What's been your most terrifying experience in flying?

[Admin]

Can anyone share with us their most terrifying experience or incident during takeoff/landing or flying in general?

 

[John B]

Severe turbulence under IFR associated with a thinderstorm. Was too close to the storm but not actually in it.

Freezing rain encounter in a C-172. Ice building so fast it was scary. Had to slip on landing to see ahead by looking out of the side windows.

Then there is getting complacent while instructing. Seems whenever you do that the student does something really dumb. Had a student almost ready to take his check ride and we were just practicing some landings at the grass strip we were based at. Student did a landing and applied power for a touch and go. Started drifting left, but I knew he would catch it. Well, he didn't and by the time I reacted we were 45 deg to the runway. I got it under control but as we crossed the ege of the 8 ft tall cornfield bordering the runway I glanced left to see the wingtip about 2 inches above the corn. It was that close to not ending well.

Theses were my worst. i don't even count the left engine failure in my Twin Comanche as it wasn't really scary if you handle it right. The left engine puked at 500ft on takeoff, but I was alone with about 1/2 tanks.

The thunderstorm turbulence was absolutley the most terrifying. I thought the airplane was going to come apart.

 

[Chopndrag]

Engine out at 200ft on takeoff in my Sonerai. Did the impossible turn back to the airport.

 

[kennyw]

My first flight in 994SP. I was terrified and thrilled all at the same time.

I had about 65 hours of tailwheel time, mostly in a Citabria 7ECA (about the easiest taildragger there is). I knew I should get some kind of transition training. But, the best I could do was a couple of hours doing touch N goes from the back seat of a Champ.

My first take off went well. I climbed to 3,500' msl and did a few power off stalls. I did it just like i figured a typical pattern should be, 80mph on the downwind, slow to 70mph on base, 3/4 mile final, power to idle once the aim point was made.

After that, I got back in the pattern and tried my first landing. And, then tried 6 more times. Every time I closed the throttle and flared, no matter how gentle, I would hit and bounce back in the air.

By the 6th attempt, I had an audience. Some of the usual suspects had gathered on the taxiway to see me wad it up on my first flight. On final, I kept just a touch of throttle on, and held it in ground effect, eventually plunking down a swerving first one way, then the other. I got it slowed to a safe speed without running off the runway. But, it was a nerve-wracking experience.

It took me a good 100 hours before I made consistently good landings. And, even still, once in awhile, it just seems like I cannot find that sweet spot to flare and touch down without bouncing.

 

[Schmleff]

Few into a wall cloud in the Sonerai with no attitude instruments. Had to climb out of the top using GPS track and engine rpm.

 

[J. Metcalfe]

I havnt been flying long enough to have a real horror story.
A very unexpected gust caught my right wing and put me in about a 45 degree bank just before the numbers a few weeks ago. It was in a piper archer. I have done some serious aerobatic flight so unusual attitudes don't usually bother me, unless the ground is 75-100ft away!! I'm sure once my SII is in the sky again I will accumulate more stories.

 

[mhflyit]

Prop wash landing behind a departing Cessna of all things caused a wing drop on short final. Quickly picked it up - gave me a lot of confidence in the Sonerai control effectiveness.

 

[siege076]

I flew into a dust devil on final in a Citabria. I entered it at about 200 feet up and it spit me out in a 90 degree bank 100 feet up with about a 45 degree heading change. I think I got down to 50 feet before I was wings level and climbing but I am really not sure. All the guys that witnessed it were slapping me in the back for flying out of it. I didn't have the heart to tell them I had no clue what happened it was all over so fast.

 

[Chopndrag]

Engine out at 200ft on takeoff in my Sonerai. Did the impossible turn back to the airport.

Oh and it was the first unintentional flight too .

 

[Andy Hughes]

Gota Poop!

 

[Todd Loes]

Engine out at 200ft on takeoff in my Sonerai. Did the impossible turn back to the airport.

I did the impossible turn from 150'. Yet we are both stretching the truth to say that. If the engine and prop are still delivering some thrust, it stretches the glide out significantly. In my case, the engine went into a horribly lean stumble and I thought I was going to be a yard-dart within a couple of seconds. Because I didn't lose the engine completely, it limped while descending and I was able to make the turn (finishing below tree-top level). My post-incident self-debrief is that it would not have worked with a complete engine failure and I would not have been able to turn more than about 45-90 degrees before pounding the ground.

