carsig
Those are great stories. Happy endings prevail.
Those are great stories. Happy endings prevail.
What a great way to start the day. There’s a lot of division in this world, but it’s great when we see others reaching out to help.
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I landed a Cessna 172 at Taieri Aerodrome on a nice turf runway outside Dunedin in 2018. It’s a beautiful city but densely populated. The international airport is about 13 nm SW of the city. Not a good place to panic! Glad the controller was able to help the pilot land safely. I had trouble understanding the New Zealand accent over the radio - or maybe they had trouble understanding me. Their terminology and airspace are also a bit different than the USA. So I let the Flyinn NZ guide/flight instructor handle the radio while I flew the airplane. Kudos to both the controller and the pilot!
““I was so incredibly proud of the pilot”
Why? She was mentally ill and caused a priority handling situation.
Honestly I would question why the instructor signed her off to fly.
Glad she got down OK and I second her decision to give up flying and go home.
It was a good thing the student didn’t give up control of the aircraft and managed to land safely. The critical help offered by the controller is a clear display of professionalism and compassion for another human in dire circumstances. That the controller’s total focus was to save this student’s life is extraordinary. Language can be a barrier as well as a saving grace. More folks like her are needed in today’s mad and hectic world. The student subsequently made the correct choice to give up flying. A real win-win.
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You can count on Arthur to bring a dark, ominous cloud to an otherwise sunny day! 
A CFI can sign off a student only with the best information available at the time. Ultimately, it’s up to the student to complete the flight, and as we all know, sometimes some people break down. Glad it turned out OK but I don’t think the CFI can be blamed.
Agree. Not everyone is cut out to be a pilot and that’s OK. Likewise we are all not cut out to be pro football players, archeologists, physicians, or mothers. It’s good she found out when she did.
LetMeFly17, It’s called a reality check. Flying is not a game nor is it for those who are mentally ill equipped. It’s a fair question to ask how she was signed off to leave the pattern.
This is not a black and white thing. This is a human thing. Ask Commander Data and he’ll tell you that working with humans is perplexing. Consider sitting at a large round table. Across from you is someone who thinks you’re nuts. You feel the same way about them. To be human is to try and overcome these differences. There will be variations with all your neighbouring tablemates. Right is right and wrong is wrong, until perhaps it is not. Our collective humanity and (un)common sense will let us know.
Wait…on what basis are we assuming here that the student pilot was “mentally ill equipped,” or even inadequately trained to leave the pattern? What we have is just a bit of information as to the actual situation the controller was handling, but NO information as to the factors leading up to that point, nor about the pilot’s mental health. While I agree that the student’s decision to terminate flight training was likely a good one, I’d need more information before judging her mental capacities or fitness to fly solo.
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You ARE mentally ill-equipped to be a pilot if you scream in terror and sounded panicked on a beautiful VFR day with a perfectly fine aircraft. Also giving up flying altogether means that she was ill-equipped mentally to proceed. That’s fine, many people are not mentally equipped to be pilots.
Honestly I am very glad she discovered this on a nice VFR day with a perfectly good aircraft and she landed OK. Imagine what would happen with her VFR into IMC with a balky engine!