Since this is a backcountry forum, I'll offer some remote ops advice for a remote off-field incidenta in a remote area (Canadian North, Alaska, the mountain West). I'm a former paramedic, current SAR volunteer, and a survivor of an engine out over remote terrain in the North, so this reflects both my training and my personal experience.
Your mileage may vary, as every incident is different. Luck, training and the resources avail to you will play a huge factor in your success. Do what you can in advance to improve your odds by having the skills and equipment that you need on board. Double your odds by ensuring that anyone you fly with regularly is also trained and aware of the resources you have on board.
FIRST PRIORITY (initial 1-5 minutes) - IMMEDIATE NEEDS
- GET SAFE (this will be highly incident dependent, depending on whether it was a crash or forced landing, on water, in terrain, etc)
- PRIORITY CARE (deal with any major bleeds, airway, breathing) that can't wait 5 minutes resulting from the accident. Triage as required.
- COMMS (hopefully your 406 ELT is already pinging, but now is the time to establish comms with SAR. inReach devices are excellent where the cell bars don't shine for reaching Garmin's rescue centre. Know how to use your device, keep it on your person, and where applicable, have the SAR response contact details for your region in your device and ready to go). Your reporting at this stage should be focused on WHAT, WHERE, HOW MANY, and STATUS (ie [registry, type] [incident] at [location], [x] NUMBER ON BOARD, [any injuries, post impact fire, in the water, etc] so the right resources are dispatched and responders know what they are dealing with. Let your emergency contacts know, as SAR may have already called them.
SECOND PRIORITY (first hour) - MAINTAIN HEALTH + SAFETY
- SECONDARY CARE (address any other injuries, make sure you and your pax are warm and dry. Hypothermia + shock are bad things to have creep up on you in any environment, and a cold water/Northern winter scenario is a whole other challenge)
- FOOD, WATER (time to eat and hydrate, you need the energy and clarity)
THIRD PRIORITY (thereafter) IMPROVE YOUR ODDS/FACILITATE RESCUE
- SIGNALLING (make sure you can be seen when SAR shows up - signal mirrors are excellent, orange tarps are easy to see from the air, flares, smoky fires)
- SHELTER - you may be there for a while, you will need to be out of the weather, and establishing even basic shelter gives you and your pax useful things to do to maintain mission focus and morale)
- DOCUMENT (write down or better, record the scene and your recollection of the incident on your phone. "Who, What, When, Where, Why + How is an easy way to organize your thoughts". Have your pax make their own reports or recordings independently of your own for legal reasons. Once you're back in civilization, you'll be able to rely on the documents you've created on scene for reporting to the authorities.
IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE RESCUE/RESPONSE (same day)
The SAR and LEO folks will typically be first in line to interview you and your passengers. Everything you and your passengers say from your first contact with officials is on the record, so having your contemporaneous notes and recordings in order before they arrive is very helpful to all concerned. Consider (as appropriate to the circumstances) the need to involve legal counsel at this stage. The PIC is also required to report the incident to the appropriate national Transportation Safety Board as soon as possible.
Once you make those calls, contact your insurer (they can be very helpful at this stage, particularly if you need to recover the aircraft from a remote location). Aviation adjustors deal with accidents every day (unlike the rest of us who deal with them maybe once or twice in our careers) and can provide some very practical advice on how their work intersects with those of the authorities during the initial investigation/recovery stages.
DEBRIEF (days after the event)
Once all the dust has settled, debrief the incident with other pilots. I found this the best way to deal with the 'coulda-shoulda' tape that plays in your mind for weeks after the event. Learn the lessons that the incident teaches you, and you'll be better prepared for the next one.
Last edited by
Boreal1 on Fri May 16, 2025 2:17 pm, edited 8 times in total.