![[Credit: Jon Miller]](https://planeandpilotmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/IMG_2189-scaled.jpeg)
In the latest episode of the Plane + Pilot Podcast, editor-in-chief Cayla McLeod sat down with Dr. Jon Miller, an emergency medicine physician and founder of Adventure Medicine Experts, to discuss the critical intersection of aviation and survival care.
Miller’s roots in aviation run deep, having grown up in a flying family and originally aspiring to follow in his father’s footsteps as a military aviator.
After learning his eyesight did not meet military pilot standards, Miller pivoted to medicine, specializing in emergency and wilderness care. He eventually merged his two passions by serving as a flight surgeon for the Idaho Air National Guard’s 190th Fighter Squadron and becoming an Aviation Medical Examiner (AME) and CFI.
The inspiration for Adventure Medicine Experts came during a backcountry hunting trip when Miller and a colleague realized that survival training is often an oversight in general aviation. By partnering with a Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape(SERE) expert, the organization now hosts intensive annual clinics at remote locations like the Root Ranch in Idaho to teach pilots how to handle off-airport emergencies.
During the conversation, Miller emphasized the importance of planning each flight as if there might be an off-airport landing and also noted that true survival equipment must be worn on the pilot’s person rather than stowed in the aircraft. He introduced the six C’s of survival:
- Compression: Tools to stop life-threatening bleeding.
- Communications: Multiple ways to reach rescuers, such as a satellite device or signal mirror.
- Combustion: Reliable methods to start a fire.
- Cold: Gear to prevent hypothermia, which Miller identifies as a leading post-crash killer.
- Cutting: A fixed-blade knife for one-handed operation.
- Comfort: Items to maintain a positive mental attitude.
Miller also advocated for the use of helmets in the backcountry, citing research that suggests a significant percentage of accidents would be survivable if pilots maintained consciousness to egress the wreckage. He stressed that, just like flying, survival and medical skills are perishable and require regular recurrent training.
“Survival gear is what you have on your body,” Miller said. “Everything else in your plane is camping gear.”
Catch the full conversation with Miller on the Plane + Pilot Podcast, available every Wednesday on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite streaming platform.
