Emergency Approach and Landing (Simulated) (ASEL, ASES)

• Establish and maintain the recommended best glide airspeed, ±10 knots (S1)
• Configure per the POH/AFM and existing conditions (S2)
• Select a suitable landing area considering altitude, wind, terrain, obstructions, and available glide distance (S3)
• Plan and follow a flightpath to that area (S4), prepare for landing as the evaluator specifies (S5), and complete the appropriate checklist(s) (S6)

This task is ASEL/ASES only. The speed tolerance matches the private standard — what changes is the quality of the judgment behind it (FAA-S-ACS-7B, Task IX.B).

Pitch first, then diagnose, then talk (AFH ch. 9, ch. 10):

1. Maintain positive control and establish the best glide configuration and airspeed. If you are above best glide, let the airplane slow (you may even bleed the speed off by climbing); if you are at or below it, lower the nose immediately to hold or regain it. Trim
2. Turn toward an airport or away from congested areas, and pick the general landing area
3. Check for the cause — fuel selector, magneto switch, mixture, primer, carburetor heat, boost pump. "If possible, the cause of the malfunction should be corrected immediately and the engine restarted"
4. Announce the emergency to ATC or UNICOM; if already in contact with a facility, do not change frequencies unless instructed
5. Then the printed checklist, as altitude permits

Confirm flaps and gear are in the configuration the situation calls for — not the one you happened to be in.

Best glide: maximizes distance flown, occurring at the highest lift-to-drag ratio (L/DMAX); any deviation above or below it lessens the glide ratio (AFH ch. 3).

Minimum sink: maximizes time aloft — the airplane loses altitude at the lowest rate, but travels less distance. It occurs at a lower airspeed than best glide, is not often published, and is generally a few knots below best glide (AFH ch. 3).

Use best glide to reach a field. Use minimum sink when time matters more than distance — the AFH's own example is ditching at sea, where you want maximum time to prepare and to be spotted.

Weight does not change the glide angle or the distance flown, provided you fly the correct airspeed for the weight. Glide distance is set by the L/D ratio, not by weight.

What changes is the speed and the clock: a heavier airplane must fly a higher best glide airspeed to achieve the same glide ratio, and it arrives at the same touchdown point in less time. Two identical airplanes at different weights, gliding from the same altitude, cover the same distance — the lighter one just takes longer (AFH ch. 3). That is why POHs publish best glide at max gross and you shade it down when light.

Glide range is a groundspeed problem. With a tailwind you glide farther because groundspeed is higher; with a headwind you glide less far (AFH ch. 3). The angle through the air is unchanged — the ground track is what shifts.

Practical application: read the wind before you commit. The AFH lists the field sources — the windsock, smoke from factories or houses, dust, brush fires, wind farms, and patterns on nearby water (AFH ch. 9). A field that is "made" downwind may be unreachable upwind.

Density altitude does not change the glide angle — best glide is an indicated airspeed, and you fly the same number on the ASI whether it is a cold morning or a hot afternoon at a mountain strip. What changes is everything downstream of it:

• True airspeed and groundspeed are higher at high density altitude for the same IAS, so you touch down faster over the ground. "An increase in density altitude increases the landing speed but does not alter the net retarding force" — the airplane "lands at altitude with the same IAS as at sea level but, because of the reduced density, the TAS is greater" (PHAK ch. 11)
• The landing roll stretches accordingly — minimum landing distance at 5,000 ft is about 16 percent greater than at sea level (PHAK ch. 11). A field that looks long enough at sea level may not be
• Impact energy rises with the square of groundspeed — "doubling the groundspeed means quadrupling the total destructive energy" (AFH ch. 18). Land into the wind when the field's dimensions allow
• Wind, obstacles, and field slope are the three approach-planning factors, and "these three factors are seldom compatible" (AFH ch. 18). When they conflict, take the combination that leaves margin for error in judgment

Turbulence, temperature, and visibility conditions also matter: reduced visibility or whiteout costs you the depth perception the roundout depends on.

Drag-producing configuration. Flaps, landing gear, and cowl flaps all steepen the glide: as drag rises, you must lower pitch to hold airspeed, and the flightpath steepens (AFH ch. 3). To maximize distance, eliminate every drag-producing item you can — then add them back deliberately once the field is assured.

