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I’m saddened to see AvWeb use a link from disgraceful CNN. AvWeb, you can do better.
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About 40 years ago, I was flying somewhere over northern OH. Even tho it wasn’t fashionable back then, I was guarding 121.5. A woman’s panicked voice came over the radio. The pilot had slumped over in flight. (I don’t know how she knew to come up on 121.5. But this wasn’t a stunt.)
The Controller found a Mooney on IFR nearby (thankfully it was a VFR day) who agreed to be vector’d to the plane. He flew loose formation with her and steered her toward final to some airport.
I was waiting to hear how they were going to talk her through a landing. Fortunately, the pilot revived on long final. (I remember the Controller saying “I’m can’t tell you how glad I am to hear your voice.”)
Apparently they landed safely. I never heard a new report about the almost-accident.
- Most of us Instructors probably fantasize about successfully talking someone down in a similar situation. It’s not very easy.
Later in life, I tried to teach a few wives to land (in 3 hours) via the “Pitch Hitter” program. What a disaster. It would have been better if I had taught them to solo in 8. (I wouldn’t have lessons on Preflight; very little Practice area stuff (no stalls), no steep turns; etc. Mostly pattern work.)
Even when you’re sitting in the left seat, telling a neophyte what to do in real time, the best that one can hope for is a controlled crash that’s survivable. And that’s in the best conditions: super long wide runway (2 miles), no cross wind, no gusts, no night approaching, etc.
- “I have no idea how to stop the airplane.”
This is exactly what I thought about when I started thinking “How would I handle this?.”
First, trying to teach someone over the radio how to use brakes and rudder pedals to steer ain’t going to work. (It takes most new students about 5 to 10 minutes to get the hang of it during a first lesson.) So you’re going to have to have a Pitch Hitter land without steering and braking.
But, second, if they don’t know how to shut off the engine, the airplane might idle down the runway forever.
Even today, the Pitch Hitter syllabus only says to “close the throttle.”
aopa.org/-/media/Files/AOPA/Home/Training-and-Safety/Safety-Spotlights/Pinch-Hitter/PH-Syllabus-2020.pdf I think it better to have them shut the fuel off on short final, to help avoid a fire.
I’ve never flown a Caravan, so had to read about how to turn off the fuel. Okay, a well thought out airplane, easy for pilots. But how to you talk someone about how to move the lever past the detent? (Do you flick left or right?) And do you brief them about this on final (where they will forget, just as I forgot to pull the fake ripcord on my first parachute jump), or once on the runway?
Apparently the Pitch Hitter here managed to turn the fuel off, because the prop is stopped in the footage.
Maybe the Controller told him. (I haven’t heard the whole tape.) But if he didn’t, then this story sounds too good to be true.