crash-landing
Uncontrolled aircraft arrival
A crash-landing is an emergency landing in which an aircraft hits the ground with significant impact, typically causing damage.
The term applies when normal landing is impossible—due to mechanical failure, fuel exhaustion, or lack of a proper runway: The pilot executed a crash-landing in a field.
The verb is crash-land: They crash-landed in the desert.
Destroyed remains of something
- debrisScattered broken fragments
- fuselageAircraft's central structure
- damageHarm or impairment
- casualtiesThose killed or wounded
investigation · rescue · survivors · impact · runway · terrain · malfunction · distress
Airborne transportation vehicle
- cockpitPilot's control compartment
- pilotOne who steers aircraft
- altitudeMeasured height above reference
- descentDownward slope or lineage
glide · hydraulics · flaps · fuselage · airstrip · runway · controls · instruments
Radio emergency signal
- distressSevere anxiety or suffering
- evacuationRemoval from danger
- braceDevice providing structural stability
- ejectThrow out forcibly
SOS · alarms · sirens · flares · escape · crisis · panic · warning
Save from harm
- survivorOne still alive after
- shelterProtected place or structure
- signalMessage-conveying cue
- flaresPyrotechnic distress signals
ration · endurance · wilderness · dehydration · resourcefulness · foraging · hypothermia · triage
wreckage
Destroyed remains of something
casualties · investigation · rescue · survivors · impact · runway · terrain · malfunction · distress · recovery
aircraft
Airborne transportation vehicle
- cockpitPilot's control compartment
- pilotOne who steers aircraft
- altitudeMeasured height above reference
descent · glide · hydraulics · flaps · fuselage · airstrip · runway · controls · instruments · stall
mayday
Radio emergency signal
- distressSevere anxiety or suffering
- evacuationRemoval from danger
- braceDevice providing structural stability
eject · SOS · alarms · sirens · flares · escape · crisis · panic · warning · cockpit
rescue
Save from harm
flares · ration · endurance · wilderness · dehydration · resourcefulness · foraging · hypothermia · triage · helicopter
collision
Forceful contact between objects
thud · bang · smash · rupture · fracture · force · skid · bounce · tumble · crumple
crash-landingsmooth landing
Gentle aircraft arrival
soft landing · safe landing · greaser · three-point landing · touchdown