Biggest scare In flight (GA pilots)
Posted by Acceptable-Spite-992@reddit | flying | View on Reddit | 185 comments
I really haven’t had much other than engine roughness here and there but I’m curious to hear what others have experienced
AWACS_Bandog@reddit
Almost midair. Got rivet counting close and could clearly see the retard under the hood without anyone else.
Kingsly2015@reddit
If it’s any consolation I’ve almost been midair’d not once not twice but three separate times LAPD helicopters who have observers and a plethora of cameras and sensors.
AWACS_Bandog@reddit
Yeah thats worse, at least my guy was from a certain flight school where the students kinda were known to be at best incompetent, but LAPD should be guys who know better
Kingsly2015@reddit
I think there was a strong “we own the skies” vibe happening. We were always the ones who saw them and maneuvered to avoid - once pretty aggressively, which is a big R-22 no-no.
AWACS_Bandog@reddit
Sheriff is the same in my area. And if you're a linemen It was worse. They expected to be expedited because "We're the Sheriff's department", and were generally our second biggest government headache behind literally every Major that walked in. (seriously, is it once you pin on that gold oak leaf they also shove a rod up your ass? All the Captains and Colonels we had were chill as fuck)
Clunk500CM@reddit
That's definitely going "full retard".
21stcAviator@reddit
I know a kid that got kicked out of flight school for casually talking about doing this
Ashamed-Charge5309@reddit
What's this mean?
Interesting_Law_9138@reddit
Simulated instrument training. It’s pretty much a mask that covers your view of the surroundings (without blocking the instruments)
Carlito_2112@reddit
Wait, what? I am not yet a pilot, so please forgive the stupid question. You not supposed to fly under the hood without a safety pilot....right? Right?
zemelb@reddit
Right
Conscious_Peace_9138@reddit
😭😭😭
OkTadpole7559@reddit
Late to the party here, but at my end of course review with our chief instructor, the winds were 34kt gusts and I experienced 15-20kt of wind shear less than 50' agl. Pitch down, firewall the throttle and announce "going around" then cfi calls my controls and took over. He said I handled it very well. The mental video of diving to the runway at 50' agl with no immediate airspeed increase I doubt will ever leave my brain.
CompassCardCaptain@reddit
A student put me in a spin in a Baron. I thought we were going to die that day.
spfman@reddit
Forgive the naivete, but do V-tails have worse spin recovery characteristics? I've never flown one.
CompassCardCaptain@reddit
Look at them. They don't have a rudder or a vertical stabilizer.
davidswelt@reddit
I just bought a v-tail. While intentional spins are not allowed, the test pilot says it recovers from spins just fine.
Fly4Vino@reddit
Back in the days known as the Forked Tail Doctor Killer
Carlito_2112@reddit
Yikes!
kw10001@reddit
Yeah. They don't call them doctor killers for nothing
dummyinstructor@reddit
That right there is why you couldn't pay me enough to teach in a v tail.
CompassCardCaptain@reddit
How many hours of v tail time do you have?
dummyinstructor@reddit
Zero lol.
CompassCardCaptain@reddit
Yes, we all know.
dummyinstructor@reddit
Just personal preference. Was never a fan of that idea
CompassCardCaptain@reddit
Username checks out.
roguemenace@reddit
Didn't you just tell us a story about how you nearly died instructing in one?
CompassCardCaptain@reddit
Because I let my guard down as an instructor. Anyone with more than 20 hours of dual given will tell you not to do that. But I got overly complacent. I'm still alive. There are plenty of other airplanes with worse spin characteristics. I have also instructed in Hawkers. You think you'll survive a spin in one of those?
dummyinstructor@reddit
Didn't know flying a bonanza was the line between being a weak vs strong pilot...
CompassCardCaptain@reddit
The line is "I would never instruct in a bonanza!"
Yeah, that's because you're a weak instructor.
dummyinstructor@reddit
Sure, I'm a weak instructor. Or maybe... just maybe... I'm smart enough to not have an ego and end up putting myself in a bad situation in an airplane that I don't trust. I personally don't think it's fair to the student to be their instructor in a plane they aren't confident in.
Just not my cup of tea. Don't know why you have such an issue with me saying I wouldn't teach a student in a v-tail.
CompassCardCaptain@reddit
It's good that you recognize your lack of experience.
Conscious_Peace_9138@reddit
You getting killed on the karma lol
CompassCardCaptain@reddit
The what, now?
dummyinstructor@reddit
Call it what you want lol.
Dont55555@reddit
You seem like such a pleasant instructor, do you try to make your students feel less than you too? Did you tell your student you were complacent or did you call him a weak pilot? Lol
papiperflyer@reddit
😭
papiperflyer@reddit
Jesus christ
davidswelt@reddit
Severe icing in a 310Q over the Canadian rockies, following by airspeed dropping and altitude loss while trying to recover (until I found ground speed was high, thus, pitot heat in/op). We were around MSA by the time we recovered.
The wake turbulence in a Mooney at night, 1500 ft over New Jersey, was pretty bad too. Pax thought it was great fun.
MajMedic@reddit
Got reported to the FAA, not once but 2x……..
ShoemakerMicah@reddit
For me it was a cross country flight. NOTHING suggested what winds might do. Pretty much only north/south runway options in my fuel range. Multi hour trip. Arrival at destination winds were 20+ knots out of the west. Twice attempted a landing on an uphill/downhill n/s runway before heading back up to 3k feet. Firefight confirmed ZERO east/west options within fuel range. Had to make an executive decision and go back to original airport option.
Landed a CE150 in 22-30 gusting 90° crosswinds diagonally mostly on the one runway. It was a FIGHT but, after a lot of scary shit I got away with it. Some grass was touched but nothing hit the ground. I had about 20 minutes of fuel left.
People gathered at FBO Buger joint to watch. Most embarrassing landing ever but, I was greeted with applause and free food.
toraai117@reddit
Nice that beats my record for a 150! Did you have to use brakes to keep it going straight? I’ve got a 172 down in a 35 knot 90° crosswind but it still had enough rudder effectiveness to not need a whole lot of brake surprisingly.
ShoemakerMicah@reddit
Definitely used the brakes, used everything I had access to lol, lightweight planes are sketchy AF in heavy gusting cross winds as you know.
PillarOfLogic@reddit
“Firefight” haha ;). Maybe that’s the app all the people here with near-collisions should have used.
Great work on that landing!
ShoemakerMicah@reddit
Autocorrect got me there, but I agree, not bad.
smoothbrainape1234@reddit
Went to take the runway for departure at a non towered field, some asshole made no calls or anything, flew in to land right in front of us, honestly don’t know how his wing missed the prop. He did a touch and go and was gone. We definitely pooped a little.
