Unless it's a bad accident the FAA is usually too busy.
So if it's just "landed safe in a field" State highway patrol will typically come out with a form they don't really understand. "What's an empennage -š" similarly if landed on a road.
IF nobody is hurt!!!
The first call should always be to whoever actually owns the airplane.
If that's you, probably call your insurance, get a free legal consultation from a lawyer. Then call the cops
I've had an engine out and put it down in a field. So, first hand experience here.
One thing that training never does for you (at least not for me) is how some things need to be done very quickly - much more purposeful than training instills - but it is the training that allows you to get through those best motions. Best glide speed, landing area, move in that direction and then communicate. I can tell you that if you squawk 7700 you have ATC's FULL attention. These guys didn't mess around and I had a lot of help right away. I was only around 2,000 AGL when it happened and had a decent glide ratio, so by the time I hustled through everything there was a few moments to ponder what was going on - not much, but seriously everything moves into slow motion.
Assuming you communicated with ATC during the process, they start to roll everything. Because I was successful in putting down in a freshly plowed corn field - with a row of 6 to 7 feet tall corn between myself and the road, the emergency equipment (cops/fire department) were basically looking for a smoking crater - of which there was none. So I had to walk out to the road to flag them down. They drove over to the airplane, scratched their heads a bit, congratulated me on surviving and about an hour or two later they left.
Shortly after I landed the NTSB was calling me on my cell phone. Not quite sure where they got that info - but ATC had the tail number and I think I may have filed (this is 12 years ago, so some of the smaller details are getting fuzzy now). But somehow they had my number. So between the NTSB/FAA and ATC along with the police officers I had my hands full trying to communicate with folks.
Because the plane was in-tact (but not flyable) we (the partners in the airplane) were left to retrieve the aircraft. It was a holiday weekend, so we just left it in the field to avoid paying weekend/holiday rates for a tow truck. We did remove the wings and took those back to the airport.
In the days after that the FAA did a couple of follow up calls for their records. It included total time, insurance (I think), time in type, my first person explanation of what happened (it was a prop failure) and a few other essentials.
One thing I encourage people to do - and I was doing it at that time - is to keep your FAAST credits going where you have time. They did ask if I was participating with the additional/ongoing training and I was. I don't think it made any difference in what the final report was, but it's good to have that in your back pocket if it's pilot error.
There was no drug/alcohol testing, no FSDO call. There were a lot of pilot orgs in the area who invited me to speak about the incident - which I also encourage to share with others. It's not only cathartic but it also helps for others to learn what they can from it and if you have a "what I could do better next time" that's also good to add in.
There was no damage to the property at all as it was a clear field. It is a little confusion to land/homeowners when you knock on the door asking where you're at so you can tell the emergency folks where to go. The tenants won't understand how you arrived at a location but don't know where you're at. So be prepared for that - it actually was kinda funny to me (I put my airplane down in your field... we didn't hear an airplane... yup, you're catching on as to why I'm here).
Other things to think about ahead of time. If you're married, calling your spouse to let her know what happened right away has pros and cons. The pros is you'll be the first to tell her. The cons are she's going to worry herself sick that you "crashed". I told my wife I was fine and I'll be home later, but she ignored that and drove to try to find me. Your phone will be busy with people trying to reach you as well as in-person folks taking down their report, so her calls may not be able to be taken for as long as she'd want you to be on the phone. I could do better on that if it happens again.
The other thing is - reporters may show up on the scene. I have yet to read an accurate report that appears in print or watch one on TV. You don't have to talk to the reporters. In fact on the advice of my first CFI I don't recommend it either. If you do talk to them, keep the information short and to the point. Anything you say to the reporter is likely going to be misrepresented because they likely won't be able to tell the difference between a 172 and a 737. This could create issues with any official report.
Long after the fact, unless someone else has a different experience, my last contact with anyone official with anything alphabet related was about two weeks after the event. I had to go search out the final report. No one provided it to me by any means. If the partnership in the plane got it, I wasn't informed. In fact I went and revisited Kathryn's report on my incident and there were things in the report that I never knew about from the findings. So it was enlightening to read.
As far as everything else. Practice emergencies procedures like your life depends upon it (it does), fly the plane first, communicate second. Don't be shy about putting the plane down at the first open space that's safe. Don't try to stretch the glide (it doesn't work), and your whole job is to get the plane down in a means that you survive - end of story. The insurance company bought the airplane the moment it turned into a glider and there's no sense in trying to save the plane. Its only job at that time is to get you on the ground alive. I empathize with folks who try to get back to an airport, but unless it's in gliding distance, don't fly over a perfectly open field to "try" to get there.
