A bit shaken

[Tristan]

Hi fellow JCers.

Today I had quite a scary experience. I had a lesson which was emergency circuit procedures in a Cessna 150. I'm a few lessons away from first solo. Anyways, I take off as per normal circuit operations, and first two circuits were go round procedures. The next two circuits were EFATO procedure, then my instructor decided we'll do one more circuit which was to be another EFATO simulation. So at about 300AAL the instructor pulls the throttle to idle, and I follow the set procedure. But when climbing out, the engine starts rough running, the instructor took immediate control, trying to revive the engine. We were maintaing 300AAL then the engine died, and he swung the aircraft right and picked a paddock to land on in the vacinity (the aerodrome is mostly surrounded by paddock farm land).

At this stage I was thinking: "this is the real deal, we're actually going in". We made a maday distress call and we were approaching a selected farm area, but it looked like we were gonna hit the fence/trees, so the instructor decideded to stretch the gluide to the next paddock. We cleared the trees (cant remember how close), but the stall warning whistled. I was calm, but I could hear myself breathing heavily through the headset. The instructor put the aircraft down safely in the paddock (which was actually a smooth landing), we were ok and aircraft wasn't damaged.

The first reaction my instructor and I had was to laugh about it, I told him: "well I think were gonna be in the next issue of flight safety magazine". And he said: "well thats how you carry out EFATO landing". But we were both pretty shaken. The fire, ambo, and police arrived on scene. The ambos checked if we were in shock, but we were ok. The media also arrived on scene, but we managed to avoid them by jumping a few fences and make it to the highway to get picked up, and taken back to the flying school. While getting driven back the owner says to me: "you can have this lesson on the house mate", which I was pleased.

Several thoughts have passed though my mind since the incident (7 hours ago). For me it was an unpleasant and scary experience, and I even thought that it could have been the end. After landing safely, I was also thinking: "ah #####..this is gonna be stuck to my name when applying for flying jobs in the future" (airlines are very good at finding out whether you've been involved in any incidents). But I guess my biggest concern is how this event will impact on me mentally for future flight training. I have been enjoying flying immensly and I want to continue to do so. I'm going up again in the next couple of days to do the same emergency simulations, but I guess that incident is still fresh in my memory.

Sorry for the long post, if you've read this far I thank you and just want to ask anyone whether you have had any hair raising experiences. If so, did it affect you later on with your flying?

Cheers

[I_Money]

Mate - good job. You were training for these things pre-solo as they could happen - if it was not going to happen you would not train for them. What is proves is that the things we train for save our butts - nothing like knowing your training is good and it works.

As for airlines - I am sure they would rather someone who has been in situation that tested pressure and skills and handled them flawlessly, than someone who has 1000 hours of the easy stuff.

I say call up your instructor and go and practice some more EFATO tomorrow morning - get this experience out of your system and continue to your dream with the dog poop out of HKG.

[Tristan]

Originally Posted by I_Money

Mate - good job. You were training for these things pre-solo as they could happen - if it was not going to happen you would not train for them. What is proves is that the things we train for save our butts - nothing like knowing your training is good and it works.

As for airlines - I am sure they would rather someone who has been in situation that tested pressure and skills and handled them flawlessly, than someone who has 1000 hours of the easy stuff.

I say call up your instructor and go and practice some more EFATO tomorrow morning - get this experience out of your system and continue to your dream with the dog poop out of HKG.

Thanks I_Money! I'll take your advice and see if there is a slot available tomorrow.

Cheers

Tristna

[surreal1221]

Good to hear all was well.

Definitely get back into a plane ASAP and do these again.

Best of luck!

[B767Driver]

Tristan,

I don't see this as a setback to your aspirations. If anything, it is a positive. You've seen early in your career that flying contains risks. Carry that in your mindset as you prepare for every flight. I think too many people take to the air without a thought of a what might go wrong. (When I do some BFR's I ask the pilot where he would go if the engine fails after takeoff...most do not have a plan in mind.) Prepare diligently, read incessantly, and learn everything you can about your airplane and aviation in general. This type of preparation and learning should mitigate your nervousness and worry and transform those emotions into a mindset that it is your actions and decisions that keep the airplane and its passengers safe. The challenge of meeting your responsibilities should sufficiently motivate you for the rest of your career. Essentially, that's a large part of what being a pilot is all about...accepting the challenge of mitigating risks everyday.

[moxiepilot]

I'd agree that this is actually a positive experience for you as long as it isn;t prohibitive to you flying again. Get back in the plane when you're ready and continue with your goals.

As for why I think it is good is that, as stated, now you know stuff can go wrong. I often ask my students what the procedure for an engine fire on start up is after they've attempted 2 starts of the engine and are getting ready to prime it again. Only about 1 in 10 have the procedure correct.