40KaratOrSomething@reddit
Engine out on final at 350 feet coming in for a night landing on private strip.
Cessna131@reddit
What caused the engine out that allowed for such a quick restart?
becuziwasinverted@reddit
I’m betting this was a low wing without cross feed tanks and it was a fuel / fuel pump issue
40KaratOrSomething@reddit
Was a Cherokee Six that had the pump knocmed/kicked out of the left main to between tanks/cut off by the passenger trying to twist to see something out their window.
becuziwasinverted@reddit
So a transient position for a pump ? Looks like I was right 😝
40KaratOrSomething@reddit
Yep.
becuziwasinverted@reddit
Well glad you were able to quickly restart it
40KaratOrSomething@reddit
Once out of the plane, had a bit of a discussion about why we keep quiet and still during the entire landing sequence.
becuziwasinverted@reddit
I have a checklist item called “Sterile Cockpit” on my landing checks that I call out once established in the downwind - passenger know not to point out that everyone down below has a pool 🤣 at that point
40KaratOrSomething@reddit
Fuel selector in thr Cherokee Six was knocked from left main to between tanks/cutoff by the passenger's foot. Pump was on and all that in prep for landing. I slammed the selector to the right tip tank. I always reserve that tank to be used last so I'm not fumbling around to seat the fuel selector into one of the other slots in an emergency. Slammed right and its on the tip with fuel, no questions. Picked up half a second later.
Fatturtle18@reddit
One time I put my instructor in a spin in a vtail
Rhino676971@reddit
The Beechcraft Bonanza almost got another one
zemelb@reddit
😂😂😂
highaoalowiq@reddit
Does he happen to be the strongest and most fearless instructor you've ever flown with?
i_am_the_virus@reddit
Lol
Vithar@reddit
Scariest one was working on PPL doing night work in a 150. It was a new moon, and the airport was rural enough there was no light pollution to speak of. High overcast, so it was as dark a night as you can get. The airport lost power and all its lights and runway lights went dark, instructor said it was no problem we would practice landing in the dark. Then we lost electricity on short final, landed in the darkest pitch black you can imagine. Lucky we where all setup to land and it was just a waiting game to find out if our glide path was good and to feel the ground effect for the flair. Instructor only asked once "you got this?" I want to say it was easier than expected, but could just as well be luck, but I felt the ground effect, ran through everything as practiced but by feel and greased that landing perfectly. We taxied with a flashlight held out the window to get back to the FBO.
Second scariest was loosing a cylinder on takeoff. We had gotten maybe 200ft up when the engine stopped making normal power, so above the trees but not much, we couldn't gain any altitude but we weren't loosing altitude ether. Since the wind was calm we did a 180 and landed. It was one of those ones where in the moment your calm and do the things you train to do, but then an hour later your mind catches up and goes holy fuck.
Ok_Bus_5882@reddit
So the airport lost power and then your plane also lost electrical power? That might be the worst luck I have ever heard.
Vithar@reddit
Or best since I squeaked in a nearly perfect landing and I could have just as easily landed next to or before the runway.
Longjumping_Panda531@reddit
I flew a C182 on its first flight after an annual inspection in which several control cables needed to be serviced. Someone connected the trim wheel backwards so it shoved the nose down when I tried to trim nose-up for climb pitch/power. This was on a 95 degree day in Reno where climb out is already difficult. I thought the plane was trying to kill me since every trim adjustment only increased the nose-down tendency and force required to keep a climb going. I was with an instructor and we managed to muscle it back to the airfield, only after we landed did we have the brain bytes to figure out what had happened.
jtyson1991@reddit
In hindsight could you have noticed that in preflight? Roll the wheel to the stop and then get out and visually inspect the trim tab? Not sure if it works different than in a 172.
KehreAzerith@reddit
As far as I'm aware most checklists don't require a visual inspection of the trim, I don't ever remember needing to do that for pre flight
toraai117@reddit
It’s not in the checklist, but it should be in your mind when it’s the first flight after major maintenance, especially when the rigging was worked on:
burnheartmusic@reddit
So, I don’t roll it to the stops and check it every time but I’m damn sure to give it a little wiggle when I’m back there to make sure it’s not stuck. Also check it when checking controls to make sure it’s not wildly out of whack
dpetngl@reddit
I also give it a wiggle. If I rolled the trim wheel down shortly after rotating and the nose also pitched down, I hope my first instinct would be to spin it back up to TO position.
Sudden-Yoghurt3501@reddit
First flight of the day we go to the stops. But learning to visually pull the elevator up and see it's set correctly is like checking symmetric flaps down. Not sure I would catch it if it was just the normal barely a degree deflection but first flight back from MX? Absolutely going to watch it like a hawk.
dpetngl@reddit
Never seen this on a 172 or 182 preflight empennage, but not a bad idea to add it to flight controls section after control cables have been redone. Not sure but I feel like that should be on the Mx checklist and performed by the A&P.
Longjumping_Panda531@reddit
Obviously, but have you ever seen a GA checklist that has you do this? Checking the flight control expected position vs yoke definitely is a thing, but I’ve never seen a C172/182 checklist that has you check the tab.
We actually explicitly verify this in the A-10 with our crew chief - we run the trim in all three axes and they visually confirm the tabs/rudders move accordingly.
dspencer2015@reddit
If the trim was slightly offset likely would’ve noticed in the run up but since it was likely neutral they probably didn’t touch the trim wheel at all
toraai117@reddit
I inspect the trim wheel after every 100hr/annual inspection. Way too easy for that to happen.
dpetngl@reddit
Guessing this was not a G1000 182?
Longjumping_Panda531@reddit
Correct
sinkypi@reddit
From a Mechanics point of view it's scarily easy to rig the trim control backwards on the light Cessna's. We overhaul the trim actuators every 3 years and after it's all back together we have 2 of us verify full, free and in the correct sense.
sassinator13@reddit
Rolling out on the runway when a Cirrus appeared against the flow of traffic on short final. Got off just before he touched down. Now that I work at the airport, I know the guy has had a couple of rides with the FAA.
somethingaboutair@reddit
Short final 24 at KMTP (Montauk) for the first time, set up perfectly for a nice short field landing over the dunes at the end of the runway. Headwind went from 22 knots to 0 as I crossed the runway threshold due to the surrounding dunes. Stall warning went off, stomach went into throat, felt like the plane was dropping out of the sky. Training kicked in and I added power and dropped the nose about 30 feet above the runway. Four of us in an SR22. Turns out the power off stall recovery works just as well at 30’ as it does at 3000’
Flanking_Fulcrum02@reddit
Can’t say I’ve had an engine failure or loss of control like some other commenters. But a couple close calls with other traffic and wildlife will make you pucker up.