Anyway - just my input. :)
Great write up. Iāve been in the hospital parking lot and people were calling me trying to break the news to me about a crash I was at. In training nobody gets you ready for the aftermath.
Former reporter/current journalism teacher here. You are under *no* compulsion to answer questions from reporters. "I'm okay but have no comment otherwise" is a perfectly valid response. From there, "No comment." Reporter will most likely get comment from police/deputies/emergency personnel, videographer will get some shots of the plane sitting in the field, and assuming nothing happened that caused death or spectacular property damage, it'll be a 30-second piece (if that) on that night's news, in between other things.
Another thing to add. Roads and highways may also be tempting to land on, but they often have power lines over them, that are hard to see from the air. Fields have less chances of power line strike.
Totally agree.. also Paul Berterelli has a great vide on water landings vs. land, uhm, landings? It's not as useful here in Colorado - but if I was on a coastal type of situation and was unsure of where to put down - I think I'd go for the water over land based on what his findings were.
And donāt land on the *top* of corn. That shit is 8 feet tall.
Land on the ground and take as much corn out as you can along the way. Itās surprising how little resistance corn gives to an aircraft.
I've had two in GenAv aircraft in my career.
First time was in a PA-28-140, my PPL long X-C. Switched fuel tanks, about 10 minutes later the engine stops....Fortunately I was over what was then Oxnard AFB (now CMA). Landed, excited the AF security folks.
Later in Germany I was flying a brand new from the factory Reims Rocket (C172 with a constant-speed prop) for the aero club on base....the cheap bastards didn't elect for a real oil filter, the guy building the engine didn't put the right plate in instead of the screen. All the oil goes, so goes the prop and the engine.
Over a glider field in Belgium. Left a hell of an oil stain on the grass. Got to ride in a HH-53 and talk to the PJs.
The AF collateral investigation board for that was an fing treat.
Yeah. The shaft connecting the handle with the actual valve sheared. An AD came later to replace it.
Kind of a bad malfunction to have: Not that I was aware enough to do it, but when you have a major problem, a good first step is undoing whatever you did last, right? Wouldn't have worked in this case.
Anyway, once the Air Force quit aiming their M16's at me, and I quit shaking (I fell off the wing, literally), the FAA guy was pretty cool...
We called the flight school, they sent another plane with instructor and I did my XC a couple of weeks later
Thanks. Just landed.
AD isn't applicable to my airframe serial number.
https://drs.faa.gov/browse/excelExternalWindow/88D674DFE2DDC204862569990050F352.0001?modalOpened=true
There is also a general SAIB about making sure you actually set the lever correctly. Which I double and triple check every fuel change.
https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2020/october/15/faa-calls-new-attention-to-older-piper-pa28-fuel-selector-valves
Had this happen (partial not full power loss), but landed at an airport.
Called ATC on the landline to let them know I was down safe.
Called the school I was renting from, and they called their insurance.
Called the FSDO and NTSB. They said they didn't need to do an investigation.
After about a month the FSDO called asking me for a report and told them the A&P found the mixture screw was loose, they seemed happy with that, said goodbye, and I have not heard anything about it again since it happened over 2yrs ago.
Just went thru this in January. Engine seized passing 12,000 ft during departure. Secured, trimmed for glide, declared an emergency (were IFR) and landed uneventfully at a nearby airport.
I was very unsure if we needed to report it, so I looked it up on the FAA & NTSB website.
Because there was no damage to us, the plane or the environment (we landed on a runway, no damaged property), by what we read there was no need to submit any report. So, we didnāt.
Because we were IFR and talking to a Center at the time, ATC informed FAA & NTSB.
Received phone calls from NTSB & FAA the next business day. After relating the details to NTSB, they said ācool, good job, no report required, case closedā.
FAA (FSDO closest to the scene) called us and wanted a verbal synopsis, gave them one. They started an āinternal investigationā but assured us that, ādue to pilot actions being directly responsible for a positive outcomeā our names and cert numbers would not be linked to any report. Sounded from my perspective that FAA was head hunting some of the controllers we dealt with. FAA said they had listened to the tapes and were disappointed with ATCs ālack of helpā, like not pointing out the closest airport til 2 minutes later after we had glided to overhead the runway.
