What is your "oh Sh*t" moment?

[momalley81]

What a thread for my first post...

Most recent ones come to memory-

Taking off on a 1500' grass strip in a stripped down super cruiser (is there such a thing as a NICE banner plane?), field is cut out of the trees, and boardered by marsh, creeks, swamp and trees. At about 150', the engine starts missing and backfiring, but doesn't quit outright, surging, and not putting out much power though. Can't turn back, and nothing but swamp to land in, playing with the throttle, mags, carb heat, you name it. Finally got it started back up at about 20' while getting ready to flare.

Turns out one mag was firing at 23 degrees, the other at 33... hmm, no wonder it wasn't running right.

Few months later, under tow on the beach, noticing that I've been slowly adding throttle for the past couple of minutes to hold altitude. Decide to try and get home now while I can. Engine is starting to run real rough now, throttle's wide open and I'm at 400, losing 50 fpm.

Now I'm just trying to find a place to dump the brand new panel I was towing where we could recover it later. Looking around, I'm over the Atlantic Ocean, nope, we'll never see it again. The beach is out, I'd kill somebody in the process. Don't have enough altitidue to cut across the barrier island and dump it in the intercoastal waterway. Just pulled a 180, and hope I can get to the southern end of the island, clear the bridge, and dump it in the brown water.

Make the decision if I go below 100' I'm dumping the banner nomatter where I am. Trying to troubleshoot now; tried switching mags, no dice, left just about quit, same with right. Carb heat? Lost about 600 RPM, started coughing and backfiring, puffs of black smoke coming out of the stacks. Waited a few seconds, only got worse, wasn't carb ice.

Mixture? It seemed like it almost quit from being over-rich with carb heat... I cleared the bridge by about 50'. Engine slowly smoothed out with a leaner mixture, but the CHT's were WAY up there... started to pull power back now, I've got a gentle climb.

Made it home OK, all 4 bottem plugs were lead fouled, and the #4 was dripping with oil.

Cleaned the plugs, was back in the air in an hour. Started to lose power under tow again, was able to catch it earlier though, slight roughness. All that ran through my mind, not, "OH $H!T" but, "not again!"

Landed ok, pulled the jug, the piston pin had slipped somehow, and hand been rubbing against the cylinder wall. The end cap was gone, found after a brief search in the oil sump and screen, along with most of the compression and oil scavenging rings...

Plane was back in service in 2 days... <sigh>

- Mike

 

[328dude]

Losing a propeller blade over Corsicana, TX on a MU-2 for a nightly check run.

Oh "$hit" was worn out fairly quickly.

 

[HappyFlying]

I managed to spin the examiner during my private checkride. He didn't like the way I had been taught to set up for a power on stall so he made me do it his way. I ended up so nose high that I lost my visual reference. When it finally stalled, it broke hard left and went on its back. I recovered quickly but I thought I had busted the checkride. He said he would have failed me if he had to take the controls. The " oh Crap" was more from thinking I busted the checkride than the fact that I put us into the spin.

 

[navigator72]

My scary moments

1. While practicing power on stalls over the beach at 1500'. I put myself into a spin. I managed to recover to at 500'. made me rethink my training. to this day, I don't really care for stalls.

2. While on my long X-cnty for my commercial, I flew my last leg at about midnight IFR (1st time in actual by myself). The only approach at my home airport is the NDB (I busted my instrument checkride on that approach). About 10 miles out in heavy rain I was told to hold at the NDB, When I got to the NDB, I coud see the airport through a low scud layer, I cancelled IFR and started my steep spiral home, while turning base I flew right into the scud layer and went solid IFR. Without being IFR and having misplaced JAX centers frequency, I figured I would estimate when to turn final...
I turned a bit too soon, I managed to undershoot final. I am about a 3rd of the way down the runway at this point flying parallel the runway, with a big wall of clouds at the far end of the runway, I managed to side slip the plane and land on the last 3rd of the runway(the part where the runway lights are glowing bright red). I managed to lock up the brakes and not hydroplane on the wet runway too badly and stop at the very very very end of the runway. After a slow taxi back to the ramp. I went home and drank many beers. What did I learn from this: Next time I won't give in to the get home-itis and do things the right way!

 

[Clearsky]

Geez, I get scared just reading some of these posts...maybe boredom is a good thing.

 

[d328pilot]

1. Flying for a check company, we picked up a run flying urine and blood samples. I ended up blowing a cylinder off of the engine and made an emergency landing. I did not know what was worse, knowing that i might crash, or imagining how "messy" it would be if i did crash and survive.

