Survivability VS landing speed

C J Campbell wrote:

So you just have to pick your emergency landing sites more carefully. A
slower stall speed means you can pick a smaller site. Here, where the
whole area is covered with mountains, forests, and water you could have
real problems finding a landing site big enough to absorb the energy of
a fast airplane.

It's easy to find a spot to "absorb the energy of a fast airplane"...
it only has to be about the size of the frontal area of the aircraft.
The trick is to find an area that will absorb the energy slowly enough
that the carbon life forms inside aren't turned into hamburger.

That's why it always bugs me when I'm flying commercial when the pilot
says "we'll be on the gound shortly"... there are a LOT of ways to
"get an airplane on the ground" that I'd prefer to avoid...

Mark "easy does it" Hickey