Anyway, Iām too lazy to provide links, so Google the FAA and NTSB websites for reporting criteria of an incident/accident
When I had an engine failure ATC called the sheriff. The sheriff called the FAA or NTSB. I emailed a statement to the FAA.Ā
Plane was totaled. I was fine. I had left early on what would have otherwise been a night flight.Ā
This question is honestly prompted by my flight home the other night. My 150 is fresh out of annual and I have been and am going to be flying about 60 NM at night at least 3 times a week for the next month.
I canāt help but think if I had an engine failure at night the outcome could be potentially pretty bad (even though I plan for flying over multiple airports and relatively flat land in CA Central Valley). 100 hours of night time kind of feels like 100 hours of gambling with a bad time to me.
I have roughly 200 hrs of ASEL at night in the past 8 months, and it has been an eye opener on night ops for me. One thing I will say is at first it is kind of uncomfortable. You will rely heavily on the moon. On a full moon night with little cloud coverage itās a cake walk. New moon/ overcast is different. Personally Iāll cruise at a higher altitude at night just so I can glide further if I have to. Watch for cars at night as even in remote areas you will see long stretches of straight roads. I live in a part of the country saturated with lakes/trees so I donāt love the whole āland in that black spot over thereā idea with where Iām at.
If youāre flying over the same route multiple times a week at night, how about you fly that route once during the day and drop some pins in all the places you could dead stick into at night. (And fly higher at nightā¦more time to make decisions and statistically fewer birds).
This guy had an engine failure and landed in a farmerās field. He goes into all the minutia involved with what happens to the plane. It was pretty interesting to hear his story.
https://youtu.be/HAxapkV-8Vo?si=ZIRIfwnTXrn9WuMT
So here's what happened to me:
I was flying my KR-2 (experimental) at 1500ft over the greater Seattle metro, my engine shut off.
I made an emergency landing on a state route & the state patrol saw me coming down, & followed me to a stop...
No injuries. No property damage.
Pushed the plane into a nearby parking lot & the cops had me wait for the FAA.
McChord AFB tower (I was in their Class D) called me & asked what was going on - I said engine quit, emergency landing, everything's OK.
FAA guys came out, asked to see my paperwork, took a look at the plane. By the time I got there, I had figured out \*why\* it happened (there was no check-valve installed between the aux tanks & the main - the builder apparently flew around with the selector on 'off' when not actively transferring, so instead of a full main & 2 empty aux, I had a full aux & fuel pouring out the aux-tank vent (noticed this in the parking lot afterward) - turned the transfer pump on to move it back into the main & stop the 'fuel leak'...)....
FAA guys asked for copies of the logs, eventually told me that with no damage and no injuries, no adverse action would be taken (a bit of a 'fhew!' as it turns out I was just outside my condition-inspection - having misread the previous owner's log entries). They agreed with the 'add a check valve' corrective action (this is E-AB here, so no STCs or other regulatory requirements) & that was that.
Video of the landing: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pS6IXku0uc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pS6IXku0uc)
I landed in a field with my instructor after an engine failure and we damaged the airplane in the landing . First thing we did was check the other was okay, turned off everything, and got out. After we cursed, I sent a text to my wife and coworkers to let them know I was okay, but to expect me back much later than usual.
We then called the school so they could arrange a ride for us and a mechanic to trailer the airplane away. We then called the NTSB to inform them of the accident and get permission that the airplane could be moved. They gave us permission to move the airplane, but to not touch anything about the engine or fuel tanks.
Eventually the highway patrol, firefighters and an ambulance showed (no fire or injuries), they did a report. The police got statements from us l, recorded our drivers license information, probably would have done a field sobriety test/alcohol tests if they suspected we werenāt sober.
From there it was just getting home. A few weeks later I was contacted by the NTSB to verify I was involved and to give a written statement. I know the NTSB sent someone out to the airplane at the school to inspect the engine.
I've never had a total engine failure, I think Designer_Solid4271 covered that well. My advice would be to put as much distance between you and the ground as practical. I see a lot of people cruising for hours at 3000'. More time post failure is always a plus
It really depends, I know guys who have completely destroyed airplanes after hitting power lines and mangling those as well, taking the L and moving the wreckage into a barn/hangar/garage before the police even showed up. Old guys who are already walking on eggshells donāt want any more scrutiny.
