Engine Failure!

This is a great article. I think you should go talk with the media and tell them how you saved a bad situation.

It is good to know that a fellow JC pilot has made good decision-making skills!

Thank You for making the right decisions.
 
Nice job, great ending.
One small criticism, if I may. As SOON as you realized you had a problem like that, it would be a good move to declare asap. The natural reaction of many is not to, maybe too much paperwork, yada yada. Whatever. When you declare, you put your airplane (and your certificate for the most part) in a protective cocoon, and any actions that happen after that declaration can be mitigated /absolved.
Playing devils advocate here, suppose you came in with a sputtering engine, did not declare, and the tower positions someone on the runway to depart. Then one of their passengers dash's into the lav, changing the plans for an immediate departure. You are coming in, and now may have to land on the parallel, grass, whatever. All because ATC did not know if you were having a bad day.
Worse yet, property damage, and the later court BS.
Been there, done that, got the shirt.
When it's hitting the fan, let them know right away. Every little thing can matter.
 
TallFlyer said:
A couple of thoughts:

Looking back on it it's easy to second guess one's self.
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Itchy said:
Nice job, great ending.
One small criticism, if I may. As SOON as you realized you had a problem like that, it would be a good move to declare asap.
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Yep, it's easy to second guess yourself, and even easier for us to sit behind a computer keyboard and Monday Morning QB the situation, but the only nit-pick I can think of is say the "E" word as early as possible.

Regardless...Great job staying focused and keeping cool, fantastic write up, and thanks for sharing! :beer: I particularly like the part where you mentioned feeling "mission focused" for a moment to continue...a very real and natural feeling to have and obviously one that can get a pilot into trouble. This story demonstrates the perfect antedote for that feeling and a nice example of good decision making in general, IMHO. Thanks again.
 
Itchy said:
Nice job, great ending.
One small criticism, if I may. As SOON as you realized you had a problem like that, it would be a good move to declare asap. The natural reaction of many is not to, maybe too much paperwork, yada yada. Whatever. When you declare, you put your airplane (and your certificate for the most part) in a protective cocoon, and any actions that happen after that declaration can be mitigated /absolved.
Playing devils advocate here, suppose you came in with a sputtering engine, did not declare, and the tower positions someone on the runway to depart. Then one of their passengers dash's into the lav, changing the plans for an immediate departure. You are coming in, and now may have to land on the parallel, grass, whatever. All because ATC did not know if you were having a bad day.
Worse yet, property damage, and the later court BS.
Been there, done that, got the shirt.
When it's hitting the fan, let them know right away. Every little thing can matter.
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To second what you're saying here, this is something I wrote before regarding this:

MikeD said:
I'm glad to see more and more civilian pilots willing to declare an emergency when needed, or even when unsure, rather than hold off due to some fear of "the FAA", or "paperwork." Many civilians I've seen almost need to be dragged kicking and screaming before they use the "dreaded E word." Unfortunately, many of these types of civilian pilots still exist. And, there is nothing wrong with ATC exercising some initiative and leaning-forward on a precautionary situation that could easily become an emergency.

Now, taking my flying hat off, and putting my (former and current) ARFF firefighter hat on, here are the reasons I'd want a pilot to declare an emergency if there's any reason he thinks he needs to (precautionary such as one-engine out, to the most serious). I brief this same brief to crews at forest fires when my truck is on contract as the helibase/helispot ARFF vehicle; though they normally don't have the same reservations the average GA pilot has in declaring.


- It's why I exist at the airport. It's why the fire trucks are there. It's what I'm trained to do. The trucks and station aren't just an airfield decoration. Use us.

- By expecting you (as a result of a declaring an emergency), I sometimes have more time to prepare for your arrival, rather than you impacting on the airport and I have to get the call (if I didn't witness it), bunker up in the prox gear, roll out of the station, and get to you. Add even more time to that if you've impacted outside the airfield boundary someplace.

- Even if I roll out to the ramp and stage for you, and it turns out to be a non-event, I've still gotten some good training out of it. I've been able to quickly gear up, and get out of the station; checking the time from the call-out to when I'm ready and in-place for you and being able to double-check my response times. All good training for me, even if nothing happens.

- If something does happen, I'm there. From fire suppression, to extrication/rescue, to medical. There will be a minimum delay.