K9pilot@reddit
Picked up my plane after routine maintenance end of day in the fall (early sunset). Pre-flighted plane but didn’t check the oil filler cap (C182), checked oil, cowling, etc. Took off at twilight for a 14 minute flight home and in the flat light I was trying to figure out what was all over my windshield. Checked gauges still had oil pressure but clearly I pumped a quart out in the flight. Landed and had to tax looking at the side window. Could have been a really bad day vs. just a pucker.
Student pilot on a long cross country for practice at controlled airport (Fall so early sunset). Flew 50 miles to quiet tower controlled field, called 10 miles out, cleared to land straight in on long runway. Landed uneventfully and decided against stopping at FBO because of approaching sunset. Taxied back and got off uneventfully, cleared on course and just as the tower said “frequency change approved” I noticed a red flag on the instruments - lost all electrical power. Mind you I had 25-30 hours as PIC in PA28-181 and I went through the scenarios; do I return to field and do light guns - nope, am I going to crash because engine is going to stop - talked myself into a solid no, so just proceed on course and hope nobody in the pattern at home airport. Of course there was someone in pattern - I dropped in behind on downwind and kissed the ground when I got back to the hanger. It was a bad voltage regulator.
Flying-Guy-6699@reddit
Had a student get me into a spin 1200 agl doing some ground ref stuff on a continuous moderate turb day and mid spin he freaked out and locked up on the controls and WOULD NOT LET GO. Before that day I wasn’t “quiet” but I was not an assertive instructor ig you could say. Until I had to scream and slap his arms to get him off the controls. I changed that day safe to say
350RDriver@reddit
Some of my pucker-factor learning experiences:
Loss of aircraft control in severe turbulence in IMC at 1200' AGL. Controls no longer were useful...
Doing a touch and go with a Chinook sitting on the taxiway next to the runway. They decided to pick up into a hover without saying anything right as we were coming by. Rotor wash spiked us into the runway. They had been sitting on said taxiway for an number of laps in the pattern and were downwind of the runway, we had noticed no prior issues with rotor wash. I had attempted to initiate a go-around when I saw them lift off but our little O-235 was no match for Chinook turbulence.
Full-flap spin from a student freaking out during a power-on stall, kicking the rudder hard to the stop, and freezing. I found out why intentional spins with flaps deployed in the 152 are prohibited... It got pretty flat until I got the flaps sucked back up.
Experienced student lost their damn mind on a short-field takeoff at 10' and yanked the throttle to full idle and froze. We hit the ground pretty hard despite my best efforts to shove their hand forward with the throttle attached to their hand.
Oil Pressure annunciator kicked on in hard IMC, luckily just an indication issue.
Severe carb icing over the mountains in a full-power climb and the carburetor heat wasn't enough to get my carb temperature (had a probe) above freezing.
Carb icing becoming evident immediately after short-field takeoff.
Smoke in cockpit.
Loss of a nosewheel tire on a short & narrow runway resulting in loss of directional control after nosegear touchdown - which didn't happen until we were well down the runway (which had a nice cliff on the end).
3x brake failures.
Maybe I should stop flying GA...
DisregardLogan@reddit
I mean, if you’re still here today, you’re doing something right
DontLiftAFinger@reddit
As a Chinook driver I apologize for your bad experience. We try our best to not mess up GA aircraft but it inevitably happens to the best of us. Sometimes we forget how big we are sitting way up front!
mustang__1@reddit
Jesus. Are you related to Tom Hanks or something?
350RDriver@reddit
I am told at least every-other month I sound like him... But no.
MaterialInevitable83@reddit
Sir I believe you are cursed
DisregardLogan@reddit
I got caught in thunderstorm IFR the other day while doing patternwork in a flimsy 150.
Doesn’t sound like that big of a deal but to a student with 0.5 time of simulated instrument, I almost forgot how to fly the damn thing
Heavy_Notice3544@reddit
Old pilots (the ones you can tell over the radio they need to hand it up) and sudden diarrhea are my two biggest fears
FuriousBoss274@reddit
Hasn't happened yet but my biggest fear is having to copy a number
IcePuzzleheaded9093@reddit
Catastrophic engine failure with smoke in the cockpit and oil coating the entire windscreen on climbout
blueridgeblah@reddit
Students plane, practice ILS approaches. I had said ‘ok, let’s go ahead and switch the fuel tanks’ the student reached down but never switched them because ‘we were in a turn’ (on a DME arc) and never said anything about it. Behold, he forgot he didn’t switch them and on the missed approach the engine went bye bye. Luckily, he then remembered he didn’t switch them and that was the first thing he did. Engine restarted and off we went. I quit flight instructing shortly after that and was hired at a 121. Don’t think I’ll ever instruct GA again unless my kids want to learn.
ArutlosJr11@reddit
Getting “The Leans” on my first long XC solo. Wild stuff when your body is telling you you’re in one position and the artificial horizon is telling you the other.
Dry-Horror-4188@reddit
Lost an engine on climb out in my PA28. Luckily I was running late to pick up my flight instructor for my BFR. I decided to fill up at the airport I was picking him up at. Climbed out fast due to my lite weight before fan stopped.
Had just enough Instrument training to be dangerous, decided to run scud, ended up flying 1000 feet over the ocean to skirt around LAX class B airspace. Motivated me to get my IR.
When I was young, accidently got a 152 into a spin and was able to immediately recover. Did not have spin training.
msouther70@reddit
Years ago, as a pretty newly minted PPL, (maybe 100 hours at that point) I took 3 friends in a rented 172xp from KUAO to KBOI to see Guided By Voices play in a tiny little club. Uneventful flight there, but the next day for the flight home the weather went to shit. I probably heard “VFR flight not recommended” at least 3 times when on the phone with the briefer, but we left anyway. We were on the trees heading west over the Blue Mountains, but below the clouds (barely). Flight Following started warning me about a bad line of cells moving east from KPDX. My dumb ass thought “no problem, I’ll fly under them through The Gorge (basically a canyon that the Columbia River runs through bisecting the Cascade Mountains.) Fucking great idea. About 5 miles west of Hood River, with the ceiling at around 1000agl with cells overhead, the turbulence becomes so bad that I’m barely able to control the plane, and my passengers are getting sick. I pull a very steep 180 in the Gorge to go land at 4S2 Hood River, and not only am I having a hell of a time holding the bank with all of the turbulence, my windscreen is full of rocks from the very fast approaching cliffs that make up the walls of the Gorge. I got pretty close, but I’m unsure just how close because I was in the steepest bank I had ever turned, throttle to the wall, probably 600’ over an interstate and my eyes were glued to the airspeed indicator. We made it to 4S2, and 2 of my passengers gave me a hearty “fuck you, we are taking the bus home.” I called the briefer to get a weather update and as soon as I gave my tail number the briefer started laughing. They had bets going as to whether or not I was gonna make it back to KUAO.
