Something I never want to see again...

juxtapilot

juxtapilot

Snowflake
Last night I was just about ready for takeoff and announced on the CTAF that we were departing the airport. There was traffic on about a 6 mile final who just announced he was coming in for a landing. Just after I finished the CTAF report he came back "Please don't depart, I'm running low on fuel and need the runway." We had plenty of time to get off the runway, but just stuck around anyway. A minute or two later the pilot got on the radio and said that he wasn't going to make the runway and was going to try to land in a field.

I wasn't sure if he would make it or not. The view of him passing below the treeline was sickening. There weren't a lot of fields out there but he made it right into a nice little spot of grass. About an hour later center let us know that everyone made it out okay, so that was a relief.

That was not a fun thing to witness...
 
Wow, not cool. Glad everyone was okay, but I bet that was not a fun thing to witness.
 
A lot of fuel mismanagement recently. There was a 182 that ran out of fuel on its way to PDK on Monday and ended up in a backyard a mile or less east of the airport. Luckily nobody was hurt on the ground and everyone made it out.
 
Definitely interesting.

I right up on the runway one day as an airplane with an engine failure landed about 50 feet short.
 
It's one thing to read about something like this, but to see it happen must have been awful. Especially know you are helpless.. Glad everyone made it out ok.
 
I can only imagine how awful that must have been.

After reading the thread yesterday, I had a dream that I witnessed a plane crash. I blame juxta...............:cwm27:
 
Having to make an emergency landing due to lack of remaining fuel has got to be a horrible feeling because you know it's your fault (unless your loosing fuel or something that wasn't due to poor planning). At night, I'm sure it's compounded ten fold.
 
Calvin and Hobbs Meter said:
Having to make an emergency landing due to lack of remaining fuel has got to be a horrible feeling because you know it's your fault (unless your loosing fuel or something that wasn't due to poor planning). At night, I'm sure it's compounded ten fold.
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The feeling? Or it being your fault?
 
guywhoflies said:
I can only imagine how awful that must have been.

After reading the thread yesterday, I had a dream that I witnessed a plane crash. I blame juxta...............:cwm27:
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Sorry! :D

Kinda funny story... While flying the other day myself and the capt were discussing the crash... He said "lucky they didn't have more fuel" (thinking the fuel prevented any fire), I laughed... He did too after he realized what he said!
 
Calvin and Hobbs Meter said:
Having to make an emergency landing due to lack of remaining fuel has got to be a horrible feeling because you know it's your fault (unless your loosing fuel or something that wasn't due to poor planning). At night, I'm sure it's compounded ten fold.
Click to expand...

I remember when I was teaching 141 we really didn't get to do a lot of night flights in their private pilot training. I always tried my hardest to train on a new moon to really drive planning and situation awareness at night into them. Worked quite well, I had one student get lucky and get a full moon night. Unfortunately he didn't quite get the point when he could see every road and every field.

Still teach: Cars = Ground Based Landing Lights.... aim for the red, watch where the white is going.
 
My guess is that the real reason the inbound didn't want you to depart was so that someone would be around to call in the emergency response. I'm glad you stuck around, Juxtapilot. If that landing had ended more tragically, you were the only one in a position to get out a rapid response and potentially save some lives.

Back in the mid '80s I had a pilot report inbound to El Paso from west of the Franklin Mountains, so he was below my radar coverage. I asked for a position report and got, "Just passing Cielo Dorado (Estates Airport—TA50)". Well, it wasn't more than a minute later when I got, "Mayday, Mayday, Mayday—Cessna 12345 out of fuel and going down."

I asked the pilot if he could make it back to TA50, but he replied in the negative. And because we didn't have the ability to "see" west of the Franklins using Center's long range radar back then (we do now), I wasn't in a position to call up the EOVM and guide him to a spot to put down. Fortunately, he managed to land on the Country Club Golf Course (about three miles south southeast of Cielo Dorado Estates).
 
glad to hear they made it out alive! Not to arm chair QB but if you knew you were running out of gas, why wouldn't you climb? I've never had a fuel issue flying, however if I got to the point where I thought I wasn't going to make the airport, I'd get that airplane as high as I possibly could. Again that's just me being an armchair QB though
 
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