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Exercise 3: The geographical setting of the accident (Part 2) 
2. On what ground did the wrecked airplane slide on? On which did it stop?
Highlight this last point with a rectangle using the Annotation Tool or GIS. Assess the kind of landscape the survivors were stranded in from your observations of maps and satellite images. Have a look at Google Earth as well. After only nine days of unsuccessful search operations, the search was called off. The survivors heard this from a nearby radio station and realised that no one was going to come rescue them. If they wanted to get out, they had to do it on their own.
Take your atlas or any suitable map and locate the survivors’ position.
3. Assess the distance to the next inhabited location. Would you be able to walk that far without food?
Perhaps your map is not detailed enough, so concentrate on the satellite image. If you have access to Google Earth, use it, as it is of very high resolution and provides important altitude information. On the satellite images look out for signs of settlements, agricultural fields, infrastructure such as mines, and their access roads and installations. Measure the distance from the location of the accident to the nearest possible rescue point in the west and in the east. Consider water, vegetation, and climate. Decide which direction, east or west, would be more successful and less risky. Trace the best possible escape route for our survivors. Use the Measure Tool to trace and measure the distance. Look at the false colour infrared image (Landsat_232_233_84_453.tif). On this image vegetation is very red and clearly distinguishable from dry and hostile ground.
4. What is the distance to the next possible rescue point? Using Google Earth, try assessing the altitudes on the escape route.
Last update: 14 November 2013
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