[davidgreig]

There was a crash this weekend south of Atlanta of a Cessna 172 that had just taken off, and had about 150 feet of altitude. The plane had just cleared the runway, and there were trees around the airport. The engine apparently died and the plane somehow ended up nosediving into the woods.

In a situation like this, where you've just taken off, and don't have enough altitude to return to the airport, and there are woods all around you, what is the recommended course of action? Trim the plane for straight and level flight and try to aim away from the biggest trees? Obviously damage to the plane is a seconday consideration, but what would the chances of surviving a crash like this be, assuming you made a controlled landing into the forest?