2. Carb ice in an archer with the weather at 200 and a half. Being young and stupid, i failed to recognize it. I was on the approach and the plane ahead of me went missed. There have been other times that i have been scared, but this was the only time that i didnt think i was going to make it. I made the approach and never flew anything with a carburator again.....not really.

 

[JediNein]

*SIGH* from this last weekend...

7. Departing off a high altitude airport in cold weather, we (myself + A&P/IA advanced student pilot) used as much runway as expected, then didn't climb worth snot. The airplane doesn't climb worth snot on an average cold day at sea level, so I didn't notice the crummier performance. We threaded our way through the hills and mountains surrounding the airport, using every thermal possible to gain a few feet. We were well below any altitude required to return to the airport, so just took our sweet time climbing.

What I found most interesting was the silence of the tower. There had been three planes waiting to depart behind us, but ATC didn't let any of them go. We made it to 500' AGL about midfield downwind of our departure runway (15 MINUTES!) later and 2-3 miles away (ridge soaring), when ATC asked if we were coming back to the airport or continuing.

We let the airplane sit overnight, then diagnosed. A failed cylinder.... No possible way to detect the problem, unless I had turned the prop through twice on the preflight. No vibrations during flight, either.

Okay, rebuilt the cylinder that day, and departed at sunset. This time over mostly flat terrain and the well-lit, familiar Central Valley. The student handed over controls to me, had enough time to trim, hands off, breathe a sigh of *COUGH*. ****engine!

That was it, just one more grumble, with absolutely everything in premo shape, as far as we could tell on the ground once again. . . It didn't complain again on the rest of the trip home.

I agree with Avbug, there is no such thing as a perfectly good airplane.

Fly SAFE!
Jedi Nein

 

[antinein]

My worst oh sh!t moment is on going. If jedi nein has had so much happen to her in only 500 hrs, I get scared just thinking about her being in the same sky as me. She seems to be an "Oh sh!t" magnet. I dont quite follow most of her incoherent babble. Christ almighty! She should look for a new career, along the lines of librarian. Where you awake when these things happened? Or did you make them up as you typed them?

 

[pipers]

I was in Katana on my first solo x-counrty. I was in the pattern on downwind and the engine died at my initial power reduction because the fuel-pump wasn't working. I made it the runway and ended up landing without incident....needless to say it was an interesting introduction to aviation.

 

[JediNein]

antinein

My very own hate group. . .

*SNIFF*

I'm touched.

Charter membership is closed. The rest will have to pay membership fees. I'm sure we could set up a student rate, ex-military rate, and a youth rate.

Fly SAFE!
Jedi Nein

 

[SelectZoneFive]

I vote "Darth Antinein" as President of said hate group.

I would like to present the first resolution for consideration.

*The establishment of a "No babble zone"*

Do we have a second?

Wait a second, (no pun intended) I'm not even a member yet!

Drat!!!

Hey, JediNein,

Any chance of honorary membership? Huh, hmm, buddy, old pal?

I was only joking about that little resolution. hehehe

Whisper, whisper:

I'm just using it as a ruse to gain Darth's trust, then in a coup of truly devilish quality we will seize control, and re-name the group the "JediNein Appreciation Group."

Yea, yea, that's it, honest....

 

[avbug]

I happen to know Jedinein, and she hasn't made a thing up. Nor is she a hazard or unsafe. Antinein, learn of whence you speak before you yak off.

As for one of those "rats" moments...I'd been told by several Dromader drivers about punching off the whole load and getting stuck standing on their tail. I always thought it was just bad airmanship. After all, only a dingbat lets the airplane do that, right? So I thought.

I came downwind at the back of a ridge this last summer on the Dynamite fire, getting set up for a high angle run down the lee side to put a load in a swail that was smoking a lot. It was in a depression, and I couldn't run down the hill steep enough to see it. A large panel marker was set along the uphill side of the dip but I couldn't see it until it was too late to line up.

It was really rough in there; I was getting retardant on the windscreen; it was coming out the top of the tank. For those that don't know the drom, that's really rough. I made four passes on the ridge, trying to get slowed down on the downwind run, and got some serious rotors and shear. Each time turning final, I'd get a rapid airsped increase of about 30 mph (airspeed marked in miles). I'd come back almost to flight idle, and approaching the ridge it would shear off by 20 mph on the other side...a 50 mph shear. Even with adequate approach speed, the airframe was getting a hard stall buffet and kept trying to roll off.

