The PFL
Those of you that kid yourself that certain things do not matter should have a serious rethink.
1) Why fly the aeroplane first? To conserve height maintaining the maximum options open to you.
2) Why choose a particular field and plan a 'circuit/pattern' through to the landing. Throughout the descent things may appear to change and temptation will often be to change your mind - illogically. Having a plan will give you something to assess your progress against.
3) Why do checks? Simple - the most likely reason for the failure will be YOU. Failure to routinely check for carb. icing, mixture not returned to rich for the descent, primer not locked properly, a fuel tank run dry, etc. Feel a bit of a twit won't you when it becomes obvious later that there was nothing wrong with the aeroplane - much worse you may now have injured passengers following the landing in a muddy rough field and less important you now have a broken aeroplane that wasn't broke before.
4) Why simulate the 'mayday'. It will be critical that ATC know where you are, you perhaps cannot be seen on RADAR. The POB is critical for you could all be seriously injured but scattered around the area, shocked people often will wander off and need finding. The rescue services MUST know how many people, who could need immediate and critical treatment, to find/look for before leaving the scene for the hospital.
5) The shut down is very important in the process. a) to avoid temptation/distraction should the engine come to life temporarily once you are commited. b) To isolate electrics minimising sparks following landing. c) to isolate fuel from fractured pipes and the possibility of ignition.
6) Doors unlatched . Will minimise the risk of a door jam preventing evacuation and harnesses tight etc will minimise injuries
I've kept the points to the minimum and only responded to the particular wayward but to be fair naive remarks made here by some . Vancouv, slopey and Emma think again about what you have said, these things will not/should not be left out I assure you, whatever rumours you have heard. You may have picked up that the origin of this thread was the very honest partial candidate admitting to confusion - imagine the real thing then. It will be very important, in the unlikely event that a total engine failure happens, that a technique is understood and followed as much as is possible in a very great moment of stress. Your passengers may be your children, don't forget that!