--- description: Prepare for Impact is a new free smartphone app for iPhone and Android that simulates various airborne emergencies. title: This Terrifyingly Realistic App Teaches You to Survive a Plane Crash image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb0597bab47f4ed01/69888b6f5f570f9f09b2017b/screen-shot-2016-03-17-at-11-47-00-am.png?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Tech](/tag/time-section-tech/) ## Tech Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # This Terrifyingly Realistic App Teaches You How to Survive a Plane Crash  by [Alex Fitzpatrick](/author/alex-fitzpatrick/)  ## Alex Fitzpatrick Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 17, 2016 3:50 PM CUT   by [Alex Fitzpatrick](/author/alex-fitzpatrick/)  ## Alex Fitzpatrick Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 17, 2016 3:50 PM CUT Every single flight begins exactly the same way: With one of those soul-crushingly boring safety lectures explaining what to do in case the worst happens. But if one of your plane’s engines explodes mid-flight, what are the odds you’re actually going to remember what the flight crew said back on the runway? Enter [_Prepare for Impact_](http://hcilab.uniud.it/impact/ "undefined"). It’s a new free smartphone app for iPhone and Android that simulates various airborne emergencies, with the goal of teaching users how to survive a catastrophe. It covers everything from the mild (runway overruns) to the extreme (a crash into water). Sadly, there’s no “snakes on plane” scenario. For a smartphone app, _Prepare for Impact_ is surprisingly intense. Will it save lives? Who knows. But it’s at least more interesting than those FAA-mandated safety lectures. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4262930/prepare-impact-app-plane-crashes/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4262930/prepare-impact-app-plane-crashes/"},"headline":"This Terrifyingly Realistic App Teaches You How to Survive a Plane Crash","datePublished":"2016-03-17T15:50:46.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:49:40.837Z","description":"Welcome to 'Prepare for Impact'","url":"https://time.com/4262930/prepare-impact-app-plane-crashes/","keywords":["Tech","apps"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb0597bab47f4ed01/69888b6f5f570f9f09b2017b/screen-shot-2016-03-17-at-11-47-00-am.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alex Fitzpatrick","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alex-fitzpatrick/"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb0597bab47f4ed01/69888b6f5f570f9f09b2017b/screen-shot-2016-03-17-at-11-47-00-am.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Prepare for Impact","caption":"","creditText":"","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-tech/","name":"Tech"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4262930/prepare-impact-app-plane-crashes/","name":"This Terrifyingly Realistic App Teaches You How to Survive a Plane Crash"}}]}] ```