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Spin-off from forced landings...closest calls.

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JimG

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 1, 2005
Posts
205
What's been your "closest call"?

I've had two.

Several years ago, I got CO poisoning over "nowhere" Nevada.

The nearest AP was Susanville, CA, but by the time I got there (20+ min), dumb thinking made me press on to Chester, CA 30 miles up the road where I had an employee living at the time. Unfortunately, Chester was IMC due to a massive forest fire in the Sierra Nevadas and I flew right into it..

I didn't dare make a 180, as I was already fighting conciousness, throwing up and had severe vertigo, so I contacted Oakland center and pressed on to Redding, CA straight ahead that was marginal VFR.

I flew 20 minutes in solid smoke with 0 visability, using only a handheld GPS unit in the dash for navigation, and got about 2 miles visability when I broke out of 1000' and landed uneventful.


Second incident was last year in my 340 with a leaking fuel injector spraying fuel all over the left engine, exaust, and puddling in the bottom of the cowling.

The only indication was the blue dye coming up from behind the prop and streaking down the cowling with the viscosity of oil.
 
Last year I was working with an instrument student in a 172. Approach told us there was traffic at 1 o'clock, alt unknown. I scan for traffic while the student flies the ILS. We get handed off to tower and still don't have the guy in sight so my student started looking too. Right about the time we should be intercepting the GS the student does a hard nose-over. A plane passed slightly in front of us and maybe 50ft above. Had the student not seen him and descended we probably would have hit him. The other plane was not in contact with tower and this was inside class D airspace and either his transponder wasn't on mode C or it wasn't working.
 
One Saturday I was running late and almost missed the tri-tip sandwiches at Camarillo. I don't know what I would have done if they had run out of steak before I arrived.

That was one hell of a close call!
 
chperplt said:
Who makes a good tri-tip in Camarillo???
Waypoint Cafe next to Channel Islands Aviation.

NookyBooky- Glad you're still with us. That was a close call!
 
Last edited:
RV4 in severe turbulence while coming over the mountain ridge east of Albuquerque, bumped my noodle on the canopy, saw stars. Tower gave me semi-priority, they held a Bonanza short while I was on a four mile final.

Engine quit on a PA12 while on a long descent over the same mountain ridge to the same runway at Albuquerque, engine restarted after I pitched the nose up a few degree's. I had unported the fuel pick up at the rear of the tanks.

Engine quit twice on a Cherokee Six I was ferrying from NJ to SC on a ferry permit. Airplane hadn't been flown in a number of years, the fuel system was contaminated. The engine quit once over Chesapeake Bay and again after wheels touched down in SC. I coasted off the runway and had to be towed to the ramp.

I experienced an accelerated stall about 70' agl in a Super Cub while releasing a aerial banner. It felt like a snap roll, left wing just fell out of the sky, about 70 degrees of bank. I thought I was a goner this time but, I got full right rudder and aileron lickity split and it recovered. Same thing killed two pilots earlier this year at the exact same spot, same airplane, same manuever while training.
 
I lost the right engine in a Seneca II over the Sierra Nevada mountains on the way into Sacramento. Started to drift down and get close the the rocky white peaks. Got it re-started but it was pretty close.
 

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