On the run-in, I lost sight of the target, but didn't want to fly through it on the way out again. It was getting too rough. I decided to push over and guestimate. I found a smoking swail, sans panel marker. I had set the doors for a full coverage in order to penetrate the load into the swail. It seemed a good tactical choice, though I knew that it would take a big trim force change.

The problem came when I punched off the load. I was fast, above flap speed, and going down hill. I lost the load fairly quickly, and there really wasn't any time between pointed downhill 35 degrees, and straight up and out of airspeed. The pitchup occured at 50' AGL going into the smoke, and even with both hands on the stick and straightarmed, I couldn't hold the nose down. Airspeed fell off, full rudder for torque and still not enough, and I got the buffet.

It was mostly the extra airspeed that did it; it makes a hugh difference on the drop, but it was also due in part to the rotors. I was fortunate to be stupid in the right place, because just past the swail I had a free extra 2,000' where the hill dropped away. I rolled over and recovered, and went back for one last load. I didn't get it; they shut us down due to rough conditions.

I do recall thinking right at the top of the pitch-up, "Oh, so this is what they were talking about." I wouldn't have believed it could have taken off like that, so fast. Now I believe.

 

[SelectZoneFive]

What the???

Well all I can say avbug is get to un-know her.

She sounds like a freakin jinx!!!

Unless she is hot and single? And then actually I would like to get to know her. hehehehe



AGHUUUM (Load clearing of throat)


Ummmm, sorry.

 

[avbug]

If I took the bandwidth (what is bandwidth, anyway??) to list a few of my own, you'd probably say the same thing about me.

Then again, I really am accident prone...though I don't believe in jinxes. (Isn't that a small cat with hairy-tipped ears?).

Let's compare broken bones, some time.

 

[SelectZoneFive]

Hmmm

Aaaah, avbug, you little minx:

Bandwidth is the width of the stage upon which the band can set up and play their musical pieces.

Silly, everyone knows that.

Otherwise, it is the capacity of a network to transmit data which is called Bandwidth, and is expressed in bits per second.

See, not just a pretty face.

 

[need2AV8]

Hello, McFly! Anyone home?

Nothing like what you all have been through, but here goes.

While approaching an uncontolled field in Sonoma, CA we see some guy without a radio takeoff. We end up behind him in downwind. This bonehead turns 180 and starts heading right for us. We divert to the right and TRY to keep him in sight. Get this, he proceeds to fly the traffic pattern in reverse and land on the runway in the opposite direction from which he JUST took off!

No matter how hard I try, I can't think of any good reason why someone would do that!?

 

[dispatchguy]

I think this guy just had his...

Saw these on the ADDS site when I first signed-in at work...


PIREP 03:12Z 11/06/02
SOP UUA /OV SDZ180012/TM 0312/FL040/TP C208/TB SVR LOST 1300FT IN SECS

PIREP 03:20Z 11/06/02
CLT UUA /OV CTF045020/TM 0320/FL060/TP C208/TB MOD-SVR

 

[Beantown]

I'm taking off in a PA 28 with an instrument student, cleared to 3000ft RH. Of course this is my 5th flight of the day and I am staring out the window day dreaming. The student blows through 3000 so I yap at him to level off. The plane keeps climbing. I sit up and push the yoke forward as I am getting irritated now. Nothing happens. I take the controls and am pulling and pushing full length and no response at all. OK. Call tower, tell them I need to return and declare an emergency. Pull the power back to start a descent while making a slow left turn. My main concern at this point is the one piece stableator. I have lost control of it and if it decides to go full up or down I'm dead. I don't touch the trim. Just power. I fly the pattern ok (except I instinctively put in a notch of flaps and the plane pitched up 15 degrees, I actually starting laughing at myself when I did that. I don't think the student thought it was so funny though.) I take out the flaps and turn final. Into the flare, I pull the power, and start trimming nose up. The plane lands hard on the mains followed quickly by the nose. We pull off at the first taxi way. 15 minutes later we have a new plane and are trying it again. Just another day as a flight instructor. Glad I don't do that anymore.

 

[mar]

Interesting thread!

By the way, kudos to Jedi Nein for professionalism and wit.

Disclaimer: All of my stories are generated by some lapse of judgement.