That was the dumbest shit I had ever done. It was a solid lesson that get-home-itis is real and can kill you.
Palemka91@reddit
I am curious, what was your reasoning for taking off back then? I know you recognize it was stupid now, but not often we can hear about how such decision was made - a lot of those sadly end up in accident reports.
msouther70@reddit
The main flawed reasoning was that I could look to the Northwest and see that I had “windows” I could fly in - ceiling at 1500agl, notches in ridge lines that were clear enough to fly through and I knew there were valleys and airports on the other side. I figured Flight Service was saying don’t go because they couldn’t see what I saw.
And also, we all really wanted to get home. Sitting a day and waiting for better weather was foolishly off the table.
After that trip, I became way more patient with weather.
Loko5979@reddit
Had an engine begin sheering apart mid flight in IMC on an instrument approach in a travel air.
This was on an approach to gatlinburg, so it’s only got 1 approach as mountains block the airport from the other side.
Was configuring to land nearing my FAF, went to touch the prop controls and felt the worst vibrating sensation of my life.
Popped out the clouds less than 15 seconds later, after hearing some banging noises, turns out the structural integrity of the engine essentially gave up the ghost and pieces of internal engine parts and cowling cover were spraying everywhere like legos and wrapping paper.
Feathered the engine and killed it as I didn’t want the engine to spin itself off my aircraft and take a part of my wing with it (it wasn’t that bad once i got it on the ground but in the moment that was my fear)
Turns out a micro fracture had spread from underneath the noise cowling throughout the entire engine and I drew the short stick of being a solo renter when it happened. Got lucky a piece didn’t come through the window and brain me.
MD500_Pilot@reddit
Recently had a complete engine failure in the small helicopter I was flying, did a perfect autorotation and landed right next to a major freeway, turned our textbook, but my heart was definitely pumping.
thommycaldwell@reddit
Was it in a 500?
MD500_Pilot@reddit
No, it was an Enstrom 280FX
thommycaldwell@reddit
Fuck, well done! How’s the inertia on that for a full down auto?
MD500_Pilot@reddit
Amazing, much better than my 500 on autos. Lots of inertia.
thommycaldwell@reddit
Interesting. Wild that you have a video of it!
MD500_Pilot@reddit
Yeah, imagine my surprise when one of my friends forwarded that. For someone to get the actual video of it was pretty cool.
VirAntiguaMike@reddit
Other pilots have been my biggest threat honestly.
Hemmschwelle@reddit
Near collisions are the only thing that disturb me. They happen too fast to register fear. But they disturb me for days.
I once saw a Pawnee right gear collapse and ground loop while I was attached to it by a 200 foot rope and flying in ground effect (glider). Averted collision. No injuries. Again no time to feel fear. I felt ecstatic for not colliding.
RogLatimer118@reddit
My CFI died in a midair an hour after my first solo. It happens.
Hemmschwelle@reddit
I'm sorry. That's terrible. At first solo I had a strong bond with my instructor.
RogLatimer118@reddit
I did, too. He had two little girls and his wife was pregnant.
Superb-Photograph529@reddit
Flaps intermittently not working. Caught it coming down and just used no flaps the rest of the day. Really thankful the issue didn't occur when flaps were fully down trying a TGL.
That or going up with a queasy stomach and having to abbreviate the flight very quickly.
Infinite-Judgment-12@reddit
My greatest fear is engine failure, on takeoff, at night
squawkingdirty@reddit
Didnt use the shitter before a 3.5hr XC and the brown rain started thundering somewhere over Albuquerque.
kingjayrod317@reddit
Time for an emergency landing
Ashamed-Charge5309@reddit
When filming for your aviation influencer channel turns to onlyfans real quick /s
Next_Juggernaut_898@reddit
Bro, wtf onlyfans are you watching?!
SadOnion7732@reddit
Where have you been dude? That shit is really poopular
FedNlanders123@reddit
Just ask Vince McMahon
Ecstatic_vagabond@reddit
Should have turned right there
40KaratOrSomething@reddit
I think he did turn right when he should have turned left!
DFVSUPERFAN@reddit
Was flying into a popular uncontrolled airport with a good restaurant on a weekend...so you can imagine. Made all the radio calls including turning final, short final and when I am about 2-5 seconds from touching down, some jerkoff who clearly wasn't listening ti the radio and didn't both checking the final approach path just keeps taxiing, blows through the hold short, pull out in front of me and starts his takeoff roll. Managed to gun it, pull up and go around and decided I wasn't dealing with that airport on that weekend, diverted elsewhere for lunch. Wish i'd gotten his tail # to report him, absolute clown.
Lamathrust7891@reddit
so far 1) looking at my bank balance. 2) the student behind me that lost sight of us in the circuit and didnt call tower
Designer_Buy_1650@reddit
A student got into a spin (no big deal) and used the technique of letting go of the yoke to recover (C172). It would have worked fine except during the entry to the departure stall, he never trimmed from cruise setting. The aircraft violently pitched over into a vertical dive. I took control, went idle with the power and recovered. We overspeeded the aircraft. I wrote it up and miraculously no damage was found.
If he had done by himself, I think he might have been a goner. That happened years ago and I still remember his name.
350RDriver@reddit
This is spicy.
draggingmytail@reddit
Almost got into a midair collision with a TBM Avenger. A CAF Avenger came to my airport (busy Class E) for what I’m assuming was a photo op and to give rides to people.
Guy was an idiot. He kept flying out of the pattern then trying to reenter on the crosswind. He tried doing this while my instructor snd I were turning crosswind. We called him out and he said he was going to do a 360 for spacing…. In the crosswind.
We lost visual for a bit and then looked over and this guy flew right under us, maybe about 10-20 ft on a perpendicular heading. Almost T-Boned us.
Thankful for my instructor there. And glad that guy never came back to the airport.
dpetngl@reddit
I had an alternator failure as a fresh PPL with about 55 hours total time. Was about 20nm away from home base during a 5hr XC - flying under MSP bravo when I noticed. Gave ATC a PAN PAN and they ended up declaring for me. Had a nice landing back at FCM with no other issues, plane got fixed up and I’ve flown it several times since with no problems.
gimp2x@reddit
shooting RNAV approach for one airport, listening to CTAF and approach, while the IAF was near another airports drop zone, one of us under hood
Dodging in and out of people under chutes is not fun
Accomplished-Bug1352@reddit
Meat missiles
Longjumping_Proof_97@reddit
Meat bombs
bobnuthead@reddit
Two stick out - Partial engine failure on my 7th ever flight lesson. Severe vibrations and landed with just enough power.
