Scenario-Based Training: Commercial Plane Crash

Brian Jones

Brian Jones

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The Scenario

Event: You have been in a commercial jetliner crash.

Location/environment/situation: Rocky mountain forested region (crash is below the treeline), early fall. Temps get down below freezing at night, and snow is possible. Unbeknownst to you is that weather and terrain conditions will make it so that rescue will take one month. It is wet and rainy during the day, daytime temperatures range from upper-40s to mid-50s F. You and about 20 others are survivors. There are about 12 dead but may be more, because you are not sure yet if any are missing, because this just happened and you are in shock and disbelief. Jet fuel fumes fill the air around the crash site. Some people are injured, both traumatic wounds and lesser injuries. Some survivors are walking around in a semi-catatonic state, whether from emotional/psychological shock or injury or both you don't know. Some are type-A know-it-alls who know nothing and are screaming at you and everyone else and might get you all killed. One guy is looking for his lighter because he still has his cigarettes and really needs a smoke. Others are following the type-A's lead because they don't know what else to do, and you realize that you have to take control of this situation because nobody else knows how to handle it.

Question: What do you do to make the scene safe and get everyone through it to survive? What resources can you use to improvise to meet your needs?
 
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based on what little i know, i would say...

move everyone away from the plane to avoid fumes and possible explosions etc.

get everyone working on making browse beds from limbs and leaves.

get a bonfire started any way possible. (are there survival kits in commercial planes?)

find any medically trained people and get them to help me take care of any injuries.

find any hunters/hikers/outdoors people that might know what they are doing to start working on a general shelter, something like a large lean-to.

try to get everyone in a good place to sleep for the night.

next day;
check out the plane to see if anything can be used. survival kits, blankets, pillows, emergency gear of any kind. seat cushions, food, bags, etc. try to see if the radio is working. find someone that can use a radio to try to send some signals.

get anyone knowledgeable to start foraging for food. get any hunters out looking for game trails etc for setting snares on.

hang in tight.
 
Just playing the devils advocate here, but "knowing that I am the only one who can fix things" seems a little like "I" would have delusions of granduer...JMHO.
I have often wondered what I would really do in situation like this one...I think that I would leave on my own as soon as was morally acceptable. I would provide as much first aid as I could, to whoever I could..take what I could use, and leave.
It would give me a much better chance of survival IMO. I am kinda over that feeling like my life is only valuable if I lay it down for another...it was a romantic idea that I had as a young man...now I just wanna make it one day at a time...and have as much fun as I can, until the big dirt nap happens.
 
gunknifenut said:
Just playing the devils advocate here, but "knowing that I am the only one who can fix things" seems a little like "I" would have delusions of granduer...JMHO.
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LOL, I understand, but for the discussion it's just a convenient way of thrusting each of us into a leadership role, and a decisionmaking role. The realization can be reluctant if it makes you feel better. :D
 
Brian Jones said:
LOL, I understand, but for the discussion it's just a convenient way of thrusting each of us into a leadership role, and a decisionmaking role. The realization can be reluctant if it makes you feel better. :D
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I know Bro, I just wanted to say that I dont wanna lead...I just took the long road (bag-0 Hot air).:D
 
I will be the only a$$hole to say I'm out of there. The type A know it alls can have it. I have a family to get to. That would be my priority. Now don't you all hope you guys are never on a plane with me.
 
No way man.... I'd be out of there. I've seen plenty of movies and I know whats in store. There's just bound to be a gang of bank robbers either on the plane or hiding out in the woods near by ready to capitalize on the situation and the guy who helps everyone else out ends up getting shot in the end after everyone else is safe.

Either that, or I'd be the guy who looses his footing on the final crossing and can't quite reach the other guys hand and falls while everyone yells "NNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" in slow motion.

And don't even get me started on the sci-fi possibilities...... bigfoot, dinosaurs, chupacabra, giant bats......

Na, I'll take my chances alone thank you very much.

