Plain English Meaning
How likely the people on board are to walk away from a forced landing or crash, based on choices the pilot makes before, during, and after touchdown.
Full Definition
In the context of emergency approaches and landings, survivability is the likelihood that the occupants of an airplane will live through an off-airport or forced landing, determined primarily by the pilot's control of impact forces, choice of landing surface, use of restraints, and post-impact actions such as evacuation and fire avoidance.
Context Anchor
Seen in discussions of emergency planning, forced landings, off-airport landings, and post-accident actions.
Derivation
From 'survive' (Latin supervivere, 'to live beyond') plus the suffix '-ability'. In , the word is used in a way: it shifts the pilot's from 'will the airplane survive?' to 'will the occupants survive?' — two very different goals.