Reason #256 for why I never leave the house without my Garmin InReach Mini: things always go wrong at the most inconvenient times. You know, like when you’re mid-air in a small aircraft that decides it’s finished flying for the day.
When Matt Lehtinen’s single-engine Cirrus crashed into the asshole end of Quebec’s vast wilderness, he was packed and ready for the worst, with a satellite communications device, first aid kit and a few essential survival sundries. Having made it out of the hard landing that left his aircraft a write-off, he immediate fired off an SOS and started a fire. As if starting a survival fire and keeping an eye out for search and rescue personnel weren’t enough to do, while he waited to be retrieved, Lehtinen also took the time to make a vlog of his ordeal. It’s a great idea: if you get out in one piece, you’ve got a testament to the fact that staying calm and being properly equipped for an emergency situation can save your life. Alternatively, if he was eaten by a bear while waiting for a SAR flight to pop by, at least folks would know what happened to him.