1000 ft in an airplane is not the height of a 45 story building, its about double that, and it feels very different from looking out of a building. The rest of the advice about altitude is just confusing.
The famous saying is "in an emergency: aviate, navigate, communicate". What that means is that step two should not be communicate, it should be your last priority, even in this situation. You should get the plane flying straight and level before you try to figure out radios. Don't firewall the throttle before pulling it back an arbitrary amount, make radio calls, then fly the plane, then figure out where to go.
Simply put, this is confusing advice from the perspective of a pilot. I can't imagine how confusing it would be to someone completely freaked out with no experience staring death in the face.
What does "navigate" mean in this situation? I'd expect that getting the plane flying straight and level would fall under "aviate".
My broader point is that getting the plane straight and level is far more important than the radio, and fiddling with the throttle is not the first step in any scenario that I can imagine.
Where things go sideways in the article is simultaneously verbose about extraneous details while entirely leaving out relevant details.
I think a non-pilot needs help ASAP. Either on board the plane or via cell phone or radio. Aviate first is good advice but I would promote communication over navigating in this case. A pilot can and should navigate. A non-pilot really can't, at least not cockpit navigation. Their mobile decice will need wifi. Maps app on most any mobile device will give a sufficiently accurate position.
I think the article is an exercise in how something that seems straightforward can be difficult to explain. Landings also have an inordinate number of often fatal pitfalls.
The best advice though is in the article: Don't panic. Don't make abrupt control inputs.
Step 1. fuck with the throttle
Step 2. reach for the PTT button on the yoke, which he confidently states is certain to be where it definitely wasn't on the plane I trained in, lets hope you don't start holding the trim switch which is also on the yoke for 15-20 seconds!
Step 3. Get her straight and level
Is kind of the exact wrong order.
Far more useful would be information on how to check the radio frequency and how to switch to guard if you can't raise anyone.
In which country are those not priority 2 and priority 1 messages? Or is a non-pilot flying is a different problem depending on the country?
"Help me! Help me!" ("M'aidez")
much better than
"I've broken down! I've broken down" ("En Panne")
:)
I mean I could win the lottery, too.
Otherwise, given enough tries, your chances of landing are vastly better.
I solo'd in about 13 hours, and 77 landings.