Let me emphasize that - only 1 in 10 have the procedure correct.

In over 1000 hours of flying I think I have had 5 actual emergencies, including engine fire on start up. That comes to less than 1% of my flying time in having to deal with an emergency, but when it goes wrong I am thankful for having to know what to do.

Glad to hear it turned out okay for you and remember to be proactive, not reactive

[johntlewis]

Hey Mate:

I had an engine failure while I was with a student pilot. We were on crosswind turning downwind so I was able to turn it around and make a downwind landing which was scary because the winds were about 15 knots which pushed me almost all the way to the end of the 5000' runway before I finally got it on the ground safe and sound.

I went back up the next day but I remember that I was very nervous on the take off. I was a bit nervous for the next few weeks, but I finally worked it out. It made me a better pilot because ever since then I always look for a good emergency landing field as soon as I take off. It's a smart thing to do.

Keep flying!

John

[GreenDayPilot]

Wow! That is a pretty cool experience that not many of us get go through (thankfully).... so in a way, be glad you went through it and survived. It will only make you a better pilot.

The scariest thing I've gone through was the engine acting real rough after T/O during a NIGHT X-Country. After about 5 seconds it went back to normal... but believe me, for those 5 seconds I was freaking out and already trying to figure out what to do or where to land.

When you get a chance, let us know what went wrong (i.e., what malfunctioned in the engine)... and kudos to your flight instructor!

[bdhill1979]

Ace on landing it safely! Just another reminder that we should be prepared for a failure on EVERY takeoff. Tristan I doubt you will EVER forget the proper procedure. This sort of thing can only make you a better, more safe pilot.

[frog_flyer]

Nice job!!!


Even better job avoiding the media!

Three thumbs up from FF

[chris6387]

Originally Posted by Tristan

Sorry for the long post, if you've read this far I thank you and just want to ask anyone whether you have had any hair raising experiences. If so, did it affect you later on with your flying?

I was almost hit by another cessna during one of my first lessons. My instructor and I were pushing back our plane on the ground because it was right up against a building. All of sudden I hear him yell, "WHAT THE F***, MOVE!" A private pilot was doing touch & gos and had lost control, veering off of the runway coming right for us. Luckily he was able to manuever his plane around, us missing us by about 10 feet. Keep in mind he was going near takeoff speed. He was able to stop safely on the taxiway without injuring himself, the airplane, or anything or anyone else. It was close, though.

After he had stopped, my instructor ran down to the plane with others who had ran out. 15 minutes later he came back, we talked about it for a little, and then went through the lesson like normal.

[dc3flyer]

Don't let this instance bother you too much, but like everyone else said, learn from it. Don't be scared away from flying, just always have an out... like your instructor did! It sounds like he handled everything great. Let us know why it quit when you find out.

I have had two engine failures in single engine planes. One was on takeoff just after rotating which turned out to be uneventful and another where I was lucky enough to be close to an airport and landed with no problems (except for puching it off the runway!). I have learned from them both, and I am sure you will do the same.

Keep flying safely!

[Tristan]

Hey guys,

Thanks so much for your support and advice. Engineers were speculating possible cause of engine failure, and they suspected something overheated, it was a really hot afternoon, but I'll find out soon enough.

[meyers9163]

Well man first and foremost thankgoodness it all worked out. 2nd now you have one heck of a story to tell. And thirdly you know how it is done and have a real experience you can count on. Sounds like things were done great and you should be glad you were so fortunate you had a quality CFI to jump in there and assure both of your safety. Keep the head up and dont worry about what could have happen. You are here and get back up and do it again when you feel ready!

[Tristan]

Originally Posted by meyers9163

Well man first and foremost thankgoodness it all worked out. 2nd now you have one heck of a story to tell. And thirdly you know how it is done and have a real experience you can count on. Sounds like things were done great and you should be glad you were so fortunate you had a quality CFI to jump in there and assure both of your safety. Keep the head up and dont worry about what could have happen. You are here and get back up and do it again when you feel ready!

[therookie]

Similar thing happened to during ground reference maneuvers for PPL. Like your subject says I was surely a bit shaken but back at the flight line in a couple days and continuing on with training. I figured I enjoyed flying so I better learn how to handle emergencies as well as my instructor had. Since then though, it's a lot easier to remember to have an emergency procedure in mind, sort of a built in response for me!

[Tristan]

The Canberra Times Jan 20 07

Safe landing for Cessna in horse paddock

A spokesman for the Civil Aviation Safety Authority said it was too early to speculate on what caused the inident and said reports tha the stall happened due to "vapour lock" should be treated with caution until investigations were completed. He said to his knowledge the plane had escaped relatively unscathed and CASA would wait on expert reports as to why the incident occurred, with the cause expected to be known within the next "week or so".