Sunday, May 31, 2015

It could happen to you!

It's always puzzled me that we call a landing in a field, as opposed to an airport, an "off field landing".  Perhaps our local semantic warrior and primary contributor to PMSC News has the answer to that.  In any case, off airport landings do happen, and it's best when they happen in a well chosen, well reconnoitered field (and not off it).  Here is a nice video on how to stack the odds in your favor.

Click through to view on YouTube and watch in HD.


Get it right and you too, can be out standing in your field (and smiling about it).

May31, 1999.  Weathersfield, VT.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

The NESA gang was informed by Vermont's Aviation Honcho, Guy Ruell, that he considers every "off-field landing" a reportable incident. Some bureaucrats just don't "get" sailplane operations...

For a while, there was talk within PMSC of calling 911 right after landing out, just to notify the dispatcher of where you landed, that everything is fine, and if someone calls in an airplane crash in this area, they may be misunderstanding what is a safe, routine occurance for sailplanes.

Anonymous said...

Calling 911 to report a non-crash was actually *suggested* by the NH emergency response crew that processes 911 calls. This procedure has been used at Cordele GA (where they land out a lot, are usually visible and friendly Southerners can't wait to get help moving). I don't plan to use it, myself. Vermonters (and New Hamphirers(?)) presume that other Vermonters are "all set" until proven otherwise, so an unwanted 911 response is much less likely here.

I think Bill has a lifetime record for 911 over response (Bill, have you ever flown a sailplane XC since?).

-T8

Rick said...

In my opinion, notifying the authorities of a no-damage no-injury landing in a field does nothing but reinforce the misconception that a landing is the same thing as a crash. The public, being uninformed, has the right to do this, of course, but the pilot shouldn't play along. Dealing with the public is their job, and the authorities know how to do this.

The disadvantages of calling in your own landing far outweigh the advantages.