By Anonymous Flight Instructor
Thank you but doing this. I was scared to talk about my incident backlash to anyone, even my wife. Eventually, I shared my feelings with her and my boss, which was the start to a new mindset. But, let me start with the incident.
It was a nice October morning for a first cross country with a student. After a longer than average weather brief and through preflight we start the engine of our little light sport aircraft. Everything checks out ok in the Runup, it should have because it just had its 100 hour inspection. We depart and shortly after departure we level off around 2500 feet.
At our first checkpoint, I remember checking the engine gauges, telling my student to note the time and write it down, and rechecking the engine gauges. Within those 10 seconds, the oil pressure was yellow, borderline red. I take the plane and try increasing power, which improves the flow momentarily, but after power reduction, oil pressure was zero.
I say I don’t like it and we turn back to the airport. After getting in touch with approach, they hand us off to tower, we were on the local practice area frequency. Tower tells us we’re clear to land and we get lined up on a 2 mile final. After we lined up my student says, “do you smell that?” I say yes and knew immediately what was about to happen. Our engine was melting and within 5 seconds of his comment the engine abruptly stops.
Were 2 miles out with no engine at 800 feet.
I immediately tell tower we lost our engine and to get the equipment. I take the controls and now I’m wondering if we can make the runway. My gut tells me to go for it, but I’m eyeballing multiple streets and parking lots, just in case. Just short of the runway is a very large freeway, my biggest concern. I didn’t know if we could clear it and make it to the grass. Thankfully we cleared the freeway by about 10 feet and I do the best soft field landing I can. We land on the grass and bounce up to the runway and come to a stop about 1000ft down the runway.
We are surrounded by fire trucks and their crews and I look to my student and say, “you ok? Time to get out, get your stuff.” I shut everything else down and make a last check or two. The rest of it goes without anymore excitement but the adrenaline is pumping.
Start of the year I start to dread going to work. Every flight I have thoughts going through my head, “what if this happens, what if that happens.” I have small panic attacks in the airplane, my legs shake and I breathe heavy. Thank goodness for masks. Work is no longer fun. Work is a prison. I do not want to be at work anymore and start making excuses for some flights to not fly and do ground instead.
After a month of private torture, I express this to my wife and she goes right to the Internet. Classic case of PTSD. She tries harder than me to get help, looking up aviation therapists and what not. I’m scared of going of meds because I don’t want to lose my job. Eventually, I ask my boss for advice. She is very serious and treats me very tenderly. She tells me she has had some scary situations happen and how she has dealt with her fears and asks if we can do the same. I agree and after several visits with her I can talk about the incident without the shakes and look at it analytically.
What scared me the most was that I wasn’t sure if I could make the airport. I didn’t want to end up on the news like several other pilots in the past who crash landed on the freeway and died and killed others in the process.What helped me the most was my mindset.
While talking about it helped, I just wanted nothing to do with flying.
I decided to start telling myself that today was going to be a good day and I will be ok. I still eyeball my engine gauges like a hawk but I know that if something happens that I can land the plane and I will be ok.
What is Your Title?
Pilot
What is Your Favorite Quote?
You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. -Gretzky
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