- If you declare an emergency, and you see no further need for it, then cancel the emergency with ATC. Generally, I'll probably still meet you at end of runway or in parking (depending on the nature of the emergency) to make a cursory look-over of your aircraft, and depending on the jurisdiction involved, may have to formally release you from the emergency. But either is no big deal at all.

So use us. We appreciate the business.
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I am glad you are still with us. Having put down a plane myself for mechanical issues (I landed on my avatar) I will tell you the second guessing will go on for quite awhile as your own mortality sets in. I still think about mine from time to time. Just remember that you did the right thing by turning around.

Declaring an emergency is a good thing to do and doing so helped on my ordeal but people react strangly when they panic, you don't always do what you would expect.

Hopefully that will be the best landing of your life.
 
Doug Taylor said:
Amazing write up!

Great job in taking care of the situation and a great lesson for us all about decision making!
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calcapt said:
A real life drama that we can all learn from. Thank you so much for taking the time to share with us. You did a fantastic job and hopefully we all learned valuable lessons through your calm professionalism. Kudos...
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Doug and Bill, that all means a lot coming from guys like you. Free rides anytime!
trafficinsight said:
Every really stuck valve I've ever seen has bent the pushrod, which you can see from outside because it bends the shroud too, and that hasn't happened here. I've never seen anything like that! It looks like it's above where the cam would be, perhaps the cam failed in some way? Id be interested to know what you eventually find out!

Nice work!
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Hmmm, like I said, it's just the first thing that came out of my boss's mouth. What you're saying makes sense as it would seem a little odd for something like a pushrod to be able to push the cam lobe out like that. The engine is still on the airplane at this time but I'm really interested to see the insides whenever it comes off.
ASpilot2be said:
Well done CJ!

Glad you caught the problem when you did. I would hate to have a problem any further along the route.
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Don't you know it! That said I'm really looking for an excuse to put it down at Glacier Point.
Maurus said:
Good write up. Glad to hear it happened that way it happened. I thought you were in a Citation III?
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I wish! A few more engines on that one. Now, still just single engine piston stuff in AK. It kinda grows on you. Then sooner or later you can't get it off.
esa17 said:
Bravo TF...I look forward to hearing the story in person in a few days!
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You guys start class next week, right? And just you wait, pretty soon you'll have some stories of your own!
Erik1010 said:
Excellent write-up! What is the TT on the engine?
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I believe roughly 1,200, but don't quote me on that.
fholbert said:
Nice write up. Is that Juneau?
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Yup.
Itchy said:
Nice job, great ending.
One small criticism, if I may. As SOON as you realized you had a problem like that, it would be a good move to declare asap. The natural reaction of many is not to, maybe too much paperwork, yada yada. Whatever. When you declare, you put your airplane (and your certificate for the most part) in a protective cocoon, and any actions that happen after that declaration can be mitigated/absolved.
Click to expand...
Absolutely, and good point. However, that said you've got to look at the location of this specific event. I was in a non-radar environment with no one 'official' to talk to save center (whose freq I don't know off hand) and FSS (whom I can't declare to anyway). Had I had a catastrophic failure out there north of town with nowhere to go except down I would've been all over the enroute freq I was on and several people would've heard me and been able to relay back to Juneau or wherever.
Playing devils advocate here, suppose you came in with a sputtering engine, did not declare, and the tower positions someone on the runway to depart. Then one of their passengers dash's into the lav, changing the plans for an immediate departure. You are coming in, and now may have to land on the parallel, grass, whatever. All because ATC did not know if you were having a bad day.
Worse yet, property damage, and the later court BS.
Been there, done that, got the shirt.
When it's hitting the fan, let them know right away. Every little thing can matter.
Click to expand...
Again, also very good points. In this specific situation though at my first contact with the airport I had a running engine, albeit abnormally; I had no indication of an impending failure. I had already been cleared directly to the airport. In approximately 750 landings here in the past 11 months I've yet to have been issued a go-around. When the situation finally progressed to something that looked like I may have a problem making it to a runway I became pretty focused on the task at hand, namely positioning my aircraft as to maximize my chances for landing on pavement if the engine finally quit.

All that said, when you need it (and I'm not saying I didn't), use it.
MikeD said:
To second what you're saying here, this is something I wrote before regarding this:
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Again, all good points. Having done medevac duty a few times at another employer having to head down to the airport to go fly does relieve the boredom.
 
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