On Sat, 26 Feb 2005 07:10:01 +0100 (CET), Nomen Nescio wrote:


It is a useful calculation for making the decision as to "Should I fly over
the mountains at night?"
Using Ron Garret's example of 1 in 100 chance of having an engine failure,
and assuming that an engine failure at night over the mountains has a
100% chance of being fatal (I know it's not 100%, but I'd bet it's awfully
close).

Just to change the line of thinking here, - seems to me that since
the assumption is you would inevitably impact with fatal results, if
an engine failure occurs, over mountains, at night, in IMC, that
jumping out with a parachute (proper training, etc.) would greatly
increase your chances of survival. Might not be too comfortable flying
with one on, I'm not a parachutist - but that kind of flying most
agree is more likely to have fatal results from loss of power. Just
like a liferaft on an offshore yacht, it seems it could be an
insurance policy that could be effective if you have to fly in those
conditions.