Contents

Emergency Landings
Canceling the flight makes the premiere example of a safe emergency landing. The next best is a precautionary landing made while you still have visibility, fuel, and an engine. This precautionary landing at least gives you choices that might otherwise be unavailable.

Planning your flight as an airport vicinity route is a part of every emergency preparation. You want to know where the airports are. Make your arrival at an emergency field/airport on as nearly a normal at-the-numbers position as you can. Avoid the tendency to stay too close or high.

An Emergency Cause Found
(Letter to AOPA Pilot magazine
Re: "Practice Makes Perfect article" by Marc E. Cook
I have always upgraded your title to, "It takes practice of the right kind, makes perfect." In August of 1981 while on my way to Oshkosh I had a similar engine failure in a C-150. Until reading the analysis of probable cause in the Tri-Pacer, I have had no idea as to what could have initiated the failure and how my illogical last-resort action restarted the engine.

My tendency is to make a short story long, so bear with me. A few years prior to the incident my family and I were returning from a B-29 reunion in Kentucky. We were unexpectedly surrounded by thunderstorms and took ATC direction into the Virburnnum, Missouri airport. Virburnnum is southwest of St Louis. Absolutely nothing there. A helpful passerby rendered us aid.

I was returning to render additional thanks when I landed once again at Virburnnum. Unable to locate our Samaritan, I departed toward Illinois. On takeoff, at 800' the engine quit cold. No time for much except to look for the best spot to land and prepare for the crash. Got best glide toward the 60' dogwood trees with no roads or openings in sight except a lead-mine leach pond. Ran through restart, cracked the doors, tightened harness, pulled the mixture not quite all the way out, and was about to put in flaps when the engine started and continued to run.

I have always taught my students that, given a choice, between being a good pilot and a lucky pilot, take lucky. In over 9000 hours this was my first and only engine failure event. For all these years, at various times I have discussed what happened seeking both a cause and effect answer from knowledgeable aviators without success. Reading your article of engine failure probable cause and my admission of running out of options when I pulled the mixture finally provided me with the probable answer.

Now, I do believe I have the answers. Just shows how all things have solutions if you just live long enough to find them. Thanks!

Engine Failure on Takeoff (Instructor)
Do engine failures happen? Yes! Can you prevent them from happening? Yes, but not every one. You must have pre-planned your options before you enter the plane. Your best option will be the one selected before the problem occurs. Think on it. When in doubt (no pre-plan option selected), land straight ahead with limited turns to avoid obstacles. The worst thing that can happen during an emergency is to have the engine make an unexpected recovery to full power when you have trimmed for nearly full nose up slow flight. Depending on the aircraft, you may not be able to override the control pressures sufficiently to prevent a stall. Once you are committed to an off-airport landing make sure it won't fire up again on you. Pull the mixture. Turn off the magnetos.

The standard emergency for engine failure on takeoff is to land ahead into the wind. Make no more than 30 degrees of heading change to locate the best landing place. Landing into a 10-kt wind at a full flap stall speed of 35 kts gives you a survivable ground contact speed of 25 kts. However, there is another option possible if sufficient altitude has been gained before failure. (A good reason to always takeoff and climb at best rate, Vy) To determine this altitude it is necessary to practice at altitude. At 3000' on a North heading, simulate engine failure and have the student execute a right turn in a 30-degree bank to 240 degrees. Note the altitude loss. Do the same 240-degree turn to the left. Note the altitude loss. Now do both turns with 45 to 60 degree banks. Note altitude lost. Add 50% to the altitudes as a fudge factor for actual use.

From these turns you should decide that the steep turn loses the least altitude. Having determined this we now can add some factors for returning to a runway. If there is any crosswind always make the turn into the wind since it will bring you back to the runway and reduce the amount of turn required. If there are parallel runways turn to the parallel since only 180 degrees of turn will be needed. Crossing runways may even need less turn. If the tailwind is 10 kts it will double the required runway for landing.

There is a minimum safe altitude for return to the runway. The turn requires knowledge of runway length, wind direction, controllable bank angle and amount of turn, stall/bank speeds, personal competence and the pre-planned turn. To obtain this information you must simulate the situation at a safe altitude. Later the procedure might be performed at a lower but safe altitude to confirm feasibility. Do what it takes to guarantee that the airplane will touch down in a normal attitude under control.

You should have pre-planned on every takeoff the possibility of some degree of engine problem up to total failure. Based on the degree of malfunction you have already decided what you will do. Or have you? What if full throttle gives only reduced RPM? What if you have unexpected engine noise? What if the engine quits before rotation? What if it quits after liftoff? What if it quits over the departure end of the runway? What if it quits at 200, 300 or 400 feet? At what altitude would you attempt to turn to an intersecting taxiway or runway? At what altitude can you expect to make it back to the departure runway?

Every time you fly to a strange airport it would make your departure somewhat safer if you were to overfly in such a manner as to get a look off the departure end for safe off-airport landing areas. Knowing that you have planned ahead will give you just that much more intellectual and emotional capacity to retain control of the aircraft.

I have 'pre-planned' that I could return to an intersecting runway from 600'. Any lower than that I will make slight turns ahead to the best available terrain. I have thought about it ahead of time, and planned what my options are. If I can lift off in a thousand feet and get to 200' in less than thirty seconds, I will need at least 2000' of runway + overrun ahead of me to land. You can flight test this on an 8000' runway with little difficulty. Stockton, Castle, and Mather come to mind.  All are former military runways.

Take off and initial climb are the most difficult operating times on an engine. Keep the oil clean. Never use anything made for automobiles. Avoid sudden changes in power. Avoid shock cooling. Symptoms of a maintenance problem would be a rough engine on initial start (sticking valves), Oil or soot in the exhaust, intermittent abnormalities, oil anywhere, excessive oil consumption.

One out of every 20 reportable accidents involves an engine problem on takeoff. Poor maintenance, cockpit management, operating technique or decision-making was a factor. Power reduction was involved in only 4 of 273 accidents. 

Fuel problems score #1 as a factor 32% of the time. 10% of failure accidents had induction system problem as cause. This would include Carburetor Heat and air filter problems. 20% of the engine failure accidents were caused by a mechanical problem. In almost all cases deficiencies existed in maintenance or operating technique. Propellers were involved in only 3 out of 273 accidents.

Mechanical Engine Failure
A rapid and total loss of engine oil in flight is indicated by a loss of oil pressure WITHOUT an increase in oil temperature since there will be no oil in the vicinity of the oil temperature probe

One cause of engine failure is due to the failure of some engine component. The other three reasons involve loss of spark, air, or fuel. Ignition failure is seldom total because of duplications in the system. Lack of air is most common due to induction or carburetor icing. Proper fuel management most easily avoids the most common cause of engine failure. Fuel starvation is when fuel is available but not getting to the engine. Fuel exhaustion is when you are out of fuel.

Lycoming makes engines that may be equipped with a single drive shaft for both magnetos. I have known this shaft to break and immediately stop the engine. The duality of the magnetos is useless in this event. Seems to me that the electronic ignition would be a viable consideration.

An aircraft is most likely to have a component failure during the takeoff and landing process. The use of maximum power and power changes seem to precipitate failures. Rapid power changes can cause a pre-existing component weakness to reach the point of failure.

Either can be prevented by:
--Crew will determine fuel quantity, type, and quality.
--Depart ramp on fullest tank or both.
--Confirm both by feel and visually any fuel selector indent setting.
--Find out what a selector does in other positions on the ground.
--Select new tanks only in vicinity of airports.
Use chart to note places of fuel tank changes.

 

Continue To Next Page