When it comes to emergency situations, there are some things you absolutely shouldn't do. Here are five of them.

1) Panic.

When things go wrong, you need to stay calm. Take a deep breath, focus on what you can control, and start running your flows and checklists to troubleshoot and (hopefully) rectify the problem. When you stay calm, your passengers will too.

2) Rush.

You probably feel like you don't have much time to react, and you may not. But rushing through your procedures increases the likelihood of making a mistake.

3) Stop doing checklists.

Checklists are there for a reason. They'll take you step-by-step through what you need to do to overcome an emergency. As long as you have time to do them safely, your checklists are the best way for you to overcome an emergency.

4) Stop communicating.

This applies to both inside and outside the cockpit. Use all the resources you have. Fellow pilots and passengers can help read checklists, and ATC can get you pointed toward an airport, help with weather, and get emergency services to you if you're making an emergency landing.

5) Stop flying the plane.

No matter what happens, you need to fly the plane all the way to the ground. As the famous Bob Hoover said, "When faced with a forced landing, fly the airplane as far through the crash as possible." But that advice doesn't just apply to forced landings. No matter what scenario you're in, never stop flying the plane.

What are other good ways to handle an emergency? Tell us in the comments below.