Never Again: Routine takeoff

The fuel checked out, the oil level was right where it should be, and everything else on the aircraft looked fine. Once I had the engine started, I listened to the ATIS, got my taxi clearance, and headed to the run-up area. The run-up went smoothly and there was nothing out of the ordinary; the ignition checks were right where they should be and the oil temperature and pressures were comfortably within their ranges. I contacted the tower and told them I was ready for departure. Only a takeoff clearance was standing in the way of our fun evening in the sky.

After watching a few airplanes come in to land, we were finally cleared to line up and wait. I had been keeping an eye on the engine instruments and everything was still happily where it should be, so I taxied out onto the runway and heard the magic words: “Cleared for takeoff Runway 27, left turn out to the east approved.” I read back my clearance, checked my engine gauges one last time, and started easing in the power. The airspeed came alive, the engine instruments were all in the green, and the airspeed climbed up to rotation speed. I pulled back, and we were flying. I established VY in the climb and checked the engine and it was looking perfect, just as it always has.

Not long after taking off the engine developed a bad vibration. I tried to play it off like it was only temporary, but I saw the manifold pressure was spiked as high as it would go. I realized something was not right, but it was hard to admit there was a problem. I started getting cylinder head temperature alarms and admitted to myself this was a serious problem. With the engine still shaking like it wanted to part itself from the aircraft, I started running through my head what to do. There are some cross runways I can circle and land on, do I go for a field, am I going to lose the engine right now? All I knew was I needed to get this thing on the ground as soon as possible; we weren’t making it to any other airports today.

I had always told myself I would never hesitate to declare an emergency, but when you are in the situation it is much harder than I would have thought to do so.
I still had some power, and my first thought was go back around and land. I started a left crosswind turn and told tower I had a rough engine and needed to get back on the ground. I made my first and maybe second mistake right there. I should have declared an emergency immediately, and I probably shouldn’t have turned around like that, but the engine was still producing some power and I thought I could get back around the pattern.

The tower asked if I needed any assistance and I declined; I said, “I think I am fine for now.” I had always told myself if I am ever in a situation I would never hesitate to declare an emergency, but when you are in the situation it is much harder than I would have thought to do so. All my training had been simulated engine-outs. I had been trained to establish best glide and look for somewhere to put the aircraft down. I had never been thrown into a situation where I still had some power available; it opens up a whole new bag of options and I wasn’t prepared for it.

I was losing power but had enough to hold altitude; I never got to pattern altitude. The engine was still running extremely rough and it felt as if it was going to die at any moment. I had myself in a position where if the engine did cut out I could definitely make the runway. Tower cleared me to land number two behind an aircraft that was turning base to final and asked if I would be able to make it in behind them. I said, “I think I have enough time to follow them in,” which looking back couldn’t have sounded very convincing. The controller then said he could have them go around and I could make a short approach, and the light bulb went off in my head: Don’t be an idiot, get this airplane on the ground. I told him I wanted to get on the ground and have them go around. The situation felt real at that point.

The other aircraft did a go-around, and I started my short approach. I made an uneventful landing, maybe one of the smoothest in my recent history. I never ended up completely losing the engine, but I am convinced if I hadn’t acted quickly or turned back to land it was only a matter of time. Turns out there was a stuck exhaust valve, and the engine had lost a cylinder. That could have turned out much differently if I made any different choices. What if it happened five minutes later when I was no longer near the airport? What if I had decided to try and keep going? What if I tried to land number two behind that traffic?

Maybe I made the right calls or maybe I could have acted differently, but in the end I got me, my passenger, and the aircraft back to the ground safely. An engine failure on takeoff is always the most dreaded worst-case scenario emergency, and it happened to me. I will never take another takeoff for granted again, no matter how routine it seems.

Jeff Durante is a sport pilot who lives in Elk Grove Village, Illinois.