AOPA Pilot Magazine
In-Flight Emergencies
December, Com Failure, Silence can be a problem even when VFR, by Alton K. Marsh
Regulations regarding loss of communications focus mostly on flights in instrument conditions. Those rules are listed in FAR 91.185. But what if you’re VFR? Can’t that be a problem, too?
November, Night Forced Landings, When nighttime is the worst time, by Peter A. Bedell
The point of this yearlong In-Flight Emergencies series of articles is to look at the worst-case scenarios. And when it comes to flying small airplanes, there’s not much that’s worse than having to make a forced landing at night. We covered forced landings in the February installment of this series from a more general standpoint (see "In-Flight Emergencies: Forced Landings," February Pilot). In that article we looked at different landing sites and stressed the importance of not panicking.
October, Avoiding Ice Fright, Planning ahead minimizes the risk of icing, by Thomas A. Horne
Along with stumbling into thunderstorms, an inadvertent encounter with icing conditions ranks right near the top of a pilot's worst fears. And for good reason. Even small ice accretions can decrease an airfoil's lift, increase drag, and cause dangerous drops in airspeed. That's why the cardinal rule of thumb is to take evasive action fast at the very first sign of airframe icing. That goes for everything from the smallest single-engine airplane to the largest business jets. Having ice-protection systems, or flying an airplane certified for flight in known icing conditions, can buy you some time to make your escape, but know this: Many airplanes with full complements of ice protection equipment and known-icing certification have crashed after lingering too long in icing conditions.
September, Fear of Fire, "Going down in flames," though scary, is not common, by Marc E. Cook
Fire may be the devil’s only friend, but it is among the average pilot’s most dreaded in-flight possibilities. When contemplating an in-flight fire, most pilots worry first about being overcome by smoke and flames before they are able to complete a successful emergency landing. Still others—perhaps those with vivid imaginations—envision parts of the airplane melting away beneath them, leaving them with little or no control as their chariot plummets to the ground.
August, Upset Recovery, Making the most of a bad attitude, by Alton K. Marsh
How many times have you accidentally been upside down? Never, for most of you. It is difficult to believe it could ever happen to you. But a little ice on the wings, a lot of turbulence from an airliner, winds tumbling across mountain ranges, an autopilot gone berserk—any of these could cause an unwelcome attitude.
July, Ditching, Putting wings in the water, by Thomas A. Horne
The subject of ditching is rarely mentioned in aviation texts or classroom sessions. That’s a real shortcoming, because all pilots should be familiar with ditching procedures. Perhaps the problem is that ditching (sometimes given the less-threatening, gentler-sounding "water landing" moniker) is too commonly thought to be an issue only in transoceanic flying. But that’s wrong. An engine failure or other serious problem can crop up over lakes, rivers, bays, or inlets just as easily as it can over dry land. In cases where setting down in rough terrain could make a forced landing’s outcome dubious, ditching in a nearby lake or other body of water may be a much better option. So knowing how to ditch ought to be right up there in priority along with standard, land-oriented forced landing procedures. The fact that ditchings can’t easily be practiced the way we practice for "regular" forced landings makes this all the more important. Also, being prepared for a successful ditching means that you have to understand some special rules.
June, Vacuum pump failure, What to do when the attitude indicator cops an attitude, by Alton K. Marsh
Worried about a vacuum pump failure? Probably not, especially if you’re an airline, military, or business aircraft pilot and fly planes that typically have redundant backup systems. Most general aviation pilots have never had a vacuum pump failure. But call the repair shop at your airport and you’ll find that vacuum pumps fail more often than most pilots realize. While most GA airplanes have an electrically driven turn coordinator and vacuum-driven attitude and heading indicators in order to avoid dependency on a single system, a vacuum pump failure is still challenging.
May, Flying in storm central, Surviving a ride in a thunderstorm, by Thomas A. Horne
Stumbling into a thunderstorm. It’s the stuff of every pilot’s nightmares. What makes the fear even more plausible for pilots of small general aviation airplanes are some of the inherent shortcomings bound up in this kind of flying. Because piston singles and twins don’t cruise as fast as turbine-powered airplanes, there’s more time for fast-moving weather to change between the time of a preflight weather briefing and the time of any en route weather encounter. If a small airplane has weather detection equipment, it has built-in shortcomings. Lightning detection equipment can give a false view of a storm’s shape or location. Low-powered radars with small antennas can’t effectively portray storm contours, or penetrate areas of moderate to heavy rainfall due to attenuation of radar signals. Worst of all, piston-powered airplanes fly in the lowest layers of the atmosphere, where clouds are densest and most prevalent.
April, What’s going on?, Tips for maintaining and regaining situational awareness, by Michael P. Collins
A student pilot on a solo cross-country flight found some of his checkpoints, but after the flight’s calculated time en route, he could not find the airport. The student became disoriented and the airplane entered Class B airspace, ran out of fuel, and made a forced landing two miles from an international airport.
March, Zap, Crackle, Stop, When the juice stops flowing, by Thomas A. Horne
It’s been very quiet on the frequency for the past half-hour or so, and try as you might, no one seems to be answering your calls. You couldn’t even pick up the automated weather observation system (AWOS) broadcast from the last airport you flew by. What’s going on?
February, Forced Landings, What to do after your airplane becomes a glider, by Peter A. Bedell
Forced landings are one of the most feared scenarios that run through a pilot’s mind. It’s understandable since, following an engine failure, the pilot loses much control of the vertical dimension of flight. Face it, you’re going down and all responsibility lies on you to make the outcome survivable.
January, Engine out, Some lessons from experience, by Alton K. Marsh
Flight instructor Don Wylie got real-world experience when a customer came to his company, Texas Air Aces, for proficiency training in a newly purchased Beech B36TC Bonanza. Customers taking the course can get a break on their insurance premiums. The aircraft had been purchased right on the airport, and the customer had never flown it. The engine had just been rebuilt, and unknown to Wylie and the customer, all the induction tubing was loose.
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