Worst inflight situation!

Engine failure on final. Also had one on departure leaving for Oshkosh. Not a total failure like the one on final but just a loss of power.
 
Vacuum failure in IMC - check
Electrical failure at night in an RG - check
Smoke in the cockpit - check
Lost a critical engine for real in a 310 - check



None of them were fun but the worst I've had was when a student puked in the 150 we were flying and while trying to lurch out the window he lost his glasses.
 
Flying through turbulence and trying to pee in one those handy jons little red jugs while no auto pilot. Needless to say I had to change clothes when I get where I was going!
 
Freakin' navigator stealing my lunch on a long over-the-pond mission. Glad we got rid of those fools!!!

Actually, having some fool try and kill me going into Germany in the middle of a freak storm. I really thought I was going home in a box. In the words of the German airplane that tried the approach after us:

Departure "Reach XXXX say conditions on final..."
Reach XXXX "I have never been so scared in my life..."
 
Flew a leg for 2.9 with no AP and no glass :sarcasm:

Haven't had anything go wrong (knock on wood)
 
Scariest "act of God" definitely turbulence in various types of thunderstorm. You cruise in saying "I've done this a hundred times before" and you cruise out making deals with God. You never really get used to it.

Most legitimately dangerous? Partial engine failure in a 210 just after takeoff. Smoke pouring from the panel of a 210 just after takeoff in IMC. Deliberately shut one down in an MU-2 once due to a bad fire loop, but that was actually a total nonevent. Nice to have two of them.

The scariest things I've had happen in airplanes are things I did to myself...
 
The snap of the cloth covering on the Cap 10 on my first, unbriefed, snap roll. Now I knew what a snap roll was, but I didn't know it would sound like my wings were cracking when I did it.
 
1. Having my own bag hit me in the head, when doing zero gravity.
2. Finding out that the little john was almost full.
3. Flying a multi on three different occasion having the engine quit on me.
4. Spilling my drink all over my charts.

Just the little things.
 
I've had a handful of times that have given me a dry mouth and increased heart rate. Most have come as a result of exercising poor judgment with regard to weather.

Lessons learned:

Don't fly in to thunderstorms.
Don't fly in to ice.
Don't fly VFR in to IMC.
Don't try to land in strong crosswinds.

Thankfully a little skill and a little luck has always gotten me home safely.
 
Electrical short/smoke in the cockpit on like my 3rd or 4th solo while I was doing my private license...
 
Flying full fare biz class KLM on the way to Amsterdam, sitting next to a nice looking FA who was commuting, and having a nice conversation possibly leading to a some time together in AMS, but having to get on my way to South Africa due to business commitments.

And yeah, I know that they know who paid full fare (my company did), but if that works to my advantage, I'm not complaining. ;)

Oh, and a nose gear collapse in a Seminole (then a gear warning light on the very next flight in a different Seminole), a main gear wheel departing the aircraft in an old taildragger, a dual magneto failure in a different old taildragger (still scratching my head over that one), multiple electrical failures in 172's, and trying to do a chandelle in a Cherokee 140.
 
The seat back TV was broken and the only channel that would play was CSI Miami. I had to watch David Caruso try to act for 5 hours.

This video gives me PTSD type flashbacks.
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I hate that guy so much
 
Catastrophic disintegration of a belt driven vacuum pump that shredded the cowling with shrapnel and took a large chunk out of the prop.
 
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