This is the discipline the commercial checkride is actually testing: premature flap or gear extension is a listed common error, right alongside attempting to stretch the glide during an undershoot (AFH ch. 9).

"The pilot should not attempt to 'stretch' a glide by applying back-elevator pressure and reducing the airspeed below the airplane's recommended best glide speed." Doing so is likely to land you short, and may cause a loss of control if the airplane stalls (AFH ch. 3).

Low-level gliding steep turns are where this becomes lethal: with excessive rudder deflected into the bank while the pilot pulls to hold altitude, "the situation can rapidly turn into an unrecoverable spin" (AFH ch. 3). That is ACS risk element R5 — low-altitude maneuvering, stall, spin, or CFIT.

Terrain appearance from altitude is misleading, and considerable altitude can be lost while you pinpoint a spot. So from high altitude, select the general area first, then the specific spot.

The AFH's rule: "the pilot should not hesitate to discard the original plan for one that is obviously better. However, as a general rule, the pilot should not change his or her mind more than once" — because "a well-executed crash landing in poor terrain can be less hazardous than an uncontrolled touchdown on an established field" (AFH ch. 18).

Contact the facility in whose area you are operating on the frequency in use, state the nature of the difficulty, your intentions, and the assistance desired (AIM 6-3-1). The formal procedure:

• MAYDAY three times for distress, PAN-PAN three times for urgency. MAYDAY commands radio silence and has absolute priority
• If you cannot raise anyone, broadcast or call "Any Station"
• Climb if possible for better communications and better radar and direction-finding detection
• If unable to establish communications, squawk 7700 and Mode C
• 121.5 MHz is guarded by direction-finding stations, most civil towers, military towers, and radar facilities; range is line of sight (AIM 6-3-2)

As many of these as time allows (AIM 6-3-2):

• MAYDAY / PAN-PAN, repeated three times
• Station addressed; aircraft identification and type
• Nature of the distress; weather
• Pilot's intentions and request
• Present position and heading (or last known position, time, and heading since)
• Altitude; fuel remaining in minutes; number of people on board

With a crash landing imminent, add ELT status, visible landmarks, aircraft color, and emergency equipment on board — then actuate the ELT if the installation permits.

Hold a constant gliding speed — "variations of gliding speed nullify all attempts at accuracy in judgment of gliding distance and the landing spot." Use any combination of normal gliding maneuvers, from wings level to spirals, to arrive at the normal key position at a normal traffic pattern altitude for the selected landing area. From the key point on, it is a normal power-off approach (AFH ch. 9).

Stay over the intended landing area while you lose the altitude. Do not go exploring and then try to get back.

The AFH's nine common errors are listed under Task IV.M — memorize them there. Three of them change character when the field is a field instead of a runway you briefed:

• Stretching the glide. On IV.M you know the spot and have flown it before. Here you are judging an unfamiliar surface under time pressure, so the temptation to hold the nose up for the near edge is far stronger — and it is the error that turns a survivable arrival into a stall-spin
• Using throttle to extend the glide. In a real failure there is no throttle to use. In the simulated case, reaching for it is what the evaluator is watching for, because it reveals you were flying a practice approach rather than committing to the field
• Premature configuration. Off-airport you have no runway markings to calibrate against, so flaps and gear go out later and in stages, once the landing area is assured

The rest of the list applies unchanged. The difference is that IV.M tests precision; this Task tests judgment with an unknown surface.

• Forced landing — an immediate landing, on or off airport, necessitated by inability to continue flight (engine failure)
• Precautionary landing — a premeditated landing when further flight is possible but inadvisable: deteriorating weather, being lost, fuel shortage, gradually developing engine trouble
• Ditching — a forced or precautionary landing on water

A precautionary landing is generally less hazardous because you have time for terrain selection and approach planning, and power available to correct errors. The AFH's warning is professional-pilot material: too many precautionary-landing situations "are allowed to develop into immediate forced landings, when the pilot uses wishful thinking instead of reason" (AFH ch. 18).

