Tell your scariest/worst experience flying freight

[cforst513]

Why didn't you abort at 75kts when the airplane demonstrated control problems? Running off the end at 10 kts beats a stall at 100'.

After that, and figuring out that the W&B was good, why would you take off again?

hindsight is 20/20, and i'm glad to see he's here to realize this. instead of chastising him, praise him for getting back on solid ground in one piece. he learned his lesson, i'm sure. many decisions we make aren't stupid when we're making them, it's only much later that we realize the errors of our ways.

 

[Flybet3]

Why didn't you abort at 75kts when the airplane demonstrated control problems? Running off the end at 10 kts beats a stall at 100'.

After that, and figuring out that the W&B was good, why would you take off again?

Well my friend, it's easy to come up with a solution while you're sitting infront of the computer. But when it's your first week on the job by yourself and the nose is that high up on the caravan, your first concern is to break a near stall situation. Remember when you practiced stalls??? what's the first thing you must do? think about that one. Secondly like I said, I pushed the yoke forward to get out of the nose high attitude and added max power, but the yoke being in a full forward position already all I was left at the moment was to trim forward. That was my first 135 job, and I had never experienced a control failure before. Technically I did not lose control of the airplane, therefor there was the possibility that it could've been a CG problem.

 

[Flybet3]

Why didn't you abort at 75kts when the airplane demonstrated control problems? Running off the end at 10 kts beats a stall at 100'.

After that, and figuring out that the W&B was good, why would you take off again?

Oh yeah, and everything happened so quick that by the time I began to trim I was 200 above the ground, and the W&B showed that when I departed from CID I was a bit tail heavy but withing the envelope.

 

[Flybet3]

hindsight is 20/20, and i'm glad to see he's here to realize this. instead of chastising him, praise him for getting back on solid ground in one piece. he learned his lesson, i'm sure. many decisions we make aren't stupid when we're making them, it's only much later that we realize the errors of our ways.

Well said, thank you. I guarantee you that after that day I checked the flight controls twice as much.

 

[Draginass]

Not trying to beat you up. Just trying to figure out why you did what you did. Once the airplane is airborne there's not much you can do but regain control any way you can. Now that you mentioned the fact that at the time you were inexperienced, that might explain taking off a second time when the control problem was unresolved.

Inexperienced or not, the moral of the story is, if it ain't right, write it up and make 'em look at it.

 

[Flybet3]

Not trying to beat you up. Just trying to figure out why you did what you did. Once the airplane is airborne there's not much you can do but regain control any way you can. Now that you mentioned the fact that at the time you were inexperienced, that might explain taking off a second time when the control problem was unresolved.

Inexperienced or not, the moral of the story is, if it ain't right, write it up and make 'em look at it.

You are correct sir

 

[BizPilot]

Dead Bodies

I'll second the Dead Body experience. Far scarier than any in-flight emergency situation.

In July 1996 I had to fly two bodies from Davenport, Iowa to Omaha in the middle of the night in a Navajo. Got the call late, and had a show time of 2a.m. Got my preflight briefing, of course there were embedded thunderstorms forecasted along the route with moderate tubulence up to 10,000 feet. Hurse shows up with a male and female who were killed in car accident. No body bags, just loaded the stiffies in the back and threw a white sheet over both bodies. Took off Westward. Level at 8000 feet. Nobody aloft, just me and a silent Chicago Center. Got into some turbulence to start with, bounced us around pretty good. Enough bumps so the sheet worked itself off of the bodies in the back. After 30 minutes into the flight, lightning began to flash in solid IMC. Just light to moderate rain along the way. Took a look in back and saw both bodies staring back at me with each flash of lightning. The sheet now had crumpled itself in the back of the Navajo. My calm demeanor quietly change to stark terror and trembling.

I called up Chicago Center and asked, "Center, are you still there?" with a nervous tremble in my voice. Center replied, "Yep, we're still awake........Hey, I see you have 1 soul and 2 bodies in your remarks......Are YOU ok, Sir?" I replied, "If I don't make it to the next sector, send search and rescue." Center, "(Laughing Sounds)"

 

[cforst513]

bizpilot, that is just creepy!! *shudders* i would FLIP OUT if i saw them looking back at me. what condition were the bodies in? did they at least look ok or were they kind of beat up from the accident?

 

[pilotyip]

Zantop used to have scheduled runs all over the US moving cargo at night. Moving bodies was not uncommon. One night coming out of Boston, they had a casket with an enclosed beloved. The L-188 takes off starts back to the sort point at YIP. There are usual jokes; about do you think he would prefer to sit in first class etc. At 3 AM over the Rochester, there is knock on the cockpit door, now you talk about being wide-awake, everyone is looking at each other to ensure it is not one of them. It is not, there is someone on the other side of the door. It dark, quite, middle of the night, and you have no explanation why someone from the back of the airplane is knocking on the door. The Capt. says to the FE, "Check that out", FE says "BS, I am senior to the FO have him check it out", The F/O goes back to the door having no idea what to expect, but fearing there is a dead man standing just out side the door. He opens the door and there is a man standing. The young man says "I am freezing, it is colder than hell back there." Turns out he is a loader from Boston who fell asleep in the back of the airplane during the load, no body missed him and he just rode in the back until the middle of New York when it got too cold to stay in the back.

 

[Atlanta Vicks]

Zantop used to have scheduled runs all over the US moving cargo at night. Moving bodies was not uncommon. One night coming out of Boston, they had a casket with an enclosed beloved. The L-188 takes off starts back to the sort point at YIP. There are usual jokes; about do you think he would prefer to sit in first class etc. At 3 AM over the Rochester, there is knock on the cockpit door, now you talk about being wide-awake, everyone is looking at each other to ensure it is not one of them. It is not, there is someone on the other side of the door. It dark, quite, middle of the night, and you have no explanation why someone from the back of the airplane is knocking on the door. The Capt. says to the FE, "Check that out", FE says "BS, I am senior to the FO have him check it out", The F/O goes back to the door having no idea what to expect, but fearing there is a dead man standing just out side the door. He opens the door and there is a man standing. The young man says "I am freezing, it is colder than hell back there." Turns out he is a loader from Boston who fell asleep in the back of the airplane during the load, no body missed him and he just rode in the back until the middle of New York when it got too cold to stay in the back.

I think that is one of the funniest reads on here! GREAT STORY!