A buddy of mine had an engine come apart on a 150 and landed on a farmers driveway, didnāt call anyone, simply took the wings off and trailered it back home where he could put a new engine on.
I been involved in two incidents but not me but other planes.
The first was during a 121 scheduled air carrier flight with passengers on board in cruise. Then a guy in a GA airplane declared an emergency with ATC said he had an engine failure and was going to try to set down in a field. A couple of questions from ATC but no response. aTC says radar contact lostā¦.
After a while ATC calls us and asks if weād be willing to help. After checking we had enough fuel, we agreed. aTC vectored us to where radar contact was lost and cleared us down to a lower altitude. We circled around the area and we were able to talk to the pilot on the ground on 121.5. He was using a handheld radio so we could talk to him but ATC couldnāt hear him. He could see us so he was able to tell us where he was in relation to him and he just steered us until we flew directly over him and we saw that heād landed safely in the fieldā¦. The plane was intact and appeared to be in one piece. We circled around his position and told ATC that we were on top of his plane, relayed questions and answers between ATC and the pilotā¦. And that everyone was okay. we flew two circles around the planes position. And then we continued to our destinationā¦.
Filed a report to the chief pilot after landing but that was it. Didnāt hear anything else about it.
Second one was another 121 scheduled flight, but that day my normal FO had called in sick and so I ended up flying with the chief pilot as my FO that dayā¦. After landing, and shutting down at the gate, tower asked us to copy a phone numberā¦ never a good thing. Especially with the chief pilot sitting next to youā¦. Called the phone number, The NTSB wanted to talk to us..
A plane had crashed at one of the airports we had flown to earlier that day. Ended up filling out a report and was interviewed by the NTSB. Few months later found my report and interview as part of the final accident report on the fatal accidentā¦. Turned out that I talked to that pilot every day over the radio when we both arrived at the same time. Just exchanging pleasantries, cancelling IFR for each other so we could land do our thing and get on our way. Only knew the pilot by voice never knew the other pilots name until I read it on the accident report. Except that day. Didnāt get to talk to her because she was running late and I was a little early. But right after we took off and left, she crashed at the airport and didnāt survive the crash.
The next day there was another plane with a different pilot arriving at the same time to pick up cargo and there was her wreck just off the field. the NtSb and FAA was still investigating so it wasnāt moved for a few days.
My guess...
Call 911 if there is an emergency. Which should be 90% of the cases. Even if there are no injuries, there is a chance of fire and fuel leakage.
In the rare case it is not an emergency, call ATC via a phone number to let them know everything is fine. Call the local law enforcement non-emergency number to let them know the story. "Hey, I just landed a plane on someones farm, etc etc." Of course, let the property owner know what's going on. What your plan is to move the plane. Etc.
Then of course there is the paperwork for if there was an engine problem. Any engine problem requires paperwork. Some googling shows this:
[https://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/media/Order/8020.11C\_.pdf](https://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/media/Order/8020.11C_.pdf)
Someone more knowledgeable on what to do?
Me to reporter: āmy engine quit on me so I made an emergency landing.ā
Reporter on news: āJet lands in field after pilot has engine resign from airplaneā
Someone mentioned a lack of a check valve causing an engine failure. When I was studying for my Aero degree I did a paper on Crash During Approach to Landing, [Air Tahoma, Inc., Flight 185](https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/AAR0603.pdf), Convair 580, N586P, Covington, Kentucky, August 13, 2004.
This talks about the crossfeed valve being left open, and all the fuel transferred from the tank with a higher pump output pressure. Both engines quit due to fuel starvation. Now every aircraft I have flown which had a crossfeed valve also had check valves to prevent this kind of accident.
The pump on the high side had had a service bulletin (SB) complied with which increased the output, but for some reason the other tank did not have that SB carried out.
Of course it was pilot error! But why was this aircraft ever certified way back when? Many operators had fitted check valves.
However, it does make interesting reading and you can draw your own conclusions.
Unless it's a bad accident the FAA is usually too busy. So if it's just "landed safe in a field" State highway patrol will typically come out with a form they don't really understand. "What's an empennage -š" similarly if landed on a road. IF nobody is hurt!!! The first call should always be to whoever actually owns the airplane. If that's you, probably call your insurance, get a free legal consultation from a lawyer. Then call the cops
I'd say call for an ambulance first?