Three, and they are all pilot-generated (AFH ch. 18):

• Reluctance to accept the emergency — leads to failure to lower the nose for flying speed, delay in selecting a field, and general indecision
• Undue concern about getting hurt — fear is useful; panic invites the outcome you are trying to avoid. "The survival records favor pilots who maintain their composure"
• Desire to save the airplane — the classic consequences are the 180° turn back to the runway with insufficient altitude, stretching the glide to reach a prettier field, and accepting an approach with no margin for error

"There are times when a pilot should be more interested in sacrificing the airplane so that the occupants can safely walk away from it."

Two things (AFH ch. 18): keeping the cabin structure intact by using dispensable structure — wings, landing gear, fuselage bottom — to absorb the stopping forces, and avoiding forcible bodily contact with interior structure — seat and body security, belts tight.

And the dominant variable is groundspeed: "doubling the groundspeed means quadrupling the total destructive energy." Touch down at the lowest possible controllable airspeed, using all available aerodynamic devices.

Use them as energy absorbers rather than fighting them (AFH ch. 18):

• Normal landing configuration — full flaps, gear down
• Keep groundspeed low by heading into the wind
• Contact at minimum indicated airspeed but not below stall speed, and "hang" the airplane in the branches in a nose-high attitude, involving the fuselage underside and both wings
• Symmetrical initial contact — equal resistance on both wings preserves attitude and may prevent losing a wing
• Avoid direct fuselage contact with heavy trunks
• Prefer low, closely spaced trees with wide dense crowns over tall thin-topped trees: a free fall from 75 feet produces an impact speed of about 40 knots (roughly 4,000 fpm)

A well-executed water landing normally involves less deceleration violence than a poor tree landing or very rough terrain, and an airplane ditched at minimum speed in a normal attitude does not sink immediately — intact wings and tanks (especially empty ones) float for at least several minutes (AFH ch. 18).

• Beware loss of depth perception over smooth water — "drag it in" when possible
• Use no more than intermediate flaps on low-wing airplanes; full flaps can fail asymmetrically against water resistance
• Keep retractable gear up unless the AFM/POH says otherwise
• A snow landing is executed like a ditching — same configuration, same whiteout depth-perception hazard

If ditching, make every effort to ditch near a surface vessel (AIM 6-3-2).

The AFH refuses to give a hard rule and expects you to reason it (AFH ch. 18):

• Flaps improve slow-speed maneuverability and lower stall speed, so their use on final is recommended when time and circumstances permit — but the added drag shortens the glide, so time the extension carefully
• Gear down protects the cabin in rugged terrain, trees, and high-sink-rate impacts; gear up may cause less damage on level but soft terrain or a plowed field. Weigh the protective effect against side effects like a ruptured fuel tank
• Deactivating the electrical system before touchdown reduces post-crash fire risk — but not until you no longer need power for vital systems
• Switch engine and fuel off just before touchdown; a cooled-down engine considerably reduces fire hazard

Above all: "Positive airplane control during the final part of the approach has priority over all other considerations, including airplane configuration and checklist tasks."

They are the reason anyone finds you, so treat them as part of the descent plan, not an afterthought:

• Actuate the ELT if the installation permits, and set the radio for continuous transmission on a crash landing or ditching if risk of fire is not a consideration (AIM 6-3-2)
• Tell ATC in the distress call whether the airplane is ELT-equipped and whether the ELT has been activated (AIM 6-3-2)
• A 406 MHz ELT transmits a digital, registered signal with position data to the Cospas-Sarsat satellites and homes rescuers on 121.5; 121.5-only ELTs have not been satellite-monitored since February 1, 2009, so a 121.5 signal is heard only by overflying aircraft and ground stations (AIM 6-2-4)
• Carry a personal locator beacon (PLB) or a handheld device on you, not in the baggage compartment — the ELT is mounted as far aft as practicable and may be unreachable or damaged after impact (PHAK ch. 9, AIM 6-2-4)

Then stay put: "After a crash landing, unless you have good reason to believe that you will not be located by search aircraft or ground teams, it is best to remain with your aircraft and prepare means for signaling search aircraft." Inspection intervals, battery replacement, and testing procedures are covered under Task IX.D.