Oh yea, I really want to get out of there before it turns to cannibalism.
 
cmgray said:
I will be the only a$$hole to say I'm out of there. The type A know it alls can have it. I have a family to get to. That would be my priority. Now don't you all hope you guys are never on a plane with me.
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I was reluctant to post what I would do but since your post, I would seriously consider going it alone. If there were people leading who didn't know what to do next.

First, I would start salvaging whatever I could. i would look for others who were taking immediate survival action instead of talking. I would see what skills they had and if we could get it done RIGHT together. If I felt that was not going to happen I would split with whatever I could scavenge.

I would look for rope or cordage, shards of metal that could be made into an ax, clothing, first aid, tarp like materials. Make a makeshift backpack out of some one's pants, then I'd barbie up a dead man's leg and head out.:eek::barf:
 
Okay, now that all you dudes have taken the easy way out (:D), let's add another aspect to your scenario: one or more family members is with you, and one or more can;t be moved due to injury. You have to stick around. Or, what's the best thing to do to get rescued in this situation? Stay around the site or take off? Remember, you have no idea when you will see SAR come around, and you'll think that they will do so sooner than later.

HA! Now you're gonna hafta do some real thinking. :D :thumbup:
 
I would help out as much as possible, move people away from plane until fumes had died down and retrieve what I could, or use plane itself as shelter depending on condition. Shelter is critical in those conditions for the night as well as fire.

Not knowing it would take a month for rescue I would stay in the group where chances are higher to be spotted, along with staying close to crash site and last known location.

As for know it alls, put them in their place either right away out and out, or through trial proving he doesnt know what he's doing. Its a bit risky as he probably will throw a punch but better be punched and have control after then risking everybody.
 
I think the first thing I would do is have everyone tell the group who they are and what jobs/skills they might have. Hopefully there is someone with medical skills who could start attending to the injured. Lawyers can be eaten later if there's a shortage of food :D I think it would be important to get people busy as quickly possible. Ask them to gather wood and help build a fire...
 
YAY! SKILLS!!!

Assess the immediate danger, either from the plane, the environment, or other people in your party. Quickly spitball an initial action plan, such as moving people away from the crash site to a temporary rallying location. Bonus points if it provides some measure of natural shelter.

Although it is easy to blast the "Type A a**holes," there is a reason that law enforcement agencies teach their officers "command presence." This means portraying confidence and persisting, not necessarily sreaming orders at scared people. "Relax Francis. We have scared and injurred people here. We're NOT going to do a forced march up to the top of the mountain to wave at passing planes." We have a lot we need to do and not a lot of time. I'm counting on you to help these people through this."

Everybody needs a job. Start assigning people tasks. Assess who has medical or other useful training.
"Please help carry that injurred lady over to those trees. This guy will help you."
"You - I need you to walk Steve over to those trees and make sure he doesn't try to light a cigarette."

"Ladies - Pleas gather those children together and move them over that way. Let them know we'll be okay."

After the immediate situation has been addressed, (We are no longer in immediate danger of some yahoo igniting the plane and we have some idea of how many passengers are injurred and how severe those injuries are.) We can start looking to other issues. Fire and shelter will be priorities, given the weather conditions of this scenario. the plane may not offer much in the way of shelter, at least initially, if there is significant risk of explosion. Fuel might be helpful in lighting a fire, however.

Again, you have multiple survivors that will come from all walks of life. Some may be crew members who will either feel obligated to "lead" or at least feel some obligation to "hold it together" for the sake of the passengers. They may also possess useful information regarding equipment and material that may be available on the plane. They may also have some idea of what the airline and FAA actions will likely be and what the timeline looks like.

With the current wars in Iraq and Afganistan, a large number of active duty military personnel are traveling on commercial flights. there is a good possibility that you will have one or more among your survivors. These people have useful training, know how to handle stressful situations, are used to taking orders, and working as part of a team to accomplish a goal. They may be among your most helpful assets.

Rather than having everybody clustered together or working on the same task, it is much more efficient to have various teams working simultaneously. Teams can be assigned fire, shelter, water, scavenging the wreck, caring for the injurred, dealing with bodies, gathering firewood, etc. Make sure to set parameters. People should know when to be back by, and for those teams tasked with venturing out, they should have a clear idea of how far to go as well.

