In flight Emergencies other than power related.

[Guest Maj Millard]

New post idea....Lets hear your stories about past in-flight emergencies that you may have had, and would like to share with the rest of us. (Other than engine failures/power problems.....)

 

I'll kick it off with one of mine that I remember very well, from the mid eighties.

 

Took a young kid from my neighborhood for a ride in an Eipper MXL2 once. He was the son of one of our neighbors. He had been keen for a ride for a while. The MXL2 is an open, side by side, single stick in the middle, pusher, high-wing trainer, with not much in front of the occupants but the rudder pedals, and in those days a Hall type airspeed indicator, which was just a red disc in a tube.

 

It was in fact the same plane that I had been taught to fly in, in California, and I had graduated to flying frequent rides in it, a few years down the road.

 

I strapped him in and away we went. He seemed pretty comfortable and relaxed so I proceeded to fly along a well known 2000 ft ridge that afforded a great view of the sourrounding country, including San Francisco, and the bay to the South. We cruised along the ridge top at about 400ft AGL, but I knew a quick bank either way would put us back at 2000ft agl fairly quickly, should the need arise..

 

Suddenly I noticed his four point harness buckle was completly undone !!. I don't know wether he had accidently knocked it or what, but it didn't matter, the damn thing was undone !...and he was totally unaware of it. My willing first time passenger is now not attached to this open cockpit aircraft in any way, other than sitting in the seat.

 

I thought of slipping off the ridge to a safer height, but decided not to. Instead I grabbed his hand, put it on the control stick, and over the intercom indicated it was time for him to try a bit of flying.

 

He became instantly occupied with this, and once he had done so, I reached over and quickly re-fastened the harness. We then flew the short distance back to base uneventfully.

 

On the ground we discussed it, and he said that as it was his first time ever in a plane, had he realized, he probabily would have panicked. He was thankfull I had handled it as I had, but no more so than I.....................

 

 

[Guest pelorus32]

Maj,

 

that gives me cold shivers just reading about it!! Nice going.

 

Regards

 

Mike

 

 

[Gibbo]

Saw a station pilot return to the strip about 15-20 minutes after taking off. Pilot was very white and went straight for a bottle of Rum after touch down.

 

A Black snake had managed to sneak his way on board with the returning mail and decided to wake up just after take off and was expressing it's displeasure at him from the back.

 

I always check the vents etc are closed whenever out bush for a reason.

 

Gibbo

 

 

[Guest brentc]

Medical Emergency on-board

 

I was on one of those commercial flights that you only usually hear about from other people.

 

Virgin Blue Melbourne to Sydney. I was sitting in seat 1B, in 1A was Angry Anderson wearing his Rose Tattoo jacket and in 1C was chef Peter Russell-Clarke (celebrities like us like to travel in luxury you know ) About 25 minutes out of Sydney and the flight crew start running around like something was wrong. Then a cabin announcement, "would anyone with medical experience such as a doctor please make yourself known to the Virgin Blue cabin crew." I told Angry that I was a Doctor of Love but he didn't think that would be of much use to them. 3 young children were brought to the front of the aircraft to sit in the crew seats (it was their mother who was in trouble). A doctor was luckily on board who assisted the lady and was able to diagnose her condition.

 

Shortly after, the Captain announced that we had been cleared with a Med 1 priority clearance into Sydney. If you think you've been fast in a 737 before, I can assure you that you haven't. The Captain accelerated to a speed that must have been close to RED LINE. To put it into perspective, there was so much wind noise up front that it was difficult to have a conversation with the person next to you. We then descended and banked our way from left to right like we were dodging clouds at break-neck speeds rivaling a roller-coaster (so much for the patient). With a bit of extra speed brake applied and some seriously quick reverse thrust we were on the ground at the gate in a jiffy. An ambulance was waiting for the woman. We didn't know what was wrong at that stage.

 

About two months later on a flight from Brisbane to Melbourne the cabin crew supervisor from the Mel-Syd flight recognised me from the previous flight and started talking with me. She told me that the husband was driving from Melbourne to Sydney and was going to meet with the wife and kids the next day at the airport to save them the travel time in the car for their family holiday, a decision that proved fatal. She said that unfortunately the woman had suffered an Aneurism and later didn't make it. It was most sad considering that her 3 children were all under 10.

 

 

[Ultralights]

i have only had 2 incidents, sadly 1 is power related, the other, well sort of power related....

