Emergency Landing Caught On Tape

[bendead 1,085]

 

 

Based on what I see in the video, the instructor was very familiar with the problem they were having with the engine.

 

Well it's not the best idea to play with the throttle butterfly in the air, you can get a lot of unburned fuel. The air filter of a 152 burnt, when my instructor was doing it

 

 

 

makes sense... using the trees to stop the aircraft is actually a bit safer than attempting to slow down in tilled earth with runway tires and brakes.

 

I completely disagree. That should only be considered in case of engine failure with brake failure, because of, the risk of piercing the fuel tanks

I would be interested to know why the pilot changed from the longer field to the shorter field at a relatively low altitude.

 

He was way too high on the first one

[z06z33 763]

As I've stated... the instructor made the correct decisions.

Are you are RW pilot? just wondering. As for my safety as a pilot the FAA seems to think I'm qualified. Edited July 24, 2014 by n4gix
Removed excessive quote. Please don't quote the entire post in your reply.

[mgh 89]

Once the pilot had decided he was going to make a forced landing he should should have followed that procedure. I can remember my instructor shouting "Decide what you are ******* doing!" in similar conditions.

[Chris Bell 165]

Well... in hindsight were all 20/20

Looking at the path chosen and the fields and construction around

There is a massive power line going right before he is banking to leg 1

I believe he wanted to land on the longer field; but was coming way to fast

The only way was to bank to leg 2 and try to reduce as much inertia as possible by turning again

I think leg two was forced due to high speed coming off leg 1 to fast too high

 

There were @1500ft coming on approach to LLMG (zoom back out on google and you see LLMG on the left)

The pilot confirms to tower (Pluto) he will make the land; but not her question if he needs help

He just quietly say I'm crash landing on the west city boundaries

Then confirms to his student pilot they are crash landing in the field; and asks him to brace his head when they bank on leg 2

As soon as they touch; you can almost see the pilot spotting the tree line and making a B line towards it; intentionally

He declares his intension and seems like the engine sputtered again shooting them directly to the trees

 

If you focused you can see the pilot goes into himself on bank 2

Nothing exist in those seconds; he feels the aircraft

he knows how much glide he has left

And he uses it to get them on the ground, as a first priority

 

I can't say that luck wasn’t involved; little to the right little to the left

And it could have been a catastrophic results

[vololiberista 205]

Once he committed to a forced landing he should have chosen the correct field, flown downwind and turned onto base at 1000ft narrowing or widening the turn depending on his rate of descent. If the engine is playing up he might end up with too much power at touch down so once he is satisfied he will get into the field safely then cut the engine and fuel etc. Heading for the trees is not a good idea. The field is not tarmac so there's no guarantee of a straight approach. In this case he landed way too fast and had to use them as brakes. Very risky with regard to unseen ditches which would have killed both of them.

Yes they walked away but there were better landing choices before. They were lucky.

[z06z33 763]

Once he committed to a forced landing he should have chosen the correct field, flown downwind and turned onto base at 1000ft narrowing or widening the turn depending on his rate of descent. If the engine is playing up he might end up with too much power at touch down so once he is satisfied he will get into the field safely then cut the engine and fuel etc. Heading for the trees is not a good idea. The field is not tarmac so there's no guarantee of a straight approach. In this case he landed way too fast and had to use them as brakes. Very risky with regard to unseen ditches which would have killed both of them.

Yes they walked away but there were better landing choices before. They were lucky.

I think he had enough speed to glide over those trees.

[n4gix 4,947]

It's amazing how many wish to armchair quarterback this emergency landing. It's fine and dandy to state "I would have done this, that and the other," but it seems rather crass and self-aggrandizing to denigrate what the IP actually did do, especially given the benign outcome.

[Ted Striker 338]

Having been in that same situation myself I can tell you that when the engine is running you see all kinds of fields that make excellent emergency landing sites. You feel confident and safe. After the engine stops all you see is fences, utility poles, and trees....and you feel like my avatar.

 

What I have been wondering from watching the video is why the instructor did not use a slip to put the plane down at the beginning of the field once he knew he was within gliding distance of his chosen field.

 

Ted

[N400QW 205]

Reminds me of off field and short field practice on the way to my PPL in a 152. My instructor drilled to pick and commit to a spot until you have to decide otherwise for [life and limbs sake].

 

Oh, almost forgot. There is a standard off field/short field technique to stop short of nose over or trees but in this case the instructor appears to have chosen the latter.

As another armchair quarterback, I was drilled to do exactly as the video depicts based on altitude. If you are higher you might try the other things mentioned but you are endangering you and your pax. B)

[Chris Bell 165]

it seems rather crass and self-aggrandizing to denigrate what the IP actually did do, especially given the benign outcome.

agreed 100%!

none of the emergency procedures guarantees a safe emergency landing

what he instinctively did, did!

