How are airplane pilots trained to respond to ground distress signals (smoke, flares, rock formations)?
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In general pilots do not look for these. And airplanes up at cruise altitude will have a very hard time spotting things all the way on the ground. But if they spot something odd then they will call up the air traffic controller in the area and report this. The air traffic controller will have the coordinates of the airplane and have a list of authorities to call for different types of issues. These can then make a call as to how to respond. They do not respond to everything because not all observations are real or even emergencies. For example smoke can be from a lost hiker, a forest fire or someone out camping. The local authorities are the best ones to judge which is most likely.
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