Emergency Landings reach, and indecision in general. Desperate attempts  to correct whatever went wrong at the expense of  airplane control fall into the same category. This section contains information on emergency landing  techniques in small fixed-wing airplanes. The guidelines that  are presented apply to the more adverse terrain conditions  for which no practical training is possible. The objective is  to instill in the pilot the knowledge that almost any terrain  can be considered “suitable” for a survivable crash landing  if the pilot knows how to use the airplane structure for self- protection and the protection of passengers. The different types of emergency landings are defined as  follows: Types of Emergency Landings A precautionary landing, generally, is less hazardous than  a forced landing because the pilot has more time for terrain  selection and the planning of the approach. In addition, the  pilot can use power to compensate for errors in judgment or  technique. The pilot should be aware that too many situations  calling for a precautionary landing are allowed to develop  into immediate forced landings, when the pilot uses wishful  thinking instead of reason, especially when dealing with a self- inflicted predicament. The non-instrument-rated pilot trapped  by weather, or the pilot facing imminent fuel exhaustion who  does not give any thought to the feasibility of a precautionary  landing, accepts an extremely hazardous alternative. There are several factors that may interfere with a pilot’s  ability to act promptly and properly when faced with an  emergency. Some of these factors are listed below.  Basic Safety Concepts General Psychological Hazards The advantage of sacrificing dispensable structure is  demonstrated daily on the highways. A head-on car impact  against a tree at 20 miles per hour (mph) is less hazardous for  a properly restrained driver than a similar impact against the  driver’s door. Accident experience shows that the extent of  crushable structure between the occupants and the principal point  of impact on the airplane has a direct bearing on the severity  of the transmitted crash forces and, therefore, on survivability. 17-2 • Reluctance to accept the emergency situation—a  pilot who allows the mind to become paralyzed at  the thought that the airplane will be on the ground  in a very short time, regardless of the pilot’s actions  or hopes, is severely handicapped in the handling of  the emergency. An unconscious desire to delay the  dreaded moment may lead to such errors as: failure  to lower the nose to maintain flying speed, delay in  the selection of the most suitable landing area within  • Undue concern about getting hurt—fear is a vital  part of the self-preservation mechanism. However,  when fear leads to panic, we invite that which we  want most to avoid. The survival records favor pilots  who maintain their composure and know how to  apply the general concepts and procedures that have  been developed through the years. The success of an  emergency landing is as much a matter of the mind  as of skills. A pilot who is faced with an emergency landing in terrain that  makes extensive airplane damage inevitable should keep in  mind that the avoidance of crash injuries is largely a matter  of: (1) keeping the vital structure (cabin area) relatively  intact by using dispensable structure (i.e., wings, landing  gear, fuselage bottom) to absorb the violence of the stopping  process before it affects the occupants (2) avoiding forceful  bodily contact with interior structure. • Ditching—a forced or precautionary landing on water. • Precautionary landing—a premeditated landing, on  or off an airport, when further flight is possible but  inadvisable. Examples of conditions that may call for  a precautionary landing include deteriorating weather,  being lost, fuel shortage, and gradually developing  engine trouble. • Forced landing—an immediate landing, on or off an  airport, necessitated by the inability to continue further  flight. A typical example of which is an airplane forced  down by engine failure. • Desire to save the airplane—the pilot who has  been conditioned during training to expect to find  a relatively safe landing area, whenever the flight  instructor closed the throttle for a simulated forced  landing, may ignore all basic rules of airmanship to  avoid a touchdown in terrain where airplane damage  is unavoidable. Typical consequences are: making a  180° turn back to the runway when available altitude  is insufficient; stretching the glide without regard  for minimum control speed in order to reach a more  appealing field; accepting an approach and touchdown  situation that leaves no margin for error. The desire  to save the airplane, regardless of the risks involved,  may be influenced by two other factors: the pilot’s  financial stake in the airplane and the certainty that an  undamaged airplane implies no bodily harm. There are  times, however, when a pilot should be more interested  in sacrificing the airplane so that the occupants can  safely walk away from it.