Conscious_Peace_9138@reddit
I would’ve reported or something, id been pissed
atheros@reddit
If they did, pilots would just stop seeing and avoiding. The entire layer of Swiss cheese would be gone.
If you want reliable separation, class A airspace is yours for the taking.
Austerlitz2310@reddit
Instructor and their student almost descended on top of me in the downwind when I came back for landing on my xCountry solo. Class C airport.
Not mine, but a friend. I witnessed it on the ground. One student was solo and joining the circuit in the wrong direction. Friend was with instructor in the circuit entering downwind. He nose dived when he noticed her. Thank god he did. She was completely oblivious, and even started arguing when they landed.
Same girl, flaps full in a 25 kts headwind and pulled power and flared 5m above the runway. I've never seen a shimmy on a main landing gear, but there it was... I thought for sure she was a gonner. CFI came out white as a ghost.
Friend ate something bad on our xCountry. He requested to return for landing due to a "medical reason" and went quiet for a few minutes while ATC repeatedly called. Turns out he was throwing up out the window.
Trying to remember a few more. Can't off the top of my head right now.
Ashamed-Charge5309@reddit
Seriously hope someone clipped her wings permanently for those stunts. Yesh.
Got enough "light reading" in the NTSB database of types like that already
Austerlitz2310@reddit
I know right... Amazingly she managed to get her shit together and eventually got signed off. But not after getting a bunch of extra hours in. But I never did feel comfortable flying with her in the vicinity.
When I was on my IFR check-ride, she was up on an IFR flight, and it was one hell of a day with MVFR. I was joining the downwind getting ready to turn right but was subconsciously looking left. The examiner joked "Don't worry, she's not there".
CrappyTan69@reddit
I had awesome instructor who took leave so had a fill-in. We didn't gel. Felt like I was interrupting him on this early Sunday morning.
Flying a PA-28, today we're going to do stalls and spins.
On my second, it dips a wing. I instinctively pick it up with the aileron. Instructor did not brief me not to.
She slid onto her side (the aircraft, not the instructor!) and down we went.
The instructor was slow to call my controls so he and I were unwittingly fighting each other. I was utterly panicked at this point.
The spin became crazy, over massive wheat fields with very little reference. He struggled to stop the spin. It felt like forever that we were whizzing around.
My headset had flown off in this and was flailing about in the back of the plane, held on only by the jack.
I've checked out at this point. I can see the ground getting closer and the situation remains; we're still spinning. The air frame is also making some horrendous noises.
The the spin slows and finally stops. We're going to live! I thought to myself. We're still streaking down but not spinning.
I then notice the air speed. You've got the green bands and red bands and then you have Vne. We were so far past the Vne it was confusing to my new brain.
With the ground still rushing up, he pulled us out of the dive with an urgency it deserved but, I assume, a tenderness so as to not snap the wings off.
The noise was awful. A woman screaming as airframe groaning was all around us. This was the second time I mentally checked out. We're going snap the wings off and die.
We leveled off, speed quickly bled off. We were now around 400ft agl. We had very nearly run out of space....
Wings level,I retrieved my headset and instructor calls "you shouldn't have done that. Your controls". I'm pretty sure I told him to fuck off, fly me home.
Several weeks later, I reported this to my regular and several weeks after that I heard he'd been asked not to come back. Several others had personality issues with him.
To regain composure and trust in an aircraft and the ability to get out of a mess such as that, I did a few flips in a Pitts Special. That was fun!
That's for listening to my story 😁
Few_Party294@reddit
Flying our Apache to Ohio from Kansas at night. Classic low wing descending into high wing climbing scenario. Cessna 182 comes out of nowhere and we miss each other by probably 100ft or less. Closest call I’ve ever had. He wasn’t on ADS-B, the only reason I know it was a 182 is because it was illuminated by the lights coming off my airplane.
7w4773r@reddit
And this is why over-reliance on ADS-B can be a bad thing. Not that you could’ve seen him anyway in this particular situation, but there’s more than one person in this thread saying they had a near mid-air with someone not on ADS-B. Complacency kills.
yeahgoestheusername@reddit
Hard to choose one.
Nearly had a midair with IFR traffic who turned early on crosswind during my solo.
Had tower tell us that we might be on fire when climbing out because we were streaming black smoke. Turned out to be running too rich. Landed normally.
Hit GA aircraft wake turbulence (or maybe just turbulence) on upwind about 10 hours after solo and had to use almost full rudder to keep from rolling 90.
Had about 10 minutes of continuous downdraft strong enough that I couldn’t climb.
CD-TG@reddit
About 20 years ago, in one of my first flights my young testosterone-filled flight instructor decided to show me how cool he was by "dive bombing" his parents house. I ended up making it as far as soloing, but--despite having wanted to be a pilot since I was a little kid--I never really got over the "yeah, this isn't really worth it" feeling.
RogLatimer118@reddit
Throttle stuck on full power in a Piper Cherokee (broken cable) on climbout from a short field. VFR day. Partner and I have a quick discussion and decide to declare emergency and fly to the towered field 7 miles away with a 6000' runway. Call the tower, cleared to land any runway. We're flying super fast at full throttle; up to about 1500' AGL. I'm flying and partner doing radios. I'm controlling engine (somewhat) with leaning mixture which is causing a lot of backfiring. High on half mile final; about 300' AGL I'm still high so I idle cutoff the engine and flaps down, slip it a bit, land a bit long on the runway (perfect landing) and rollout and even make the turnoff with residual speed. Came to a stop on the taxiway.
YourSpanishMomTaco@reddit
Simulated engine out & descent with student. Upon reaching recovery altitude, they applied full throttle, and that poor motor did not like that. Shook & vibrated, airspeed wasn't building, thought to myself this just turned into an actual fucking emergency. Just as I was about to say "My controls" and force land it, the vibrations stopped, and everything was fine. Flew straight home after that.
Not necessarily an emergency or anything, but this was my first time experiencing that adrenaline feeling while flying. While flying with my dad, we felt a moment of rough running. I was a new PPL. Meanwhile, my dad was a 1500+ hr weekend warrior guy. Immediately after noticing the issue, he slapped the mixture forward and fuel pump on. I felt the panic set in, but my dad handled it just fine. Decided to fly us home and analyze the entine data, both him & the company he sent the data to couldn't find any issue and just chalked it up to an unexplainable event.
Granite_burner@reddit
I lack scare reaction.