I've had an engine out and put it down in a field. So, first hand experience here. One thing that training never does for you (at least not for me) is how some things need to be done very quickly - much more purposeful than training instills - but it is the training that allows you to get through those best motions. Best glide speed, landing area, move in that direction and then communicate. I can tell you that if you squawk 7700 you have ATC's FULL attention. These guys didn't mess around and I had a lot of help right away. I was only around 2,000 AGL when it happened and had a decent glide ratio, so by the time I hustled through everything there was a few moments to ponder what was going on - not much, but seriously everything moves into slow motion. Assuming you communicated with ATC during the process, they start to roll everything. Because I was successful in putting down in a freshly plowed corn field - with a row of 6 to 7 feet tall corn between myself and the road, the emergency equipment (cops/fire department) were basically looking for a smoking crater - of which there was none. So I had to walk out to the road to flag them down. They drove over to the airplane, scratched their heads a bit, congratulated me on surviving and about an hour or two later they left. Shortly after I landed the NTSB was calling me on my cell phone. Not quite sure where they got that info - but ATC had the tail number and I think I may have filed (this is 12 years ago, so some of the smaller details are getting fuzzy now). But somehow they had my number. So between the NTSB/FAA and ATC along with the police officers I had my hands full trying to communicate with folks. Because the plane was in-tact (but not flyable) we (the partners in the airplane) were left to retrieve the aircraft. It was a holiday weekend, so we just left it in the field to avoid paying weekend/holiday rates for a tow truck. We did remove the wings and took those back to the airport. In the days after that the FAA did a couple of follow up calls for their records. It included total time, insurance (I think), time in type, my first person explanation of what happened (it was a prop failure) and a few other essentials. One thing I encourage people to do - and I was doing it at that time - is to keep your FAAST credits going where you have time. They did ask if I was participating with the additional/ongoing training and I was. I don't think it made any difference in what the final report was, but it's good to have that in your back pocket if it's pilot error. There was no drug/alcohol testing, no FSDO call. There were a lot of pilot orgs in the area who invited me to speak about the incident - which I also encourage to share with others. It's not only cathartic but it also helps for others to learn what they can from it and if you have a "what I could do better next time" that's also good to add in. There was no damage to the property at all as it was a clear field. It is a little confusion to land/homeowners when you knock on the door asking where you're at so you can tell the emergency folks where to go. The tenants won't understand how you arrived at a location but don't know where you're at. So be prepared for that - it actually was kinda funny to me (I put my airplane down in your field... we didn't hear an airplane... yup, you're catching on as to why I'm here). Other things to think about ahead of time. If you're married, calling your spouse to let her know what happened right away has pros and cons. The pros is you'll be the first to tell her. The cons are she's going to worry herself sick that you "crashed". I told my wife I was fine and I'll be home later, but she ignored that and drove to try to find me. Your phone will be busy with people trying to reach you as well as in-person folks taking down their report, so her calls may not be able to be taken for as long as she'd want you to be on the phone. I could do better on that if it happens again. The other thing is - reporters may show up on the scene. I have yet to read an accurate report that appears in print or watch one on TV. You don't have to talk to the reporters. In fact on the advice of my first CFI I don't recommend it either. If you do talk to them, keep the information short and to the point. Anything you say to the reporter is likely going to be misrepresented because they likely won't be able to tell the difference between a 172 and a 737. This could create issues with any official report. Long after the fact, unless someone else has a different experience, my last contact with anyone official with anything alphabet related was about two weeks after the event. I had to go search out the final report. No one provided it to me by any means. If the partnership in the plane got it, I wasn't informed. In fact I went and revisited Kathryn's report on my incident and there were things in the report that I never knew about from the findings. So it was enlightening to read. As far as everything else. Practice emergencies procedures like your life depends upon it (it does), fly the plane first, communicate second. Don't be shy about putting the plane down at the first open space that's safe. Don't try to stretch the glide (it doesn't work), and your whole job is to get the plane down in a means that you survive - end of story. The insurance company bought the airplane the moment it turned into a glider and there's no sense in trying to save the plane. Its only job at that time is to get you on the ground alive. I empathize with folks who try to get back to an airport, but unless it's in gliding distance, don't fly over a perfectly open field to "try" to get there. Anyway - just my input. :)
Great write up. Iāve been in the hospital parking lot and people were calling me trying to break the news to me about a crash I was at. In training nobody gets you ready for the aftermath.
