A Long Flight Survival Guide: What Threatens a Run and What Keeps It Going

Quick answer

Your run in A Long Flight is threatened by three things at once: zombies holding every lootable building and gas station, landings that can break the plane you depend on, and the resources you fail to collect. A run can also end outright — in one session a tornado passed while the player was away from the parked plane, and when they came back, the plane was gone.

• Land gently — a rough touchdown left one plane “a big messed up”, with both wings to reattach.
• Stop the engine, kill the zombies outside and inside, then search.
• Take what you need and go — zombies respawn over time.
• Grab every kerosene canister; kerosene is the plane's fuel.
• Drink only liquids you can identify — an unknown one drew “You are going to die if you drink it.”

What threatens a run

The game states its own mission plainly: keep your airplane flying, explore the unknown, and survive as long as possible — "Every flight could be your last." The challenges it names are the desert, managing your resources and dangerous locations, and its priorities are "Repair your aircraft, collect fuel, start your engine, and take off into the unknown" and "Search abandoned locations, discover useful supplies, and keep your airplane in working condition." Those priorities map directly onto the threats below.

The plane itself is your life

A run can end with the plane, not the player. In one recorded session, the player was on foot at a building while the plane sat parked in the open when a tornado came through. The player was unharmed — "I didn't die" — but back at the parking spot: "The plane is gone," and "So, we can't continue." The session ended there.

Hard landings threaten the plane more often. One bad touchdown ended with "our plane is a big messed up because of my landing. And we need to fix it": the wings detached and had to be placed back one at a time, then the engine cover and the doors, until "Glad I could repair our plane." Not every hard landing breaks it, though — a later one produced "A hard landing I did, but the plane is okay."

Not every hit in the air costs anything either. Birds struck the plane once mid-flight — "Oh, no. Birds. They hit the plane." — and it kept flying and landed afterwards with no damage mentioned.

Zombies at every loot stop

Buildings and gas stations are where your supplies come from, and zombies hold them, outside and in. The routine the recorded runs follow: land near the site, stop the engine, then fight — "Kill the zombies. Yeah, I stopped the engine and let's kill the zombies." Only once the site is clear do you search: "we killed them and now let's see what we got in this gas station."

Clearing is temporary. Zombies respawn over time — "There is spawn over time," "they respawn over time" — and one search was cut short for exactly that reason: "here are not many useful things, but also soon the zombies will appear again." Treat every stop as short: clear, loot, leave.

What the stops hold

Inside lootable buildings and gas stations you find water, food, and medical items — medicine, bandages, a med kit — plus kerosene canisters. Kerosene is the plane's fuel: "it's a type of gas used for planes. So, I think we can put it in the plane." Take the canisters with you and stow them in the plane's cargo room.

What you drink matters. A found drink restored thirst — "Oh, it's recovering my thirst. That means it's useful" — and water bottles get drunk at stops. But a liquid that was not clearly water drew the opposite reaction: "Don't drink. You are going to die if you drink it." Drink only what you can identify, and eat food you recognise — eating was noted simply as "Food. Stamina."

The stop loop that keeps a run going

A stop follows the same loop at every site:

1. Land near the building or gas station — gently.
2. Stop the engine.
3. Clear the zombies outside and inside.
4. Take the water, food, medicine, bandages, med kit and kerosene.
5. Stow everything in the plane's cargo room and close the door.
6. Take off for the next building.

A bad landing turns a stop into a repair job with zombies still around — "Also, zombies are here… Let me place the wings back." In that case, fix the plane where it came down — wings first, then the engine cover and doors — then load up and go. The take off and fly guide covers getting airborne for the next leg, the scavenging guide covers where to land and what a site holds, and the locations guide helps you choose which building comes next.

When a stop goes wrong

Problems and fixes

A hard landing tears the wings or doors off

A rough touchdown can detach parts of the plane

Suggested response

Reattach them where you landed — the wings one at a time, then the engine cover and the doors — before you take off again.

Zombies between you and the building's supplies

Lootable buildings and gas stations are held by zombies outside and inside

Suggested response

Stop the engine, kill them all, then start searching.

Zombies reappearing while you search

Zombies respawn over time at a site you already cleared

Suggested response

Take what you came for, load the cargo room, close the door and leave. Do not linger in a picked-over building.

You need fuel for the next leg

Kerosene is the plane's fuel, found in canisters at stops

Suggested response

Collect the kerosene canisters you find and stow them in the plane's cargo room.

A bottle or canister you cannot identify

Suggested response

Leave it alone. Drink water you can identify and eat food you recognise rather than testing an unknown liquid.

Before the next leg

Load the cargo room with the kerosene, water, food and medical items you found, then close the door and check the plane over before takeoff. The preflight checklist turns that into a routine before every leg.

Survival in A Long Flight is a loop of short flights rather than one long one: land well, clear the site fast, take the fuel and the water, fix what broke, and leave before the dead return. The dangerous locations guide covers the sites themselves, the desert dangers guide covers what interrupts a flight, and the longest flight guide covers keeping a journey going.