1) Scud running counter-clockwise (that is, to the right) around a bay in freezing drizzle in a 207. I'm following the shore. Every time I bank right I lose sight of the shore out my left window. One time I lose it for good. My windscreen is iced up, the visibility is low and now I'm headed for either open water or rising terrain.

2) I'm scud running in the passes in a 207 and get lost. The first and only time I can truly say I've been lost. I'm burning up fuel and daylight trying to weave my way home.

3) I'm short final in a Metro, just selected full flaps, and encounter a 30kt loss. Stall warning horns sounds.

Obviously I survived each situation. I won't discuss the first two but the third situation was resolved with SOP--I just went around.

Before you judge me and point a finger that asks, "What were you doing there in the first place?" I hope you realize that I haven't shared *all of the information* in the interest of brevity.

 

[antinein]

Professional? Wit? Good for entertainment maybe. To many people around here know better! That no babble thingy sounds pretty good. If jedinein has had that many things happen to her in only 750 hrs, she shouldn't be doing her own maintenance. Chief check pilots over seeing two check pilots...Hmm. You would think the loud noises would have told them something was up. You know Jedis are fantasy characters. Maybe she is living in a fantasy. Can anyone out there substantiate her stories? No, really I want to know.

 

[saabcaptain]

Two things jump to mind...

1. Tailplane stall in the Jetstream 31 at 50 AGL on landing due to ice (not much of it either) while still well above ref... the recovery was instant with application of power (which is exactly what makes things worse in most airplanes so again we got lucky) but resulted in a tremendous sink and impact with the runway with us bouncing up into a positive rate climb after pivoting around the main gear and striking the last 6 inches of the tail fin on the ground. Ouch and we even ended up balking into a go-around back into the ice again!

2. I recently lost a blade from we believe the Power Turbine section of the Saab 340B causing a total engine failure at 80 feet AGL on takeoff with a full load of passengers and a jumpseater. Oh yeah... the temp was 94F too! Well hell it climbed 300 fpm so I was pleased!

 

[AirDoc]

C-150 stuck an exhaust valve right after T/O with student, managed to perform an example of prolonged flight in ground effect.

Had an IAI Astra Jet takeoff as we were trying to exit midfield at night at an uncontrolled field. His wintip passed under/inside of our BAe-3100 wingtip. Fella didn't wait for our "all clear".

B-737 combined with weather, too casual CA, and new FO who thought the CA had a plan. Entered some severe WX at FL310 and exited at FL240 with a shattered windshield, radome, beacons, and dinged leading edges.

EMB-145, #2 engine fire at accelleration height after MGTOW.

 

[JediNein]

Great posts all! I gave a WINGS Seminar last night and used some of the stories. It felt great to have an audience on the edge of their seats, not edge of nodding off.

Fly SAFE!
Jedi Nein

 

[kilomike]

When the Republicans took back the US senate and Mitt Romney got elected governor of Mass.

 

[Chunk]

Anti-nein,

You're killin' me. I thought I was the only on confused by her odd posts.

Watch out, you'll get a PM from her asking you to stop the "harrasment" like I got when I disagreed with her a few times...

Chunk

 

[AWACoff]

Mine would be a few years ago in the Bra"kill"ya. We took off and got a "flap control fault". The captain and I discussed our options and arrived at the decision to do a "zero flap" (technically the flaps were showing O degrees on the left set and 3 degrees on the right set) landing. That would be an overweight landing for the flap setting but it seemed like the safest choice. Upon landing, I lowered the flaps to 15 degrees. The right set went to 45 degrees while the left set stayed at 0 degrees. Obviously that is an uncontrollable configuration while airborne. It also is supposed to be "impossible" to have that kind of assymetry. Oh well.

 

[H8U]

ANTINEIN, youre my hero!


So we were departing this airport, and all of a sudden, what the heck? Our right wing starts to fall off. No big deal, I am an A&P, so I crawl out there and tape it back on and give the engine an oil change while I am at it. Whew! Averted distaster one more time! Sometimes you have to make sacrifices to deliver a load of dead fish heads to the starving folks in the mountains!

 

[antinein]

Hey Chunk, I hear she just passed 200 hrs dual given, imagine how confused those students must be. She should buy a lottery ticket, based on how lucky she is to have survived this long. Dont worry, I dont accept PM's. Who comes up with a name like Jedinein anyway?

 

[H8U]

Would have been funny to see the show at the WINGS seminar comedy night.....who says the FAA has no sense of humor?

 

[ShawnC]

This is getting pointless, will someone lock this thread and end it. Now please!