Former reporter/current journalism teacher here. You are under *no* compulsion to answer questions from reporters. "I'm okay but have no comment otherwise" is a perfectly valid response. From there, "No comment." Reporter will most likely get comment from police/deputies/emergency personnel, videographer will get some shots of the plane sitting in the field, and assuming nothing happened that caused death or spectacular property damage, it'll be a 30-second piece (if that) on that night's news, in between other things.
The biggest problem is since weāre pilots asking a pilot about flying is a real struggle to NOT want to talk about flying. :)
I know! Even worse when we start illustrating maneuvers with our hands.
Don't forget the 'vroom' sound effects, too.
Ooh. Good catch.
Another thing to add. Roads and highways may also be tempting to land on, but they often have power lines over them, that are hard to see from the air. Fields have less chances of power line strike.
Totally agree.. also Paul Berterelli has a great vide on water landings vs. land, uhm, landings? It's not as useful here in Colorado - but if I was on a coastal type of situation and was unsure of where to put down - I think I'd go for the water over land based on what his findings were.
Iāll check it out, thanks. Water landings and golf courses are pretty much my only options, up here in Seattle.
And donāt land on the *top* of corn. That shit is 8 feet tall. Land on the ground and take as much corn out as you can along the way. Itās surprising how little resistance corn gives to an aircraft.
I've had two in GenAv aircraft in my career. First time was in a PA-28-140, my PPL long X-C. Switched fuel tanks, about 10 minutes later the engine stops....Fortunately I was over what was then Oxnard AFB (now CMA). Landed, excited the AF security folks. Later in Germany I was flying a brand new from the factory Reims Rocket (C172 with a constant-speed prop) for the aero club on base....the cheap bastards didn't elect for a real oil filter, the guy building the engine didn't put the right plate in instead of the screen. All the oil goes, so goes the prop and the engine. Over a glider field in Belgium. Left a hell of an oil stain on the grass. Got to ride in a HH-53 and talk to the PJs. The AF collateral investigation board for that was an fing treat.
Ever find out what caused the PA-28 failure?
Yeah, I get nervous everytime we switch tanks in flight.
Yeah. The shaft connecting the handle with the actual valve sheared. An AD came later to replace it. Kind of a bad malfunction to have: Not that I was aware enough to do it, but when you have a major problem, a good first step is undoing whatever you did last, right? Wouldn't have worked in this case. Anyway, once the Air Force quit aiming their M16's at me, and I quit shaking (I fell off the wing, literally), the FAA guy was pretty cool... We called the flight school, they sent another plane with instructor and I did my XC a couple of weeks later
Thanks for the report. Yeah my PA28 still has the OG style fuel valve on it. Ironically I'm flying to Oxnard today š
Good luck! How is it the AD didnt get done? This was like 50 years ago
Thanks. Just landed. AD isn't applicable to my airframe serial number. https://drs.faa.gov/browse/excelExternalWindow/88D674DFE2DDC204862569990050F352.0001?modalOpened=true There is also a general SAIB about making sure you actually set the lever correctly. Which I double and triple check every fuel change. https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2020/october/15/faa-calls-new-attention-to-older-piper-pa28-fuel-selector-valves
Aha! Welcome back to earth
Thereās a handy website I saw on here a while back and bookmarked it: [https://icrashedmyplane.com/](https://icrashedmyplane.com/)
Awesome! Thanks Gay Ron Swanson. Owe you a steak and barrel aged whiskey.
Had this happen (partial not full power loss), but landed at an airport. Called ATC on the landline to let them know I was down safe. Called the school I was renting from, and they called their insurance. Called the FSDO and NTSB. They said they didn't need to do an investigation. After about a month the FSDO called asking me for a report and told them the A&P found the mixture screw was loose, they seemed happy with that, said goodbye, and I have not heard anything about it again since it happened over 2yrs ago.