Last spring I reconfirmed that neurodivergence (my lack of survival reaction) when my engine went “POP” and started running rough cruising at 4500’. No fear reaction, just the thought “damn now we have to do the emergency things and divert.” Before I got done thinking that my passenger’s Army command pilot instructor instincts had already called “my airplane” and received my acknowledgement. Great CRM, I switched from PIC to handling nav and comms while he flew the airplane. Got vectors to nearest airport from ATC, thanks to flight following, then we couldn’t find it. Finally spotted the snow covered turf runway as we were almost overhead. Landed safely and discovered field was closed for winter and unplowed. Don’t think my pulse was ever higher than normal, know for sure there was never any shot of adrenaline.
Have previously noted similar calm response with lack of fear reaction in other intense situations, i.e. on the Watkins Glen asphalt with F1 cars at speed ten feet away and far third of track blocked by the crashed car to which I was responding. It sucks, makes it damn near impossible to satisfy my need for intensely stimulating experiences. May be why most of my hobbies are shit that will kill me if I fuck up.
Only time I’ve gotten an adrenaline hit in flight was shortly after passing my checkride, many years ago. Maneuvering for sightseeing near my old home town, first time flying in the neighborhood at the end of a long cross country. Rolled wings level to see a Piper unconfortably close. Got the startle reaction including some adrenaline from the surprise. But not really any fear, just surprise at the unexpected. In retrospect couldn’t really fault myself on anything then, thought maybe needed a clearing turn but that’s essentially what I’d just done so that would be saying I need to do a clearing turn before I do a clearing turn. Basically it was the high wing issue of blocked visibility on the side you’re turning towards, and two airplanes unexpectedly sharing a small part of the big sky. It’s probably the reason I always use flight following, and prefer to fly higher than the folks flying local scenics.
Ashamed-Charge5309@reddit
Better then over reacting, allows you to focus on more pressing matters rather then unnecessary drama so many engage in that ends up with them cork screwing into the ground, off the road, etc.
I'm similar here and noticed something similar to this when my cat got her claw stuck in some furniture and started bleeding. Removed her claw and then looked down, noticing the blood everywhere. Just jumped in and started tending to her while getting some stop bleed.
Worked for a cat rescue that would have been sobbing, wailing, calling every f'n animal hospital in a tri state area with lots of crying and "Omg omg omg".
Drama is deadly, selfish and abhorrent with so many. Watched a vehicle smash into a highway divider once then stopped in what was basically the break down lane there. Out pops the mother and daughter passenger and then the crying started. Umm.... Get back in the f'n vehicle and stay there. You are on a major highway, not a mall parking lot...
Literally. Major highway through the center of town where you count the accidents/near misses by the minute, not the month. Jumping out and having a drama cry and hug moment is not the place you do that, but you'll end up killed rather then what you just survived.
And yes, i've been in a accident before. Rode in a vehicle that spun out on a connecting off ramp to another highway and the car went on it's side. Remained cool and calm, got my brothers out then myself. That area was wide enough to bail out of the vehicle and remain safe, it was a good thing as 4-5 other vehicles spun out at the same time (but didn't tip on their side).
All it would have taken was one to hit the vehicle we were in and then you have a chain reaction going on
RandomEntity53@reddit
More than one airplane in the windscreen events 5/5 VFR weather. Local flights; no one on FF, I’m descending they are ascending. One before ADSB; one years later with ADSB.
One could say alway be on Flight Following but it’s not always practical or even possible.
Congested airspace and “see and avoid” is a statistics game.
cbosch12@reddit
Flew from KMTW (Northeast Wisconsin) to KIMT (Middle of the upper peninsula of Michigan) for dinner with friends. That part was uneventful but on the way back passing over the bay of Green Bay at night, during February, I flew into IMC. The fog had rolled in and not been on my flight briefing. Climbed above the fog and contacted ATC to find me a VFR field. Started flying west towards Wausau when it went IFR. Ended up landing in Merrill, WI just north of Wausau uneventfully. My passengers were either sleeping, chilling, or praying their rosary while I was aviating, navigating, and communicating.
When telling my friends the story I had mentioned I told ATC I was “in a bit of a pickle” as both my destination and alternate were IFR. So we determined that there should be a CFR 91.3d that says in a declared “pickle” you may disregard some of the rules.
zemelb@reddit
Not sure I could keep a straight face if I heard “Cessna 12345 declaring pickle” 😂
DrRob@reddit
Smoke in the cockpit in a Dash-8 navigation trainer 15 minutes out. Cleared straight in. I was in the jump seat and marvelled at how efficiently approach cleared a highway for us. Pilots piled onto the brakes so hard on landing that those caught fire too. Tower saw so much smoke they thought it was an engine fire. Much hilarity ensued as the fire fighters tried to find it while we hung around in shock on the edge of the runway.
Lightning strike with full fuel and a bomb bay full of armed torpedoes. During fire checks, I noticed red fluid pooling in the bomb bay. Did I mention we were IMC? Emergency fuel dump followed by an emergency overweight landing just squeaked out at PAR minimums with a hydraulic leak.
I have lots more of these...
fgflyer@reddit
Encountered some light mountain wave turbulence one time which unexpectedly progressed into me slamming into a rotor. No lenticular clouds or anything of the sort to visually indicate it. Flipped me almost 90 degrees to the left with about a half second. Scared the shit out of me but I was able to recover.
Even if you have taken a mountain flying course, never underestimate the power of mountain wave…
Next_Juggernaut_898@reddit
I was 12. August 2001. In the back seat of a Comanche. Instrument rated family friend flying. Dad with a ppl in back with me. Going to Canada. Somewhere in Minnesota hit a storm. We were following what turned out to be a king air. The pirep from king air cowboy was "we've been on better rides at great America"
Hail. Lightning. Heavy rain. Turbulence so bad my head bouncing off the headliner. Pilots son in front seat asked for barf bag. I'm white knuckling the seat. Eyes fixated on the attitude indicator as it was full imc and I had know just enough to know what side was up. Dad thought he was gonna have to explain to mom how her son died in a plane crash, then realized he'd be dead too.
Eventually we did a 180. Got out of the nastiness. Made it to destination. This was pre on board weather. But a valuable lesson learned. The pilot passed away last year. I saw him a couple years ago and we talked about that flight. He said it was the dumbest thing he ever did. I told him I was thankful for it because it's a lesson I don't have learn first hand and I've still got a story to tell.
RIP Jim. Fuck cancer.
EntroperZero@reddit
Was training in an Arrow, took off and could only climb about 100 fpm at Vy. We were departing crosswind but I called tower and came back in after like 2 miles. Checked a lot of things in the air but no dice on getting more power.
