Recently my wife, Susan, and I were traveling in our Mooney from Roanoke, Virginia, to St. Augustine, Florida, to join friends for a long weekend. Departing Roanoke in low instrument meteorological conditions, we hadn’t seen the ground since takeoff. South of Charlotte, North Carolina, for no discernible
reason, I began to feel ill. In 27 years of flying and 11 years of instructing, I’ve never been airsick. As Charlotte Approach handed us off to Florence, South Carolina, I thought of the stories of pilots continuing on, low on fuel, and overflying airports with fuel services—only to crash a mile short of their destination, out of fuel.
Here I was, over a solid undercast and ceiling of 900 feet, with a non-pilot passenger, and I was about to throw up! Just as I concluded that I had to land as soon as possible at a suitable airport, Florence Approach handed me off to Shaw Air Force Base’s approach control and I checked in. After a minute of self-evaluation, I radioed Shaw again and declared an emergency, advising that I was ill and needed to land at an appropriate airport with an instrument approach procedure. After a moment of radio silence, the Shaw controller cleared me from our 8,000-foot cruise altitude to 2,000 feet with a left turn to 150 degrees and “vectors for the ILS 22R at Shaw AFB.”
I requested a PAR approach (precision approach radar) but was advised that none was available. So I asked Susan to find the approach plate for Shaw, located at Sumpter, South Carolina, but she found none as Shaw is not a public-use facility. I queried Shaw for the ILS 22R frequency, decision altitude, and identifier. Now at about 6,000 feet Shaw advised us that I was four miles from the outer marker, cleared for the ILS 22R, and asked if I would be “able to get down?” Despite a pegged vertical speed indicator (something more than a 2,000-feet-per-minute descent) I told them I’d try, but might have to circle.
Fortunately, our GPS had Shaw in its database so I zoomed in to see the runway…I was halfway down the runway and still in the clouds. Then at about 900 feet agl and just past the departure end of 22R, we broke out of the clouds and I told Shaw I had the runway in sight behind me. Not wanting to be met by folks with guns, I suggested diverting to Sumpter, South Carolina, a civilian airport about five miles away to the left. The Shaw controlled said “No, we have crash trucks and medical staff awaiting your arrival; you’re cleared to land 22R at Shaw.” We landed, crossed the arresting cable, taxied in, and, as directed, shut down in the middle of a taxiway.
Then came the fire trucks, men in full-body fireproof suits (in August heat in South Carolina, at midday), paramedics, and ultimately a flight surgeon. I was examined on the ramp, then moved to the fire station to get in the cool. After two more medical evaluations, I knew I couldn’t continue, so the good folks at Shaw secured us a hotel room in Sumpter and drove us there. The diagnosis was a 24-hour stomach bug.
The next day, after rest and a very bland breakfast, I decided to proceed to St. Augustine. We took a cab back to Shaw and found our Mooney secured and guarded all night. At base ops, with the help of an airman, I filed a flight plan from Shaw to St. Augustine, was released to go, and preflighted.
With no approach plates, I didn’t have all the frequencies I needed, but the tower controller simply said, “Don’t worry; you just stay with me. I’ll take care of you.” We taxied out, took off, and arrived safely in St. Augustine. We had been treated like guests.
There are lessons here. Many pilots, when asked why they failed to declare an emergency when they needed to, blamed the “paperwork.” I had just declared an emergency (my second in 27 years), landed with help at a U.S. Air Force base, and was never asked to file any paperwork. Instead, it was like we were royalty! Naturally, when back at home, I chose to file a NASA Aviation Safety Reporting system report.
Another lesson: Use whatever resources are available to you; don’t be afraid to ask. Although I was concerned about landing at an active military base, it literally saved the day for Susan and me.
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