That's enough for now. I'll pick this up again in a bit.

-- FLIX
 
Guess I'm not the only one. I'd see if I could find my bags and GTFO.

I'd stick around to make sure everyone is all right.....but there is no way I'd babysit until I got rescued.

Maybe I'd die, maybe all of them would die, who knows. I wouldn't stick around to find out.
 
I would try and do it like the Uragyaun rugby team did in the Andes, you stay with the plane, it offers some shelter, and go to work at improving shelter, gathering food etc. Try to get people to volunteer to do stuff they know how to do. Try and stay involved, survive.
I know that would be difficult to say the least with how most people are. That is what I would try. Then again, I would not step into that "leadership" position of my own will. People are too fickle.
I would try and spot the "go-to" type people, the kind that want to be proactive and get them to go to high ground and set up markers for our position. Go through the luggage and ration clothing and food, children, old, women, then men.
 
1-Top priority is rapid extrication of all survivors to a safe distance.
2- take the cigarettes from dillhole so he doesnt find a lighter and blow us sky high.
3- triage injured, and try and treat accordingly
4- inventory of supplies
5-shelter, and fire to avoid hypothermia
6- a bigger signal fire to aid in rescue, and if at all possible a check of communications equipment.
7- food and water

You can delegate tasks above to try and make the unit function as one, and keep people busy to avoid panic, and confrontations. Thats a basic way I would go about handling things. There are other things that come in to play, but thats an overall assessment of what I would acheive.......
 
gruntinhusaybah said:
I would try and do it like the Uragyaun rugby team did in the Andes, you stay with the plane, it offers some shelter, and go to work at improving shelter, gathering food etc. Try to get people to volunteer to do stuff they know how to do. Try and stay involved, survive.
I know that would be difficult to say the least with how most people are. That is what I would try. Then again, I would not step into that "leadership" position of my own will. People are too fickle.
I would try and spot the "go-to" type people, the kind that want to be proactive and get them to go to high ground and set up markers for our position. Go through the luggage and ration clothing and food, children, old, women, then men.
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might sound harsh, but the old would be last on my list for treatment and food. children, women, men, elderly.....
 
Jwilliams and theonew, sounds like you have had some incident command training.


If I was in charge Id assign task to individuals depending on their skills just like "THEONEW and Jwilliams .
 
NIMS brotha. Had em all:thumbup:;) Mass casualty training too......

That is my combo of training that I best suited to the scenario.

Brian, I would love to see regular critical thinking scenarios like this. It really gets the gears turning, and is a great training tool. :thumbup:

I am looking forward to hearing how others would approach this situation, I have enjoyed reading others posts in this one!!
 
IMHO...commercial plane= some form of food/sustenance (whether it is good or not is beside the point for survival. Case in point, roast beef MRE) and plenty of stuff to start/maintain a fire. We all know that food is a necessity for most in a survival situation. I am hypoglycemic, so that takes priority over much else. Umm...I would definitely set about trying to scavenge the plane ONLY IF CONDITIONS PERMITTED. Obviously, if the big flying beer can is ablaze, you should probably not try and grab the blankets, etc. Also, I would try to snag the emergency raft, I do not know if they are only on flights going over bodies of water, but they have an activation/location beacon that will engage when inflated. So, you have a nifty sem-windbreak/sun and rain shade plus a signal that will be responded to quickly.

As far as dealing with the type-A's: organize what few you can and get them on your train of thought. People function in a herd mentality in survival situations; if they see you and your 'sheep' building a fire and a makeshift shelter, mr type-a will probably be ignored before too long.

I would also organize some form of triage. IIRC stewardesses et al have some form of FA training and most people can understand "put pressure on this wound or he/she might die." Get them wam, keep them dry, kep them calm. Easier said than done I know.

And don't forget to keep the smoker away from everything. Or...make him go about 300 yards away so he doesn't set you all up in an inferno.


EDIT: Forgot my #1: Get to my bags. In there, I would find a FAK and a handful of substantial blades.
 
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