Almost became a statistic tonight

[X-Forces]

Good job pulling yourself out of that one!

Know your limitations people, it could happen to anyone.

Is there any paperwork or any justification of using 121.5 you have to deal with after a situation such as this one?

I don't believe so, unless of course an emergency is declared and you are given priority. I have used guard a couple of times, with no further administrative action.

 

[ClearedToTakeoff]

Printing this out and posting in the breakroom for coworkers to see.

 

[AirAlgerie]

your story is very fascinating , thanks a lot for sharing , im glad you pulled yourself out of it , your story should be published on AOPA magazine , everyone should learn from it

 

[sdfcvoh]

Printing this out and posting in the breakroom for coworkers to see.

Ditto that.... good work.

 

[Jfk-Pilot]

Thanks for sharing. Glad your okay.

 

[Number1atNumber2]

...The Cessna 140, piloted by a 2,036-hour commercial pilot, impacted terrain approximately 9 miles north of Marshall, Minnesota (KMML). Instrument meteorlogical conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The nearest weather reporting station indicated ceilings overcast at 600 feet with 5 miles visibility in mist...

That was *almost* the opening lines of an NTSB report about me, folks. Don't make the same mistakes as me. VFR-into-IMC accidents can happen to anybody. I hope somebody can learn from this story.

Here's what happened:

I flew up to Brainerd, MN on Friday to visit my grandfather for the weekend and attend a friend's wedding on Sunday. After the wedding this afternoon, I checked the weather for flying home to Nebraska. Forecasts called for marginal VFR conditions (overcast at 1200-1500 with good visibility) in southern Minnesota, rain showers, IFR through Iowa and Nebraska, with conditions beginning to clear in the early morning hours.

My plan was to fly to Sioux Falls, SD (KFSD), stop at the 24 hour FBO, hang out for a few hours, then take off again in the early morning after the rain had cleared out.

As I flew south out of Brainerd, the ceilings very gradually began dropping. Since it was forecast, I wasn't too concerned. I scooted along in Class G at about 1500 AGL, following roads and railroad tracks and cross referencing my GPS to know precisely where I was in relation to towers.

Near Willmar, MN I started getting in to mist and lower visibility. I'd say it was about 6-8 miles vis.

Soon I needed to descend to 700-800 feet AGL to stay out of the clouds. I decided the conditions no longer looked acceptable and I would divert to Marshall, MN, about 35 miles away, to sort things out. Marshall has a nice 24 hour pilot lounge and I could spend the night there if I needed to. The closer I got to Marshall, the worse the weather looked. I wanted to listen to Marshall's automated weather, but it plays over a VOR frequency and I have no VOR receiver in my plane.

12 miles to go. 10.6 miles to go. My GPS ticked off the distance. The visibility kept getting worse.

By then I was following the main highway in to town from the north, as I didn't want to get disoriented over open fields. I was at 400-500 AGL and barely staying out of the clouds.

6 miles to go. I saw a wall of grey ahead of me. "Ok, screw this, this isn't going to work at all," I said to myself as I pulled the plane in to a tight 180.

Now, looking around, the weather looked dark on all sides, and the clouds weren't getting any higher. I needed to find the clearest direction and get on the ground ASAP. I tried calling Minneapolis Flight Watch as I slowly cruised over the highway along a stretch I knew had no towers. No response from Flight Watch. I must be too low, I figured.

I thought heading north might have slightly better weather, but I wasn't sure. It looked dark. The only weather reports within radio range played over VOR frequencies, which I wasn't equipped to hear.

I considered climbing to try to get on top, but I had no idea what the tops were, nor did I think I could maintain control of the plane if I went in to IMC--it's bare bones VFR. No attitude indicator, heading indicator, or turn coordinator. Short of landing in a field, I couldn't come up with any more options.

"@#$% this," I thought. "Now is the time for 121.5 if there ever is one."

"Pan, pan, pan, this is Cessna 12345, 10 miles north of Marshall, Minnesota, anyone on frequency?"

I instantly heard a reply of, "Cessna, go ahead."

