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You as the problem
The time to think through your emergency situations and procedures is prior to the flight and on the ground. You will always be surprised by an emergency. That's what makes it an emergency. Since aircraft control is #1, you need to do what is necessary as conditions allow. You will develop a procedure for determining priorities.

At the end of the preflight you should think through your takeoff emergency options. After leveling off at altitude get your emergency list up front. This is the basic list that applies to all situations and may include expansions for more specific emergencies.

We have been developing and adding checklists from the beginning. The last list is in many ways the most important. You will never be prepared for a real  emergency. The sequence of importance is #1 Fly the Plane. Make the most conservative decision quickly and don't change it. Don't waste position, airspeed, or altitude. Clean up the cockpit and instruct your passengers. In over 10,000 hours I have had only a couple of minutes of actual emergency all of which were resolved without incident. 20% of all flying is instructional but only 12% of the accidents are instructionally related. Midairs, propeller failures, and ground type propeller accidents occur each about once a month on average.

Most aviation emergencies are of the pilot's making related to weather or inappropriate maneuvers. 65% of the accidents are related to pilot error. A few mechanical emergencies come as complete surprises and lead to reactive behavior. Most mechanical emergencies occur at an altitude such that a reactive response is inappropriate. Mechanical failure is a very small factor in accident statistics (8%). Hasty reactions are, more likely than not, to be the wrong thing to do.

Darkness is a compounding factor in any emergency. You don't want your negligent eagerness to get home or 'there' to allow your self to get low on fuel or into weather and dark at the same time. Turn around, get down early and get fuel, stay down if weather doesn't promise legal night VFR. Don't push your night capabilities in strange areas or airports. Night get-there-Itis is the worst kind. Darkness and weather (19% of cause) is serving notice to turn around and get down. The risk of drowning in your bathtub is five times greater than even having an aircraft accident. Only one in six aircraft accidents result in anyone being seriously hurt or killed.

A major cause of accidents continues to be fuel exhaustion and starvation. Watch for unusual needle movements. Keep both historical and current flight records of fuel consumption. Know your fuel system. Starvation can occur even in single position situations. Refuel before low and dark.

An emergency checklist is the first item of any emergency. Don't do anything until you have this list, altitude and time permitting. At several thousand feet you have plenty of time. Most systems failures are slow motion non-emergencies. You get to plan where to have your accident. The more training and experience you have the more time you will have to do the right thing. There is seldom the time or capability for doing something over.

If you have a problem, the nature of which you are unable to determine, and cannot fix, then get down as soon and as safely as possible. Don't try to control a situation that cannot be controlled. Make the best choice of a suitable landing/accident site as soon and as high as possible. Once you pick your spot that includes a good, safe approach don't try to second-guess yourself.

This begins in the flight planning stage. The pilot collects and arranges his planning materials so as to have some orderly sequence of use. Only those materials pertinent to the flight are assembled. A flight route is selected along with possible alternates as may occur. Radio frequencies are listed in order of expected use along with alternates likely to occur. Use the A/FD. The flight bag is checked for extra batteries, tape, pens, markers, emergency kit, the 'usuals' and 'unusuals'. You must be able to assemble what is essential, desirable, and nice to have efficiently and with a minimum of effort.

The weather is checked, along with the notams, and the aircraft. The use of the aircraft POH is an essential to situational awareness. Every plane has specified operational and performance limits that are in the POH. These limits must be checked against the planned flight planning requirements. The POH lists the minimum items to be part of all the aircraft checklists, operating procedures. Modify all POH input with the additional items that fit the way you fly. Inadequate flight planning is the leading cause of general aviation accidents.

As for the pilot, the self-analysis must include whether the currency of the required aeronautical knowledge will give the best and most efficient use of the preflight planning. The pilot must think through the departure route best suited for the home runway in use. The usual arrival runway should be planned for with alternatives related to forecast winds. In each instance the runway dimensions and density altitudes must fit within the POH limits. Alternatives must be collected like poker chips. I have always felt the most important of these to be keeping someone at both ends of the flight fully informed as to what you are planning for all alternatives short of death.

The better qualified the pilot is, the more likely it is that he will clearly admit unfamiliarity. When ATC calls for you to report at a given point, if there is any degree of uncertainty, begin negotiations for a point that you do recognize. Go to slow-flight to extend your options time.

Everyone Has Problems
(They are just different problems.) The following list has been acquired over the years as early warning signs of difficulties to come. Read them and be aware that the accident you avoid may be your own.

--A public speaker finds it easy to use the microphone but difficult to leave out the punctuation.

--The businessman pilot is very uncomfortable if radio calls are not responded to immediately. The first priority of aircraft control conflicts with his office experience on the telephone.

--Even getting a pilot to believe that the microphone will work with either hand is a problem.

--Uses 'creative' procedures when in unfamiliar situations.

--Safety is improved even further by giving accurate position reports

--The ham radio operator finds the preciseness required in radio wording completely different than that with which he is familiar.

--Pilot is unfamiliar with systems and operating procedures as written in the POH. Relies on ego and ancient information instead of POH.

--The person who has never spoken on a radio finds the entire process both frightening and intimidating. Fails to reveal existence of a problem thinking that he will 'get into trouble'.

-- We will monitor known traffic, communications not directed to us, aircraft instruments, proximate terrain and weather, and engine sounds.

--We will ignore some traffic, some communications, and some weather

--Difficulties are compounded by accented English. Pronunciations of Hispanic words normally pronounced in Americanized English such as Vallejo.

--The background of an auto mechanic can be both a benefit and a hindrance. Automotive standards and materials do not meet aviation requirements.

--Pilot is never lacking in confidence even in the face of adversity and overwhelming odds.

--Flying in conditions for which proficiency is lacking. Night, weather, ice.

--Reacts to situations as they occur instead of anticipating through planning.

--While taxiing is one of the last skills acquired, a farmer with tractor experience finds the process quite familiar.

--Hoping that weather will improve without knowledge that it will.

--Pilot tends to become tense during final phases of landing. Jockeys yoke back and forth in reaction to unseen problems.

--Aircraft accidents don't happen to me, just everybody else.

--The pilot who flies is confronted by situations such as weather or traffic that requires actions for which he is unprepared.

--Using the poor example of another pilot or story to do something related to flying.

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