The first instinct when there's a significant engine power loss MUST be to put the nose down, pick a landing spot with minimal maneuvering, and once under control at an appropriate glide speed, reassess the options while trying to remedy the power loss. In my case, I immediately dropped the nose and committed to "not more than 90-degrees of turn" then when I was sure I had a safe airspeed and a little altitude to spare I pulled the throttle back and decided I had another 30 degrees of turn available and needed to use it to avoid a pond. With the throttle pulled back, the engine recovered from the lean stumble so it allowed me to flatten the glide and reassess options again and another 30-degrees of turn seemed feasible. Once I was in ground effect, it seemed to be holding altitude at about 20' and I thought I could turn a little more. Eventually spotting a break in the tree line between the freshly planted corn field I was skimming and the runway I had departed. I chose to turn a little more again and give myself the option of shooting through the break in the trees yet still prepared to drop into the furrows.

Luck has a lot to do with it. But I think I was successful mostly because I committed IMMEDIATLY to landing with a small deflection in heading THEN fiddling with the power and reassessing options. If the power had really been 100% lost, I would have stayed with that initial small deflection from the departure heading (to avoid trees) and landed "across furrows" and probably nosed it over just before the pond. It really is "impossible" to make a 180-degree turn from 150-200' unless the engine is stretching the glide.

 

[Neale in Wichita]

In a rented C150 going to a popular pancake breakfast-- fourth in line to land and reported my position. The Cherokee coming up announced he had me in sight and was fifth in line to land. Then this Cherokee flies directly over top of me and follows the Cessna in front of me in. I was giving a guy his first airplane ride and got to tell him that is the most dangerous thing that can happen. And the Cherokee probably wondered why the plane behind him followed him so closely. Watched he and his family get out totally oblivious. I have had airplanes all around me on the entry to Oshkosh, but nothing as terrifying as seeing that Cherokee come over and settle in front of me.

 

[M61A!]

Luck has a lot to do with it.

You can make a lot of your own "luck", with some prior preparation. A bit of planning about where you will go when the engine fails, before you push that throttle forward can be the difference between lucky and the worst.

 

[Todd Loes]

You can make a lot of your own "luck", with some prior preparation. A bit of planning about where you will go when the engine fails, before you push that throttle forward can be the difference between lucky and the worst.

Agreed. I was familiar enough with the area to have already thought through were I "could and couldn't go" on an engine-out emergency. I knew that "straight" and "right" were not viable so I didn't waste a single second looking in those directions. Reducing throttle was a bit counter-intuitive but I had just changed the carb needle to make the top end leaner so once I had the nose down to establish a viable airspeed, it seemed worthwhile to pull the throttle back to a known-rich power setting.

 

[vhensley]

I was flying a S14 Rans and took a turkey buzzard through the prop (powerfin 3 blade) on takeoff at about 200’agl . Knocked off one blade and split a 2nd in two . Immediately pulled power to idle and reached for the key but watched it fall out onto the floor from the severe vibration . Building straight ahead , fences and cars both sides . Decided to try a 180 , pretty much made the turn but the last 20’ or so the plane was pitching forward really strange . Long story short after we got the plane back in the hanger noticed mud packed in the wingtip went back to the landing site and found a 20’ scrape on the ground where I had drug the wingtip trying to miss a huge chunk of concrete . I’ve had 3 Sonerai’s , I would never had made a turn back in one of them. Never did find my underwear or seat cushion.

 

[Spezioman]

Many years ago. My wife Marcia and I were trying to get to Ohio from APG Flying Club, Md. in a T41B (Hawk XP). Weather had been bad for several days and we had already lost 3 days waiting. Because of forcast we decided to try for part way to Martinsburg, WV and wait for front to go by. Didn't make it. I've never seen cu/cn clouds build so fast. I got sucked into trying to go on top and was caught between clouds building faster than the plane would climb with no room to make a 180. That's all I wanted, to do a 180 and get out of dodge....(should have turned around 5 min earlier)Angle of clouds also gave illusion of banking and I had to go partly on gages just to stay level. After climbing to almost 14,000' I finally found room to turn around. Worst 10-15 min. I've had in my lowly 1000 hours.

I've also had a near miss and the Pitts scared me a couple times on the %$% ground but that was worse. I've made two first flights in E-AB's that I built and that certainly got my attention but they were 40 years later and I was ready, or at least thought I was,

While our eastern mountians might not compare to the rockies, etc. I guess there is good enough reason that the area from Charlie West to Altoona, pa was the grave yard of airplanes back in the 20's and 30's air mail days.....

Jacl

 

[Admin]

Interesting to read all these adventures. Anyone else have some happenings to add to this thread?