Tag: forced

SMAC067 – Forced Landings Gone Bad & Tips For Not Landing At The Wrong Airport

 

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And we’re back with episode 67 of your beloved Stuck Mic AvCast!

Recently in New Zealand, a pilot made a forced landing on a beach after experiencing an engine failure in flight. Once safely on the ground it was determined (details sketchy) that the engine was once again operational. A takeoff was attempted which led to the aircraft impacting the water and damaging the aircraft. Fortunately, both the pilot and passenger were unharmed. And we discuss some of the considerations you evaluate if you were to encounter similar circumstances.

Speaking of landings… With all the US news about airplanes landing at the wrong airports, we discuss some of our personal tips and tricks that we use every day to help minimize this risk and help identify your correct airport and runway. You’ll even hear about which co-host’s nearly landed at the wrong airport and how they were alerted of the error in progress.

So let’s get to it, shall we?

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Pre-Flight

  • Women of Aviation Worldwide Week is just around the corner. From March 3rd to March 9th, this week celebrates women and their accomplishments in aviation as well as exposing more women to the love of flight. Our very own Victoria Zajko is hard at work as always and we wish her a successful event this year.
  • From CNN we bring you an article on the 14 Best Aviation Museums around the world. Turns out we’ve been a quite a few of them and look forward to checking out some new ones in our travels.
  • Also coming up this month is the March Field Airfest at March Air Reserve Base in California. This 2-day event on March 22nd and 23rd will feature the usual suspects of air shows, static aircraft displays, and other attractions. This years notable performers are the US Navy Blue Angles. If you’ve never seen them before then you better make it a point to! The performance is simply mind-boggling with the high speed, close proximity maneuvers, that will dazzle your eyes. Check it out.
  • Not a Stuck Mic AvCast VIP yet? Sign up today and get all of our awesome content delivered your email inbox and never miss an update again. Go ahead, we’ll wait 🙂
  • Shout out to Lora, Richard, and the entire Aviation Universe gang for supporting this episode. We love having you on the team!

Cruise Flight

Show Notes

After Landing Checklist

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Cleared To Land, Las Vegas Boulevard?

Back in Episode 58 – Flying The Ford Tri Motor And Landing On Roads, we shared a story about a pilot who made an emergency landing on Lake Shore Drive in downtown Chicago after experiencing flight control problems. Since then, we’ve received some fun listener mail about their stories of both road and emergency landings.

Today’s mail comes from Mike Hart of the Pilots Journey Podcast. Mike writes,

I did an accelerated program in Las Vegas for my commercial certificate. After a week of intensive training in a Piper Arrow, it was time for my last checkout by the school before signing me over to the DPE. I went up with the Chief pilot of Monarch Aviation and completed all maneuvers to the PTS.

We left the tiny airport of Jean, NV (0L7) and headed back to Henderson, NV (KHND) on the south side of Las Vegas. We were perhaps 800 feet AGL on climb-out and perhaps 9 miles south of KHND when the engine stopped making full power and began coughing and running extremely rough. I turned the fuel pump on, switched tanks, messed with the mixture and mags, looked at the Chief pilot as I pitched for best glide and identified Las Vegas Blvd as the best option for off field landing.

He said, “Keep at it this is real, I didn’t do anything.” When I pitched for best glide, the engine ran better, so I tried to  climb to put some more altitude in the bank, the engine ran rough and started to fail again. We did this dance up and down and we we able to clear terrain barely holding on to 800-1000 AGL.

We called tower at Henderson asking for clearance direct to the numbers with a rough engine. The whole time, Las Vegas Blvd was below but it was turning from a frontage road (which it is  south of the city) into a major suburban artery. I tried to find other clear fields and streets, but Las Vegas Blvd was always my main option until we were essentially over KHND.

We fortunately were able to land on the runway. A citation coming in on IFR with clearence was asked to go around to give us the full runway. On the ground, mechanics later identified that the 4 cylinder IO-360 had thrown a rocker arm and valve guide.

So, I just missed landing on an equally famous road. I got lucky. I passed my checkride the next day (in a different airplane).

It is an old story and was told in Episode #25 of the Pilots Journey Podcast – Short final for Las Vegas Blvd

MAN, that would have been pretty nerve wracking to perform a forced landing on such a major arterial road way such as Las Vegas Boulevard! What an adrenaline rush. What do you think of Mike’s experience? Leave us a comment below.

Got a flying story to share with us? Send us an email!