 

both in a Jabiru LSA. first, on long final at Hoxton park, i pulled the throttle to idle, and the engine stalled, i tried the restart, no joy, so continued with a standard glide approach, perfect landing and rolled to a stop just off the first taxiway exit.

 

the second was in the Lane of entry in Sydney 2500ft above solid suburbia, a passenger of mine grabbed her handbag off the floor to get a barley sugar, and the engine lost power back to idle power. midway through the FMOST checks, well, at the T in the checklist (throttle-cycle 3 times) i discovered the throttle lever jammed at idle, so i tried to free it, only to discover the handbag now being clutched very tightly by my PAX moved as well. i discovered the handle of her bag had snagged the throttle lever and pulled it to idle. another good reason to stick to the checklist, even in an apparent emergency. if i had not followed the checklist, i would not have discovered the handbag, and completed a messy forced landing in a perfectly serviceable aircraft on a small powerline and car lined suburban street..

 

 

[Admin]

I am not sure that this was an emergency but it could well have ended differently then it did. The main lesson learnt was when flying close to end of daylight keep checking the sun and any clouds that may be coming between you and it and if flying East make sure you turn every now and then to check.

 

I posted it some time back as a trip report:

 

http://www.recreationalflying.com/forum/trip-reports/3044-great-trip-lesson-learnt-experience-gained.html

 

 

[farri]

Yes Sir Maj,I have one.

 

Had a guy turn up for an introductory flight and after the normal briefing up we went in the Drifter,for those who don`t know,the Drifter is a tandem seating AC.

 

I had just taken off and was straight ahead at 600 feet AGL when the guy grabed the control stick and pulled back hard,I pushed foward as hard as I could to try and stop him getting the nose up, at this point my concern was that if he overpowered me we would stall and I might not be able to recover and also that the stick might break,nothing I did or said made any difference,I got no response,he had lost it due to panic and wouldn`t let go of the stick,it was firmly jamed.

 

I decided the only alternative was to stop the stick moving in any direction and control the pitch with the throttle and roll with the rudder,fortunately he hadn`t jamed the rudder pedals,I slowly turned us around 180 degrees and lined up for an attempeted landing,I got over the strip and at about 30 feet of the ground he let go of the stick,I just couldn`t believe it,he actually let go,the stick hadn`t broken,I was able to do a sucessfull landing and we were both still alive.

 

Only ever happened once and thank god for that.

 

Cheers,

 

Frank.

 

 

[Tomo]

Probably should keep that in mind for future reference!! Hey Farri

 

 

[Guest mike_perth]

My instructor has taught me in this situation that a hit in the nose with the back of a clenched fist is all that is required it has happenend to him several times (1000's of insturcting hours over 30 years) and a simple whack on the nose of the scared passenger puts them in enough pain to let go and grab their nose im sure we all remember a hit in the nose once as youngsters!! Pretty painful!

 

 

[Barefootpilot]

I've heard that one two mike but in the Drifter you'd need very long arms!! :)

 

 

[Guest Decca]

A bit difficult in Farri's case in the Drifter Mike, but I can just see him inventing a system of cables & pulleys connected at one end to a lever near the front seat, the other a boxing glove in front of the Px head.

 

Decca.

 

 

[Jabiru Phil]

Some time ago when I only had a few hours up I was doing an overnighter from Renmark to Pooncarie with a couple of other planes. I wanted to try out a new seat cover, you know the ones that are used in cars on hot days, seat and back all in one sort of wicker material for breathing on hot days. Well, I was side tracked after refueling as one of the fuel test valves was leaking slightly. As the other planes had gone and I didnt want to hold them up for our airfield pickup. I managed to stem the flow and took off. Over Lake Victoria I encouted some thermal and sink activity, it was then that I just knew something was wrong. I looked around for the problem and after a while realised that I had put the seat cover over the seat belt!! I was in two minds to turn back as not a good area to land. I managed to pull out the belts inch by inch from under the cover, took a while and was very relieved when I buckled up. Guess that the hurry and the fuel distraction was the cause. Lesson learnt. I now double check seat belt drill.

 

Phil.

 

 

[Guest mike_perth]

Ah of course - I got a bit excited I thought I finally had something interesting to add to a thread! Oh well! I think Im too used to GA land where most are side by side!

 

 

[Guest Decca]

HaHa wasn't knocking the post Mike, in fact it's a good one - simple solution to a complex problem, thanks for bringing it to our notice!

 

It was just my sense of humour - I amused myself anyway!

 

Plenty of side-by-side ultralights too.