[Guest]

I watched the video and I just browsed this thread. First and foremost "Any landing you can walk away from is a good one!" Hard to comment on the dialog since I only understood Mayday, Mayday, Mayday. I will only comment on 2 things. The rule of thumb in an emergency is Aviate, Navigate, Communicate in that order! I think the communication after Mayday, Mayday, Mayday was superfluous and the pilot should not bothered and just focused on flying the Airplane after that. Hard to say from a video but the green field straight ahead just before the final turn looked like the better option to me for a forced landing. I think that there was a lot of luck involved in the outcome. Specifically the gap between the trees. I really don't think he had that in mind when he picked the field! If he was thinking that way he would have been looking at that numerous opportunities to land in some of the excellent fields visible from the altitude of the engine failure. The choice of field to land in came way to late!

 

with a video it is easy to exercise the benefit of hindsight for someone who wasn't in the situation. The honest pilot looking at such a video of there own emergency will be the most critical of the even and it usually takes their aviation buddies telling them that they did a superb job o handling the situation stay confident after they pick themselves apart.

 

All in all I am sure that the pilot watching that or even reviewing the event in his own minds eye found a whole bunch wrong with his decision making. More than I am for sure.

 

If you are an honest pilot and you survive an emergency situation and you can look back on that situation and say that you did everything by the book and regarding the stuff that wasn't in the book you exercised flawless judgment and action to the point that you could look back at it and say you would not have done anything different at all then you are superhuman. Perhaps you are Superman!

[TheHoser11 39]

Monday Morning QB's still at it I see. Comical.

[Great Ozzie 101]

 

 

Take a moment and review the video, check the aircraft's altitude and airspeed. Based on everything I see in the video, that instructor did... just as I've already stated... everything correctly.

Have to say, "well done" for bringing it in and being able to walk away.  That said, I do have a couple things I would point out to a student...

•Pitch *and* Trim to Best Glide speed (that did not appear to happen).  If he decides he needs to keep speed up to increase altitude loss... that's his call.

•He makes a rather large heading change the last 500 feet agl -- appears to me more than 210° - less than 270°.  Particularly concerned with that last 90° of turn below 100' agl - that and the drop in airspeed.

Makes me wonder about when he decided on his field and if he decided to change fields at some point.

 

Once the pilot has decided on a forced landing the checkllst changes.

Not at all... That is the Shutdown Checklist.  

•Airplane Trimmed to Best Glide
•Pick a field and proceed toward it
-------------
•Restart Procedure if able
•Shutdown Checklist if able (basically All Fuel & Electrical OFF / Belts Tight / Doors Unlatched)
•Communicate if able (Squawk 7700 / Broadcast to ATC etc.)

The guys were less than 1500' agl.  There's not a lot of time... two minutes it seems in this case.

------------------------

There are things that could have been done better... as I said, worth reviewing and then practicing in the sim.

Maybe have the student handle comms / restart procedure / shutdown items -- depending on student experience etc.
 

[Chris Bell 165]

here's the transcript for this clip

 

0:09 TOWER - AIW respond to LLMG

0:12 AIW - LLMG responding to LLMG

0:16 AIW - LLMG Hello, AIW approaching Afula (the town ahead) 1500ft for landing

0:22 TOWER - AIW LLMG 1500ft approaching afula

0:27 Student to Instructor - are you taking over?

0:28 Instructor - oh no

0:32 Student - What happened

0:34 Instructor - im taking over, im taking over

0:41 AIW (calling Tower) - Pluto?

0:43 Tower - LLMG

0:47 AIW - with you in a second

0:49 AIW - my engine about to shout off

0:52 Tower - HG 1500ft to Sharon by 2993 (instructions to LLMG for another incoming aircraft)

0:56 Instructor to Student - looks like crash landing in the field

1:01 AIW - Pluto Mayday Mayday Mayday AIW

1:07 Instructor - ooh no, what is going on there?

1:12 AIW - Pluto AIW Mayday Mayday Mayday

1:16 Tower - what's your emergency

1:18 AIW - my engine is sputtering and about to shot off

1:22 AIW - im around Afula; i will be crash landing on a field

1:27 Tower - crash landing on a field? will you be able to land it?

1:29 AIW - affirmative

1:13 Tower - roger that; do you need emergency services sent over?

1:35 AIW - going to land... hmm on the east side of Afula

1:39 Tower - roger that; east side of Afula, if you need help let me know

1:44 AIW - rgr

1:45 Student - are we landing the field?

1:46 Instructor - yes

1:57 Instructor - hold on tight

2:00 Instructor - protect your head

2:14 Instructor - going to hit the trees!

2:28 Instructor - out

[Great Ozzie 101]

 

 

here's the transcript for this clip

 

 

Any idea why they were flying at 1500' MSL?