Wot - no engine?

[Kata]

I know we have a few people interested in flying etc, so just thought I'd repost this from our aviation forum for people's amusement, etc.



Last night my instructor and I were doing the final night requirement for my US PPL. We decided to combine it with some IR work, and filed IFR down from Sarasota to Naples and back. Upon taxiing out in our 172S we discovered that the right brake had failed, through the medium of braking, and violently veering left towards parked aircraft. We missed all of tem, the last one in line only because the pilot preflighting it saw us coming, leapt out, and pushed it backwards! We returned gingerly to parking and swapped into the other 172.

An hour's flight saw us shooting the VOR approach to Naples, and then departing back to Sarasota. Just north of Fort Myers, out over the bay, the engine hiccupped once. We glanced at each other, sharing a "that's not good" expression, before all hell broke loose; the engine started running very rough, and we started to lose altitude from our assigned 4000'. I was flying, and stayed on the controls while the instructor called up the nearest airport in the Garmin 430; a private strip called Coral Creek 6nm away. There was no info on the charts about it but Ft Myers approach gave us the frequency, and informed us that it had pilot controlled lighting.

Turns out, the lighting was inoperative, and the airfield is in the middle of a swamp; no ground lighting for miles around. We poured on full power and turned for Punta Gorda airport, 15 miles across the bay; but lighted. After about a mile, and topping out at 3500' it was clear that the engine was getting rapidly worse, and an invisible airport was preferable to a swim so we turned back.


Coral Creek by day.


Coral Creek by night.

The instructor brought Coral Creek back up onto the map, and switched to OBS mode; this gave us a line centred on the airport that we set to the runway heading and used as a guide. On a tight downwind we were still at 2500' so I put on full flap and extended my downwind; the instructor wanted to turn, but I was sure we were still too high and needed more space. I eventually turned a single 180 degree turn to finals and lined up using the GPS; we went down a little faster than best glide to lose the rest of the excess height, and flared when the altimeter read just above field elevation. The GPS at full zoom showed us over the runway and finally the rather weedy landing light picked out the centreline; right as our main wheels settled onto it. We had enough power to taxi off and shut down.

Fun!

[GoNz0]

new underwear please !

[MadduckUK]

[TAKTAK]

W...T...F...

[kidzer]

Sounds like you did a pretty good job!

They've gotta' give you a PPL after nailing a landing like that!

[Kata]

Hehe - I'm kind of cheating on the PPL. Have had a European one for 5 years, and am just doing the exam for a US one to have that too. Had the flight test for it at 8am today after getting home at 2.30 am from the forced landing :s

[santa claus]

If you will fly through volcanic ash, you must expect the unexpected. But don't ask 737's full of holidaymakers to bail into swamps .

[Kata]

If you will fly through volcanic ash, you must expect the unexpected. But don't ask 737's full of holidaymakers to bail into swamps .

I will let you know tomorrow whether Volcanic Ash was the cause I think it is unlikely though

[TeePee]

Nice job! Gotta love the 430. What are your plans now? Instrument Rating? Or are you going to fly around the US for a holiday?

I'm interested in the cause as well. I've had a few engine failures, fortunately none at night, and I know that sinking feeling well. Good to know that the training works!

[Kata]

Yeah, doing the instrument rating over the next few weeks. The reason we filed IFR last night was for IR training at the same time as we finished off the PPL night requirements.

[handscombmp]

Luckily i haven't had twin engine failures in real life (i know yours only had one) but i when you practise them in the simulators they sure feel real.

Well done for getting it down by the way. Make me glad i live in the uk at times where the airports seem closer and they're lots of fields to put down in in case it goes wrong. Plus they're aren't alligator filled swamps.

Good luck on IR rating but if you've already got a ppl you'll be fine.

[Steve]

I just wanted to say, good luck, we're all counting on you!

[kalniel]

It was clearly sabotage

Good job!

[DeludedGuy]

Just reading it made me crap my pants.

[Saracen]

Nice job! Gotta love the 430. What are your plans now? Instrument Rating? Or are you going to fly around the US for a holiday?
....

After a night like that, I think I'd be planning on hitch-hiking, not flying.

It's not quite the same as Kata's experience (not least 'cos I wasn't flying it) but I remember coming back from Florida to Heathrow in a wide-body (747 I think), and landing in heavy fog. I don't know what the pilot could see, but I was looking out of the window from the cabin and the first I knew of the ground was when we landed on it. Even then, it might not have been there, for all I could see. It was a beautifully smooth landing too. Barely a bump.

The guy sitting next to me was a pilot dead-legging home for a holiday, and when I commented on the landing, he said it was computer-controlled. Well, as may be, and a good landing it was, but somehow the notion of the computer landing a 747 full (and I mean FULL) of passengers at an airport as busy as Heathrow makes me nervous.

I couldn't wait to get feet on ground, just to make sure it was the ground, and that we hadn't landed on a cloud.

[handscombmp]

After a night like that, I think I'd be planning on hitch-hiking, not flying.

It's not quite the same as Kata's experience (not least 'cos I wasn't flying it) but I remember coming back from Florida to Heathrow in a wide-body (747 I think), and landing in heavy fog. I don't know what the pilot could see, but I was looking out of the window from the cabin and the first I knew of the ground was when we landed on it. Even then, it might not have been there, for all I could see. It was a beautifully smooth landing too. Barely a bump.

The guy sitting next to me was a pilot dead-legging home for a holiday, and when I commented on the landing, he said it was computer-controlled. Well, as may be, and a good landing it was, but somehow the notion of the computer landing a 747 full (and I mean FULL) of passengers at an airport as busy as Heathrow makes me nervous.

I couldn't wait to get feet on ground, just to make sure it was the ground, and that we hadn't landed on a cloud.

You'll be amazed at how smooth the landings auto pilots can do.

As much as it pains me to say it the can sometimes be better than mine (not all the time though)