 

Regards, Decca.

 

 

[Guest ozzie]

I was doing stalls in a C152 and the instructor wrapped his arms around me, freaked me out and i elbowed him in the ribs. did not realise he did this on purpose to freak students out. i could see his point after he told me why he did it. i think my response was correct.

 

Maybe a mallet would be effective in Franks situation!

 

Ozzie

 

 

[Tomo]

Maybe a mallet would be effective in Franks situation!

As long as it hit the pax and not through the prop!!:thumb_up:

 

 

[eastmeg2]

So far my mid air emergencies have all been of the bladder kind. I hope to keep it that way. 4 years ago while flying from Wagga to Yarrawonga the pressure built to a point where I just had to land and irrigate some lucky farmers paddock.(Pretty easy in a trike).

 

Only other thing that comes close was when at 3500ft transitting over the top of Taree airport and I heard I blip from the motor. Looking back I saw my wifes hair band in the void behind the trike. I waited until after we landed to ask where her hair band was to confirm what I saw. It had somehow slipped out from under her helmet and gone through the prop. No damage done, but the hair band was lost.

 

 

[Simonflyer]

Ive heard from my instructor of people grabbing the stick and freaking out before...Seeing as im headed towards an instructor rating, im not really looking forward to that happening to me, and i reckon i may well be driven to go for the clip around the ear(or nose)!

 

For me, no serious emergencies so far, but i did attempt to land once with my nav board(a4 size) still on my lap..When i went to flare the stick pushed into the lapboard which very soon after met my stomach..very difficult to get a nose high attitude doing that!.I managed to suck the gut in enough to put it down no problem, but unfortunately i was on my Nav exam when i did it and it was noted by my tester!..(i must have been nervous because i always get it out of the way for landing and any circuit work)

 

 

[facthunter]

In-flight emergencies.

 

Been racking my brain as I read these posts and apart from weather (which I am not going into. (Hey! That was a good unintended PUN). The occasion that I can recall was when I was asked by the CFI to run a quite experienced pilot through a bit of aerobatics routine to refamiliarise, or just check him out,as he hadn't flown for a while. We were to do this in a DH-82 (Tiger Moth) and this was in the mid 60's when hardly anybody wanted to fly these aircraft. ( How things have changed).. I had a helmet and Gosport tube fittings so I could hear him, but we could not find another set for him, so I had to yell or waggle the stick or tap him on the shoulder.

 

The first routine was at about 5000' do a normal loop. ( My "student" flying.) We built up plenty of speed (too much) and then pulled more "G" than I have ever experienced. My dashpanel broke from its rubber mountings and clobbered me hard on one knee and jammed the stick full back and the throttle full open. The aeroplane continued to do some pretty horrible loops while I tried to untangle the panel which due to the motion of the plane was quite difficult to do. The poor bloke in the front could not know what was wrong and I could not tell him due to the lack of a properly equipped helmet,for him..

 

Eventually I unjammed the whole thing, (you would be surprised at the conglomeration of pipes and tubes at the back of one of those panels), and flew it back supporting the panel with one hand .That part was pretty normal , but the episode was a bit of a moment at the time. I notice that Tigers are generally fitted with a support strap to stop this happening now. Nev.

 

 

[farri]

My instructor has taught me in this situation that a hit in the nose with the back of a clenched fist is all that is required ! Pretty painful!

Try hitting someone,sitting in the back of the Drifter, in the nose with the back of your hand,while trying to stop him from stalling the AC at low altitude. .

 

May work with side by side seating.

 

Frank.

 

 

[motzartmerv]

Nev, thats incredible mate.. Did it just keep looping while you were trying to fix it??.. Man, fresh underwear required that day no doubt...:thumb_up:

 

 

[facthunter]

Occupied.

 

Merv, slow thinkers don't panic, and I was lucky as I had things to keep me busy. Yes it kept looping (sort of). but loosing height at the same time Nev.

 

 

[farri]

https://www.recreationalflying.com/xf2/uploads/emoticons/006_laugh.gif.0f7b82c13a0ec29502c5fb56c616f069.gif[/img] because this reminded me of when I first started instructing on behalf our club.

 

We didn`t have a very good intercom and I basically had to do the same thing.

 

Frank.

 

 

[Guest Maj Millard]

Hey great reading from all of you, this is real education at it's best...please keep them coming !!

 

Hey Frank how about a piece of PVC pipe stashed under the seat, couple of good wacks... he'll get the message !!..........................................................