What is your "oh Sh*t" moment?

[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!