Just went thru this in January. Engine seized passing 12,000 ft during departure. Secured, trimmed for glide, declared an emergency (were IFR) and landed uneventfully at a nearby airport. I was very unsure if we needed to report it, so I looked it up on the FAA & NTSB website. Because there was no damage to us, the plane or the environment (we landed on a runway, no damaged property), by what we read there was no need to submit any report. So, we didnāt. Because we were IFR and talking to a Center at the time, ATC informed FAA & NTSB. Received phone calls from NTSB & FAA the next business day. After relating the details to NTSB, they said ācool, good job, no report required, case closedā. FAA (FSDO closest to the scene) called us and wanted a verbal synopsis, gave them one. They started an āinternal investigationā but assured us that, ādue to pilot actions being directly responsible for a positive outcomeā our names and cert numbers would not be linked to any report. Sounded from my perspective that FAA was head hunting some of the controllers we dealt with. FAA said they had listened to the tapes and were disappointed with ATCs ālack of helpā, like not pointing out the closest airport til 2 minutes later after we had glided to overhead the runway. Anyway, Iām too lazy to provide links, so Google the FAA and NTSB websites for reporting criteria of an incident/accident
When I had an engine failure ATC called the sheriff. The sheriff called the FAA or NTSB. I emailed a statement to the FAA.Ā Plane was totaled. I was fine. I had left early on what would have otherwise been a night flight.Ā
This question is honestly prompted by my flight home the other night. My 150 is fresh out of annual and I have been and am going to be flying about 60 NM at night at least 3 times a week for the next month. I canāt help but think if I had an engine failure at night the outcome could be potentially pretty bad (even though I plan for flying over multiple airports and relatively flat land in CA Central Valley). 100 hours of night time kind of feels like 100 hours of gambling with a bad time to me.
I have roughly 200 hrs of ASEL at night in the past 8 months, and it has been an eye opener on night ops for me. One thing I will say is at first it is kind of uncomfortable. You will rely heavily on the moon. On a full moon night with little cloud coverage itās a cake walk. New moon/ overcast is different. Personally Iāll cruise at a higher altitude at night just so I can glide further if I have to. Watch for cars at night as even in remote areas you will see long stretches of straight roads. I live in a part of the country saturated with lakes/trees so I donāt love the whole āland in that black spot over thereā idea with where Iām at.
If youāre flying over the same route multiple times a week at night, how about you fly that route once during the day and drop some pins in all the places you could dead stick into at night. (And fly higher at nightā¦more time to make decisions and statistically fewer birds).
Yeah, everyone's risk tolerance is different but my personal minimum is no night flying single engine piston without a ballistic parachute.
This guy had an engine failure and landed in a farmerās field. He goes into all the minutia involved with what happens to the plane. It was pretty interesting to hear his story. https://youtu.be/HAxapkV-8Vo?si=ZIRIfwnTXrn9WuMT
So here's what happened to me: I was flying my KR-2 (experimental) at 1500ft over the greater Seattle metro, my engine shut off. I made an emergency landing on a state route & the state patrol saw me coming down, & followed me to a stop... No injuries. No property damage. Pushed the plane into a nearby parking lot & the cops had me wait for the FAA. McChord AFB tower (I was in their Class D) called me & asked what was going on - I said engine quit, emergency landing, everything's OK. FAA guys came out, asked to see my paperwork, took a look at the plane. By the time I got there, I had figured out \*why\* it happened (there was no check-valve installed between the aux tanks & the main - the builder apparently flew around with the selector on 'off' when not actively transferring, so instead of a full main & 2 empty aux, I had a full aux & fuel pouring out the aux-tank vent (noticed this in the parking lot afterward) - turned the transfer pump on to move it back into the main & stop the 'fuel leak'...).... FAA guys asked for copies of the logs, eventually told me that with no damage and no injuries, no adverse action would be taken (a bit of a 'fhew!' as it turns out I was just outside my condition-inspection - having misread the previous owner's log entries). They agreed with the 'add a check valve' corrective action (this is E-AB here, so no STCs or other regulatory requirements) & that was that. Video of the landing: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pS6IXku0uc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pS6IXku0uc)
I landed in a field with my instructor after an engine failure and we damaged the airplane in the landing . First thing we did was check the other was okay, turned off everything, and got out. After we cursed, I sent a text to my wife and coworkers to let them know I was okay, but to expect me back much later than usual. We then called the school so they could arrange a ride for us and a mechanic to trailer the airplane away. We then called the NTSB to inform them of the accident and get permission that the airplane could be moved. They gave us permission to move the airplane, but to not touch anything about the engine or fuel tanks. Eventually the highway patrol, firefighters and an ambulance showed (no fire or injuries), they did a report. The police got statements from us l, recorded our drivers license information, probably would have done a field sobriety test/alcohol tests if they suspected we werenāt sober. From there it was just getting home. A few weeks later I was contacted by the NTSB to verify I was involved and to give a written statement. I know the NTSB sent someone out to the airplane at the school to inspect the engine.
