that could leave you stranded.”

And because he’s the best at throwing himself into any situation for the sake of a learning experience, Chops attended a Survival Shakedown course to answer the question himself. As he pointed out, there was plenty of blood, sweat and tears, and there was especially enough educational content to produce two parts:

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For more on Survival Shakedown, check out the website. As always, be sure to enter the latest Flight Chops giveaway, which includes a subscription to Flying and other awesome prizes.