4.2 Survival Principles and Post-Crash Actions
Key Takeaways
- Stay restrained until the rotors stop unless fire, sinking, or a clear pilot order forces immediate egress
- An ELT can fire from a G-switch or a manual switch; 406 MHz is the registered satellite beacon, and 121.5 is the local homing tone satellites no longer monitor
- Stay with the wreckage unless remaining will kill you — the airframe, the ELT, and the scar are what searchers look for
- After a crash, protect crew from fire and fuel first, then the patient, then make a radio call on any radio that still works
- Survival kits vary by program; learn the jobs — signaling, shelter, water, fire, first aid — not a fake official shopping list
The mission is over when the aircraft is on the ground and the rotors are still — unless fire, sinking, or another immediate killer forces you out sooner. Post-crash actions are about surviving the first two minutes, then the wait for rescue.
First actions: rotors, fire, egress
A helicopter's main and tail rotors keep turning after a hard landing. Blades flex downward as they slow. Standing up early is how crews walk into a live disk.
- Wait for the rotors to stop unless there is fire, fuel-fed flame, sinking in water, or a clear order from the PIC to get out now.
- Release your restraint, account for the other crewmember and the patient, and follow the egress path you briefed — the door or window you can actually open.
- Take the patient if you can move them without becoming a second casualty. If fire is at the door, drag whoever you can upwind and uphill of fuel.
- Do not run back for a monitor. Return only if a person is still inside and the cabin is not fully involved.
Egress order is "whoever can move, then the patient, then equipment that keeps someone alive." There is no BCEN-mandated sequence that overrides fire. Brief the actual airframe: jettison windows, handle direction, crash axe, and extinguisher.
Emergency locator transmitter
The emergency locator transmitter (ELT) is how searchers find a quiet wreck. Know two activation paths and two frequencies.
| Feature | What the flight nurse should remember |
|---|---|
| G-switch (automatic) | Crash forces activate the transmitter if the unit is armed and survives |
| Manual activation | Cockpit remote or unit switch — use it after a controlled landing, a ditching, or any crash in which you are not sure the G-switch fired |
| 406 MHz | Digital, registered beacon heard by the COSPAS-SARSAT satellite system; identity and, on many units, a GPS position |
| 121.5 MHz | Analog homing tone. Satellites stopped monitoring 121.5 in 2009. Search aircraft still home on it. Modern 406 units usually also send a low-power 121.5 homing signal |
A registered 406 MHz beacon lets rescue coordination centers call the operator and decide quickly whether the aircraft is missing. A 121.5-only beacon depends on a nearby aircraft or tower listening, and those alerts move more slowly. If a radio still works, tell air traffic control (ATC) or company dispatch that you are down, position if known, souls on board, and fire or injuries. Leave the ELT transmitting. Do not turn it off to "save the battery" after a real crash. A functioning unit is built to run on the order of 48 hours.
Survival kit: functions, not a secret BCEN shopping list
BCEN does not publish an official kit inventory. Learn the jobs the kit must do, then learn your aircraft's bag. Common HEMS practice packs five functions:
- Signaling: mirror, whistle, signal panel, strobe or flashlight, and the ELT itself.
- Shelter: space blankets, a tarp, or the intact cabin. Hypothermia starts on wet summer nights.
- Water: bottled water or purification. Do not drink untreated ditch water in the first hour.
- Fire: waterproof matches or a sparker, and only if fuel vapor allows a controlled fire.
- First aid: what you already carry for the patient, plus extra dressings for crew wounds.
That list is practice, not exam law. Know your aircraft's actual bag.
Stay or walk
Stay with the wreckage unless remaining will kill you. The airframe is a larger target than four people in the trees. The ELT, the fuel sheen, and the scar are what searchers look for.
Walk out only when you know where you are, you can reach help in a time your weakest survivor can tolerate, weather and terrain are passable, and no one who cannot walk is being abandoned. Leave a note and a direction of travel if you go.
Environment changes the wait
| Environment | Dominant threat | Practice emphasis |
|---|---|---|
| Desert | Heat, dehydration, sun | Shade from wreckage; travel only if a road is in sight |
| Mountain | Cold, slope, altitude hypoxia | Stay put; do not "just climb to the ridge" at night |
| Water / ditching | Drowning, hypothermia | Life vests, raft after exit, stay together |
| Winter | Hypothermia, burial in snow | Shelter, dry layers, fire only after fuel vapor is gone |
Crew versus patient after a crash
You cannot treat anyone if you are on fire. After a crash the order is blunt:
- Self and crew — stop life-threatening bleeding, open an airway, get out of fuel and flame.
- Patient — the same interventions, once you can reach them without becoming the next casualty.
- Scene — fuel spill, fire, traffic if you are on a road, and a radio call.
A fuel spill is an ignition problem: no flares on the fuel, isolate electrical equipment you can reach, and move survivors uphill and upwind. Jet A is less volatile than aviation gasoline (avgas) but it still burns.
Know extinguisher classes so you do not make a fuel fire worse:
- Class A: ordinary combustibles — wood, paper, fabric, cabin liners.
- Class B: flammable liquids — fuel, oil, hydraulic fluid.
- Class C: energized electrical equipment.
Aircraft bottles are often Halon or another clean agent rated for B and C. Do not throw water on a fuel puddle. Fight only a small fire that is blocking egress.
If a radio survives, notify ATC or company: downed aircraft, position, souls, injuries, fire status, and ELT on.
After a hard landing the aircraft is upright, there is no fire or fuel leak, and the main rotor is still turning. What is the most appropriate first action?
Which statement correctly describes the aircraft emergency locator transmitter?
A winter mountain crash leaves the aircraft upright, with no fire, an operating ELT, and one patient who cannot walk. What is the best survival plan?