On the ground we noticed we only had about 10 gal/min of fuel flow at wide open manifold and 2700 rpm. That was too low, it turned out the fuel tank selector was just barely nudged from being fully on the left tank. I guess it partially closed a valve and restricted the fuel. Should've tried switching tanks in the air...
karantza@reddit
On one of my student solo flights, heading back to the airport from the practice area in a 172 w/G1000, I saw a blip on the map on top of the ownship indicator. I thought it was just an echo of my own ADS-B transponder until I looked closer and realized it had the tail number of one of the Warriors at our flight school, and they were only a few hundred feet above me, descending on a parallel course returning to the field. I couldn't see them because of the high wing, they couldn't see that they were descending on me presumably because of the low wing. The angles just worked out perfectly bad. I immediately sidestepped until I could see them beside me and get clear, but I think without one of us having ADS-B In, that could've ended very differently.
JimTheJerseyGuy@reddit
Two, actually. Both at night.
First, returning to my home field after a short cross country and descending to pattern altitude. As I lowered the nose, I suddenly noticed two lights directly in front of me that are rapidly moving apart. Instantly, in my head I thought “wingtip lights” and threw the plane into a steep turn to avoid a collision. A second later the illusion broke. I was looking at Jupiter rising on the horizon and another aircraft’s landing light miles away but in perfect alignment for that brief moment.
Second, flying into KACY from the north and just navigating visually down the shoreline. A nice ribbon of light underneath me from the Jersey Shore boardwalk areas, to the right tons of lights, and to the left the black hole of the Atlantic Ocean on a moonless night with a high overcast. Approach cleared me to land on 13 on my initial contact - slooow night. I duly called the tower and was told the same. But as my C172 continued to putter down the coast a flight of NJANG F16s reported in and got cleared in ahead of me. Tower asks me to make a left 360 for spacing. Sure thing. 90° into that turn, I (then a sub-100 hour VFR pilot) was in that black hole. Definitely, a “fuuuuudge” moment. Not too long after someone doing the same thing going into Ocean City, MD ploughed into the ocean.
woody90749@reddit
Coming in to North Las Vegas at night in the Seminole (tower closed) made the proper self reports. Reported final, student was flying. I swore I saw beacons flash on the ground on base turn but chalked it up to illusion (like a flicker of the runway lights or something). Well on short final we see red and green lights coming right for us didn’t have landing light on. I took the controls and made a hard right turn, we missed them by about 200-300 feet laterally, same altitude. I about shit myself. Called them out on frequency… to no avail, they either weren’t on the right frequency or weren’t bothering to make radio calls at all. NASA report filed.
HappyBappyAviation@reddit
Brief engine failure at 150 ft lol. That gave me one heckuva story...
seang239@reddit
Let’s hear it..
HappyBappyAviation@reddit
Wanted to get some landings in with my school's C150 in ND in February. It was like -5 F or something? Runup was fine, but it sputtered a bit on my first takeoff roll. Got into downwind, normal throttle reduction and it sputtered again. Pulled carb heat, normal power reduction and no carb ice indication but it was running smooth still. Shoulda listened to the airplane complain and called it full stop there but I figured it was cold and right at our soft limit for temperature on the low side but was fine otherwise once the engine warmed up a bit more.
Touched down, pushed throttle up and carb heat cold and it sputtered again during rotation. Put carb heat back in since I had plenty of performance. Sputtered again then unceremoniously went quiet. Prop was spinning but I did my engine failure memory items, push the nose over, and looked to my right where the rest of the airport was. I was on the smallest, southern runway (27L/9R). Airplane taxiing out on the big perpendicular taxiway so that was ruled out. Looked a bit further west to the next, small perpendicular runway and said "yup, that looks good enough". Start my turn and called Mayday and told them my intentions. Controller responded with "Uh, Approved". As they finished that transmission I heard the engine purring at idle again so I pushed power and banked back towards the downwind and got it back around to a landing. A friend and I after estimated the engine was out for 8 seconds based on the LiveATC tapes.
A few really good decisions probably put me in a good spot to save myself and the airplane, but definitely a few decisions that could've made it cleaner and a few decisions/oversights that could've prevented it in the first place. One thing for sure though, my training kicked into gear and gave me some confidence that I could respond to real world emergencies when it comes up again lol.
Fit-Citron-2145@reddit
Engine failure due to vaporlock. Just about ended up on the highway before I figured it out. Pro tip: In the old skyhawks make sure to run on one tank or the other (not both) above 5000ft. There's a placard for a reason I just about learned the hard way.
jtyson1991@reddit
Just last week. I was over Lake Huron (out of glide) and had just established a descent to my destination. The plane starts developing some sort of oscillation and a bang-bang-bang-bang type of sound (not loud, but impossible to ignore). I start getting a little nervous and begin troubleshooting. I add some power and pitch up a little to arrest the descent, and it goes away.
snowclams@reddit
So far nothing too crazy. Took a student up hsi first time in a school Aztec and let him take it off. About 300 feet AGL he asks if it's normal for the nose to be so heavy, I remind him to trim and he says it hasn't helped. I take the yoke and lo and behold, that sucker was FULL nose forward trim at max power. Try the trim wheel, all I feel is grinding and resistance. Called pan pan, turn it around for the crossing runway, have to have him help me on the descent because the nose was so heavy.
Turns out the part that actually moves the cable had worn down and allowed the cable to slip off the guide and under the part. Just happened to happen after we checked/set the trim holding short. Figures. Once idle on the round out it was fine, but adjustable trim exists for a reason.
Terrible-Internal374@reddit
I’ll cite three: First: I was a student pilot solo on an XC and fiddling with radios. Got a flight following alert on the old frequency and while trying to tune the new frequency I got buzzed at less than a quarter mile by an AV-8 harrier at max speed - so close that I could hear it and feel the turbulence! That was eye opening. When I got on the right frequency, the controller was stressed to say the least.
Second: still a student pilot, on a long cross country, made a bunch of mistakes and ended up VFR on top with building cloud cover and encroaching fog while flying around San Diego. I saw a hole in the clouds and immediately entered a steep turn with idle throttle and carb heat, losing altitude as quick as I could to get below the layer and make it back home. I got through the hole and successfully got under the layer. When I looked around, there was a huge mountain less than a mile away - mostly obscured by clouds.
Finally - I was a winged Naval Aviator, finished flying the T-6 and was training on the T-44, a mil king air 90. I was on leave with my dad and we went to fly his plane, a 1948 Cessna 195. I had helped with the maintenance on the plane and had flown it a lot. However, I had not done takeoffs and landings. First takeoff in the 195 I managed to get it so sideways that I scraped the sidewalls totally smooth. Dad had tens of thousands of hours, most as a bush pilot, so he was able to take the airplane and save the day. Even though I had a tail wheel endorsement and flight time in way more demanding aircraft, tail daggers are no joke, especially with no forward visibility and lots of power. If I had been the only pilot, that plane would have experienced its last ground loop. Glad dad was a bird person…
jolokia_sounding_rod@reddit
Nearly had a runway excursion in an older plane with dragging brakes. Yikes.