"Yes sir, Cessna 345 is circling low to the ground north of Marshall, I'm out of radio contact with anyone, the ceilings and visibility are dropping, I need to get some weather reports for the area to know which way is clearest in order to get on the ground."

"Cessna, this is Air Canada 1234, hang on, we'll get you ATC's frequency."

A few seconds later they relayed Minneapolis Center's frequency and I got in contact with the ARTCC. Center relayed a half dozen METARS for the area, told me where they showed precip on radar, tracked me on radar, and stayed in contact with me until I had Montevideo, MN's airport in sight. By the time I landed at Montevideo the ceilings were 900 overcast and about 2-3 miles visibility.

Now my plane is tied down and I'm snug as can be here in the lounge, watching the rain fall outside. I'll be here until at least sunrise.

Moral of the story--don't get complacent, don't push a bad situation, don't think you're invincible, and don't be afraid to ask for help. I certainly could have made better decisions today (maybe not taken off to begin with?) but I thought I could handle it. Obviously not. It's amazing how I'd find it ridiculous for one of my customers to attempt such a trip, yet in the back of my mind I think about how much I've flown, how well I know the area, how many similar trips I've taken, etc., and justify making a "go" decision to myself, even when I have doubts in the back of my mind.

Many thanks to the pilots who monitor Guard, and the controllers who are able to help at a moment's notice. Fly safe out there!

Glad you made it back in one piece. And kudos for getting assistance when you realized you needed it. :nana2:

 

[RICHARD5]

JRH, I commend you for confessing your predicament. I congratulate you for posting it here. It's a hard thing to portray yourself to your peers in this way. I think you've shown a great level of maturity in how you've handled the whole thing. Thank you for sharing your story.

I dare say, though, I'd expect nothing less from one with your experience.

Since I always play the 'what if' game, a question for you; what if there was no response on guard?

 

[jrh]

Is there any paperwork or any justification of using 121.5 you have to deal with after a situation such as this one?

None that I'm aware of.

Since experiencing this, are you considering now adding at least a VOR receiver and maybe an AI and TC?

Actually, no. I don't think the added financial expense would be worth the safety I'd gain. I will be more conservative about the weather I'll fly in with this machine though. I'm certainly not going to fly through extended areas of marginal VFR in the future.

Also, I'm fairly sure whenever I buy another plane it will be IFR-certified.

Since I always play the 'what if' game, a question for you; what if there was no response on guard?

Excellent question. I'm glad it never came to that, so ultimately I'll never know. However, there were numerous clear farm fields under me throughout the ordeal. I might have let down in to one of those. Definitely not an ideal action, but it's better than being dead.

 

[jwp_145]

THAT WAS INTENSE READING!!!!!

Seriously though, good story. I'm going to print it out and post it in our student weather room.

 

[Douglas]

Glad you are okay JRH. Reading that was a roller coaster ride.

Good ADM and breaking the chain!

 

[CoffeeIcePapers]

Thanks for posting, but I gotta ask:

WTF were you thinking? Why would a 2000 hour CFI even think about going into MVFR with an airplane so ill equipped for it?

Not a jab or anything, just curious as to what your thought process was.

 

[jwp_145]

Thanks for posting, but I gotta ask:

WTF were you thinking? Why would a 2000 hour CFI even think about going into MVFR with an airplane so ill equipped for it?

Not a jab or anything, just curious as to what your thought process was.

It sneaks up on those with even the best intentions... I was ferrying a 152 through Lubbock and got into a situation similar... it literally snuck up like a thief in the night.

 

[jrh]

Thanks for posting, but I gotta ask:

WTF were you thinking? Why would a 2000 hour CFI even think about going into MVFR with an airplane so ill equipped for it?

Not a jab or anything, just curious as to what your thought process was.

That's a very fair question. I was actually expecting somebody to ask it sooner. Let me break it down in to the PAVE checklist for risk assessment:

PILOT -- I was well rested, have a lot of experience in this aircraft, was familiar with the route, and have done a lot of flying low and slow in this plane. I've also done a fair amount of marginal VFR flying. I don't really see anything wrong with flying under 1000-1500 foot ceilings if the visibility is good, the weather is predictable, and like anything in flying, I have an "out." Although I didn't mention it in my first post, KMML was the "out" I planned on before taking off out of Brainerd because I knew the weather would be less predictable the closer to Sioux Falls I got.

