Special Report

Montana aviators get hands on lesson on winter survival

Posted: Feb 3, 2010 10:43 AM by Courtney Hanson
Updated: Feb 3, 2010 10:43 AM

Aviators get hands on winter survival lesson

LINCOLN - In January of 1992, a Montana pilot survived a plane crash near Garrison. Sadly, in the hours after the wreck, he died from the harsh winter conditions. Since the tragedy, Terry Surratt's wife Deb, has helped reinforce and fund a winter survival clinic for pilots, so they have the skills to stay alive if their plane goes down. This year a group of pilots and passengers took part in the Surratt Winter Survival Clinic in Lincoln.

Rocky Mountain College Aviation Senior Hannah Neel flys around Montana in the winter and said, "It's never a bad decision to learn more about surviving in colder environments."

Her sophomore classmate, Kelli French took the class so in case she got in a crash in the winter, she would know what do do to survive. "So I wouldn't die out in the middle of nowhere."

A pilot's odds of surviving a crash and living aren't that great. If you add an injury, sub zero temperatures, and snow, their odds are even less. That's why the students wanted to be prepared.

"We had an accident in the Pryor once and the guy that had the accident was able to survive because he had just taken that aviation winter survival clinic," said French.

And what they learned is that the winter cold can kill them, but the snow can actually keep them alive. Emergency Response International Instructor Robert Stoffel said "Snow is packed full of dead airspace, therefore in extreme cold, it becomes an insulator."

"The most surprising thing is that snow actually keeps you warm instead of making you colder and you can make shelters out of it," said Neel.

Stoffel said seeking shelter should be one of your first priorities and you don't need to look far to find tools to build one. Search and Rescue Pilot Jeremy Clement built a combo snow cave. "I dug a trench in the show and then piled up snow on the sides and then got wood to use as a support on the top. I put a tarp over that and then put about a foot of snow. Then just laid some pine boughs and needles down below and it was quite cozy."

French thought you could freeze to death making shelters out of snow, but she was surprised in the middle of the night. "I actually woke up one time and got hot so I had to take my arms out from underneath the sleeping bag."

Stoffel said "Preparedness is an ethic, you have to walk it, you have to talk it, you cannot be just prepared once in awhile, you have to be prepared all the time."
A survival kit can easily fit in your airplane, car, or back-back and if packed with the right tools, it can easily save your life. Some sort of signaling device is really important to have in that survival kit.