FlyingSafely.Com
A Bad Situation
Thankfully, A Good Outcome
The reason we share our mistakes and oversights
at flyingsafely.com is so that other pilots can be armed with information that
will make them safer pilots. We can all learn from each other. The pilot in the
following story wants to help make you a safer pilot by sharing his experience.
Well, Larry, I have
another one for you. Perhaps I even need a good reprimand for this one. But
if this story helps scare even one of your students from doing something stupid,
then I'll send it just in case.
Here is my week. The week starting March 16, 2003.
Sunday night, I was on my way back to Indianapolis IN, from Marshall, MN. There
was one change in plans. Having my plane for sale, I stopped by the Rushford
airport to show it to the airport management. When I got there, the weather was
bad, but unpredicted. I talked to the briefer, and he informed me of this popup
thunderstorm was very small, and in a few minutes, I should be able to fly
around it. I waited, and took off. As I reached Wisconsin, my plane jumped and
lost power. I realized that somehow I'd lost a cylinder. Fortunately, fears of
this had left me in a situation of knowing where I was. I quickly glided to the
nearest airport(PVB) in Platteville Wisconsin. I called home, and my parents
came and picked me up.
At this point, I had my plane fixed, and returned to pick it up on Wednesday. I
was very much in a hurry to get home, which led to some very stupid decisions.
First of all, the weather was predicted to be at VFR absolute minimums, which I
was willing to fly in during daylight hours. After speeding to get to the
plane, it was too late, and dark. I stayed the night, and waited for absolute
minimums the next day, which came at 3:00 in the afternoon. I took off, and
could see about three miles haze. The weather was reporting 3 miles in Dubuque
with 500 ft ceilings. I took off, and things were going great. I was headed
for Waterloo Iowa where weather was 5 miles and 1200 ft ceilings.
Because of the promised increase in weather conditions, I flew into worse then
VFR minimums. Finally I was getting a little nervous. I'd been flying at
treetop level, and couldn't see more than a fourth of a mile. Very bad
situation, and ahead, the fog was getting worse. I finally turned around. As I
progressed back toward the nearest airport, I noticed that my path had filled in
with fog. I started making circles where I knew there were no towers looking
desperately for a way out. There was none. I was in a pocket with a mile
visibility, and surrounded by less than a quarter of a mile. For 20 minutes I
flew around less than 50 feet off the ground looking for an out. There was
none. I was within 5 miles of the nearest airport, and couldn't get there. If
I climbed, I couldn't get back down, if I stayed low, it would have been very
likely I'd have smacked into something. Desperate for options, I'd began to
look around. Dubuque was reporting 3 miles still, but it had just dropped to
2.5.
As I was making a decision of what to do, I spotted a nice field below suitable
for a landing and a take off. I made a low pass to be sure it was safe, and on
the second pass, I set the plane safely down. The farmer who owned the field
saw me land and began walking out to meet me. When I met him, I explained what
happened, and he was happy that he had a suitable field for me to land.
I walked back with him to his yard, and called for my parents to come and rescue
me once again, since they were only a couple hours away. While I waited, I
offered to help the farmer milk his cows. It was the first time I'd ever milked
cows, and I also was able to help pull a newborn baby calf from his mother.
As we began milking cows, the sheriff called, worried that I was a terrorist.
They were not nice, and not understanding of my situation at all. I think they
would have rather I crashed by the way they treated me. A couple hours later, I
received a call from the FAA. To start out the conversation, he informed me
that he was the bad guy, and based on the sheriffs testimony I was going to be
in trouble. I was very honest with him, and told him every detail of what had
happened. I had all of the details, including times, and Information Foxtrot
from Dubuque the nearest reporting station reporting legal visibilities. At
that point, the FAA agent told me of some stories from others in these
situations. Then he congratulated me. He said based on what I had told him,
and aside from the fact that I should have stayed on the ground, I did the right
thing. He would like a report, but no further action will be taken.
I was in a hurry to get home, but may not have made it at all. I was lucky this
time, and fortunately much wiser.
Thanks Larry, for all that you do,
Brad Louwagie
Brad, thank you for your candor in
sharing this incident to our pilots at FlyingSafely. After some poor choices,
you made a good choice to land under control. Congratulations on doing the
precautionary landing. If you get some time, which of the hazardous attitudes do
you think led to your situation? We will all learn from your experience. Keep
flying safely. Editor