AIRCRAFT -- I suppose I could point out that I had current sectional charts and a Garmin 196 GPS to keep close tabs on my position, even in low altitude / low visibility situations, but in my mind, VFR is VFR. What I mean is, I don't really set a distinction between being equipped for VFR versus MVFR. To me an aircraft is either equipped for VFR or IFR. I would not launch in to MVFR weather with my "out" being, "I can climb in to the clouds if things get bad," because I have an attitude indicator and turn coordinator in an otherwise VFR aircraft or something. If it's really that bad, I either need to go IFR in an IFR aircraft, or stay on the ground. Obviously I'm well aware of the fact that I'm limited to VFR conditions in my plane, but that was my plan all along, to stay in VFR conditions. I never considered the possibility of entering IMC...I doubt many pilots who get into VFR-into-IMC accidents do.

ENVIRONMENT -- The weather looked stable, aside from some rain showers to the south. The terrain is flat with few towers or obstacles along the route. I had plenty of daylight left. I would not have even considered taking this flight if the weather was unstable, there was mountainous terrain, or at night.

EXTERNAL PRESSURES -- Virtually none. In fact I turned down a passenger for this flight because I knew she needed to be at work this morning and I didn't want to have to consider her schedule. My own work has a flexible schedule and I did not have any students scheduled until 6 p.m. on Monday. I knew before I took off that there was a distinct possibility I would get stuck somewhere for a few hours, waiting for the weather to improve. I considered that to be an acceptable tradeoff for getting part-way home.


I'm certainly not perfect, but my point in starting this thread is to show how even a relatively experienced pilot can get suckered in to a bad situation. I'm so used to always being able to accomplish my mission, one way or the other, that it's a wake up call to have something like this happen.

If I had to do it all over again, what would I do differently? I would have gotten on the ground sooner, rather than try to push my way in to Marshall. Looking back on it, I had some get-there-itis for Marshall. I could see I was going to get stuck somewhere and I figured if I was going to get stuck, I wanted Marshall's nice pilot lounge to get stuck in. I kept pushing even when I should have turned around. If I couldn't find a suitable airport to divert to (fuel, pilot lounge, etc.) then I should have turned around and headed back "home" to Brainerd.

 

[CFIT99]

i had the same story as you down to a t!!!! But I was in Tulsa. I know exactly what you were thinking and everything you explained was exactly what I did. Glad you made it, only difference was I was a 250 hr comm pilot and was freaking out (on 121.5 i got a hold of a delta above me and he helped me contact Oklahoma City Approach)

 

[flyguy969]

Reading stories like this REALLY are like a little refresher course.Its good that people post their mishaps. It is, for me at least, very informative

 

[moxiepilot]

Many of us already respect you on this board; this adds more to your credibility for turning a situation around.

It's nice to see someone use aviation terminology (Pan) correctly

 

[jrh]

It's nice to see someone use aviation terminology (Pan) correctly

Ha! You know the funniest part of this? As I was calling it, I was hoping I was pronouncing it correctly. I always thought it was pronounced with a hard "a" sound, like "frying pan." That's how I called it over the radio.

But the other night on "Deadliest Catch" one of the ship captains called it with a soft "a" sound, like a "pawn" in the game of chess.

Anyone know which is correct?

 

[whichwayisup]

Good Post! Glad you're not a statistic.

 

[ozone]

But the other night on "Deadliest Catch" one of the ship captains called it with a soft "a" sound, like a "pawn" in the game of chess.

Anyone know which is correct?

Awww, it's just those pesky Alaskan accents. I saw/heard the same thing.

As a relative newbie to flying, when do you decide to use pan, pan, pan versus mayday, mayday, mayday? What's the dividing line?

 

[granlistillo]

Thanks for sharing--glad you're okay. Now file a NASA report and make aviation safer for everybody.

Ditto
Glad you're ok. Even if you never broke a regulation, or did so in an emergency, I would fill out a NASA report to improve safety. Also, before I ever put any "I learned from that story " online, might not be a bad move to cya.