Dancers_Legs@reddit
I had a CFI with "bad gas" once. Stick your head in a port-a-potty during a music festival. That's what this plane smelled like for the entire flight duration.
I mentioned it to the flight school, and apparently he had done it to other people...
StarlightLifter@reddit
Nearly entered a spin as a student pilot on a maneuvering solo
AerobaticDiamond@reddit
First time experiencing the black hold illusion. I had about 70 hours and was very recently night rated. Did a cross country on a route I’d flown many times during the day and when I turned on course I realized I couldn’t see anything in front of me. VFR night with high overcast, no moon, no lights, and no horizon
de_rats_2004_crzy@reddit
For me probably having another airplane fly over me way too close for my comfort shortly after getting my PPL.
I was returning to home airport talking to tower. They had assigned me a VFR arrival and I was following it.
I was just outside of their Class D lateral boundary when another plane flew really close above me and if we had been at the same altitude I don’t think I would have noticed them in time to maneuver. I assume they never saw me as well otherwise it would have been reckless to be so close.
I was too complacent wrongfully assuming that since I was on frequency with the tower that they’d give me traffic advisories like they always do. I learned two things
spfman@reddit
Flying on an IFR plan. Weather had been marginal VFR, but was clearly becoming IFR. Controller said "Cesnna 12345, DESCEND IMMEDIATELY FOR TRAFFIC." You could hear the urgency in his voice, so we immediately pushed to an aggressive descent, before even replying. Moments later, a plane flies right over the top of us. Felt like about 100' but all I know is I got WAY too close to a midair collision that day. Never heard the other pilot on frequency, so I'm assuming he was VFR (probably in violation) and not talking to anyone. Not sure why ATC failed to provide separation. Training flight ended early that day because I was a little shaken up.
PARisboring@reddit
I'm guessing the other plane was VFR (stupidly) and you were probably in class E airspace. I don't love it but the separation requirement is basically don't let them touch. You should have received a traffic call before the situation developed and a vector or altitude to avoid if you didn't have them in sight. But it's impossible to know what the situation was.
spfman@reddit
Can confirm it was class E airspace. We never received any traffic calls before that one, and visibility was limited. 🤷♂️ Startling for sure!
THE_WIZARD_OF_PAWS@reddit
Had a similar one. Climbing out of an untowred field with my CFI to do some landings for my complex endorsement; I have controls, he keys up tower for a nearby delta for pattern work, but as soon as he's identified us (and still a few miles from their airspace) the Delta controller comes back "Cessna 2345 recommend immediate right turn for traffic." I hear the "immediate right turn" and I've never put an aircraft into a proper Commercial steep turn so fast. CFI almost took the controls too but realized there wasn't anything he could do that I wasn't already doing, so just keyed up the ack.
We never did actually see the traffic, I assume the high wing must've blocked our view, but a few moments later the controller told us no longer a factor and gave us our entry instructions.
40KaratOrSomething@reddit
Had almost the exact same thing happen, except we popped out of a cloud and saw someone climbing right at us. Hard bank out of the way. Notified ATC of the diversion due to traffic but ATC never said anything other than "roger."
pooserboy@reddit
Wheewww. Count your lucky stars
Flanked77@reddit
One of my solos last week I tried a soft field takeoff by myself.. quickly lost ground effect, gently bounced off the runway, and climbed out. Scared the shit out of me lol. Not sure what happened either because I’ve practiced them a lot and never had an issue.
jordanrice26@reddit
The 172 I fly needs aggressive nose down trim on takeoff to actually climb Vy without getting an arm workout. Once I was doing a soft field and forgot to account for that. Left ground effect way too early and was very close to stalling
adrop62@reddit
Close mid-air collision on a pre-cert solo tune-up flight.
Our towered airport had a strict 5NM check-in policy before engaging, and the check-in points varied based on the active runway; 27 - east check-in, 09 west check-in.
I went out for a crosswind tune-up before my check-ride at a nearby untowered airport, which is 10 miles southeast of my primary airport. I departed northbound and was on the 5NM SE check-in point before I checked ATIS. The airport's ATC tended to be nasty, so I circled east at 1,500 (the required altitude), checked ATIS, and neared completing my 360, a twin-engined low-wing Baron dove down from above 1,500' almost colliding with me. Fortunately, I was also in a low-wing (Piper) and spotted them, and accelerated my right turn while descending rapidly to about 700'. This was near the ocean (Florida), so I continued eastbound, collected myself before having to go to the SW checking because the winds had changed since I initially took off.
I passed my check-ride 3 weeks later.
Ok_Stable_9137@reddit
During my first solo xc I had a throttle cable fail on me. Luckily the Cheif pilot was in the air and heard my call on center (I was on flight following when this happened). Set up for a long final and killed the engine. Landed just fine.
TheTangoFox@reddit
Running out of usable fuel at midnight over a swamp.
Still made the runway with a high speed taxi to the FBO...
ParagPa@reddit
PPL student long XC, just took off from second airport after having refueled. Looked over to my left and saw fuel streaming out my wing. Called tower and got my first (and to date only) "any runway cleared to land". Turned out to be a bad gasket and they replaced the fuel cap. In hindsight not that scary but it was at the time.
Shoddy-Discount2517@reddit
Temporary total power loss. That got my attention
Ok_Airline_9182@reddit
Doing pattern work one day, there was a police helicopter off the approach end following a car chase. Tower made us both aware of each other, and both of us acknowledged. I was on short final when the car they were chasing shot across the approach path, and the helo followed without a word.
I was keeping a close eye on him and was able to get out of the way when we started converging, but it was way closer than either of us wanted to be.
RandomEffector@reddit
Hit wake turbulence on short final in the high desert on a summer day. Barely got the wheels straight enough to touch down, porpoised hard, had to do a go-around with almost no climb performance, not quite aligned to the runway... climbing out probably not much more than 30 feet over the tails of planes in parking.
Also had a head-on situation where a plane climbed just past me out of nowhere on a normal cruise. They weren't on ADSB and I was on flight following but ATC never said a word about them. So we converged at probably 200 knots and 200-300' apart. Big sky theory huh.
willBlockYouIfRude@reddit
Early days flying right seat in a 172, Flaps 30 to 10 instead of 20 while going around from a bounced landing... different muscle memory … sunk like a rock … flew it with stall horn blaring in ground effect until we had enough speed to climb again
rFlyingTower@reddit
This is a copy of the original post body for posterity:
I really haven’t had much other than engine roughness here and there but I’m curious to hear what others have experienced
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