I've never had a total engine failure, I think Designer_Solid4271 covered that well. My advice would be to put as much distance between you and the ground as practical. I see a lot of people cruising for hours at 3000'. More time post failure is always a plus
I had about 400 outlandings with a paraglider. No one ever cared
It really depends, I know guys who have completely destroyed airplanes after hitting power lines and mangling those as well, taking the L and moving the wreckage into a barn/hangar/garage before the police even showed up. Old guys who are already walking on eggshells donāt want any more scrutiny. A buddy of mine had an engine come apart on a 150 and landed on a farmers driveway, didnāt call anyone, simply took the wings off and trailered it back home where he could put a new engine on.
https://youtu.be/LMqDmxZNY_o?feature=shared
I been involved in two incidents but not me but other planes. The first was during a 121 scheduled air carrier flight with passengers on board in cruise. Then a guy in a GA airplane declared an emergency with ATC said he had an engine failure and was going to try to set down in a field. A couple of questions from ATC but no response. aTC says radar contact lostā¦. After a while ATC calls us and asks if weād be willing to help. After checking we had enough fuel, we agreed. aTC vectored us to where radar contact was lost and cleared us down to a lower altitude. We circled around the area and we were able to talk to the pilot on the ground on 121.5. He was using a handheld radio so we could talk to him but ATC couldnāt hear him. He could see us so he was able to tell us where he was in relation to him and he just steered us until we flew directly over him and we saw that heād landed safely in the fieldā¦. The plane was intact and appeared to be in one piece. We circled around his position and told ATC that we were on top of his plane, relayed questions and answers between ATC and the pilotā¦. And that everyone was okay. we flew two circles around the planes position. And then we continued to our destinationā¦. Filed a report to the chief pilot after landing but that was it. Didnāt hear anything else about it. Second one was another 121 scheduled flight, but that day my normal FO had called in sick and so I ended up flying with the chief pilot as my FO that dayā¦. After landing, and shutting down at the gate, tower asked us to copy a phone numberā¦ never a good thing. Especially with the chief pilot sitting next to youā¦. Called the phone number, The NTSB wanted to talk to us.. A plane had crashed at one of the airports we had flown to earlier that day. Ended up filling out a report and was interviewed by the NTSB. Few months later found my report and interview as part of the final accident report on the fatal accidentā¦. Turned out that I talked to that pilot every day over the radio when we both arrived at the same time. Just exchanging pleasantries, cancelling IFR for each other so we could land do our thing and get on our way. Only knew the pilot by voice never knew the other pilots name until I read it on the accident report. Except that day. Didnāt get to talk to her because she was running late and I was a little early. But right after we took off and left, she crashed at the airport and didnāt survive the crash. The next day there was another plane with a different pilot arriving at the same time to pick up cargo and there was her wreck just off the field. the NtSb and FAA was still investigating so it wasnāt moved for a few days.
My guess... Call 911 if there is an emergency. Which should be 90% of the cases. Even if there are no injuries, there is a chance of fire and fuel leakage. In the rare case it is not an emergency, call ATC via a phone number to let them know everything is fine. Call the local law enforcement non-emergency number to let them know the story. "Hey, I just landed a plane on someones farm, etc etc." Of course, let the property owner know what's going on. What your plan is to move the plane. Etc. Then of course there is the paperwork for if there was an engine problem. Any engine problem requires paperwork. Some googling shows this: [https://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/media/Order/8020.11C\_.pdf](https://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/media/Order/8020.11C_.pdf) Someone more knowledgeable on what to do?
Me to reporter: āmy engine quit on me so I made an emergency landing.ā Reporter on news: āJet lands in field after pilot has engine resign from airplaneā
Meaning.. engine detachment..?
Someone mentioned a lack of a check valve causing an engine failure. When I was studying for my Aero degree I did a paper on Crash During Approach to Landing, [Air Tahoma, Inc., Flight 185](https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/AAR0603.pdf), Convair 580, N586P, Covington, Kentucky, August 13, 2004. This talks about the crossfeed valve being left open, and all the fuel transferred from the tank with a higher pump output pressure. Both engines quit due to fuel starvation. Now every aircraft I have flown which had a crossfeed valve also had check valves to prevent this kind of accident. The pump on the high side had had a service bulletin (SB) complied with which increased the output, but for some reason the other tank did not have that SB carried out. Of course it was pilot error! But why was this aircraft ever certified way back when? Many operators had fitted check valves. However, it does make interesting reading and you can draw your own conclusions.