Engine Failure Does Not Equal Pilot Failure

Today, my CFI and I spent about 30 minutes on ground school lessons.  Topics we covered were:

·         What to do in an engine failure

·         How to recover from a stall with a spin

·         FAA FAR 91.3 – regulations dealing with responsibilities of a pilot in command (PIC).

o   The pilot in command of an aircraft is directly responsible for, and is the final authority as to, the operation of that aircraft.

o   In an in-flight emergency requiring immediate action, the pilot in command may deviate from any rule of this part to the extent required to meet that emergency.

o   Each pilot in command who deviates from a rule under paragraph (b) of this section shall, upon the request of the Administrator, send a written report of that deviation to the Administrator.

To paraphrase, the pilot in command main responsibility is flight safety, and in an emergency, can ignore any/all other FAA rules.  Of course, you may have to document the situation.

Next, I completed the pre-flight check on the 2000 Diamond Katana DA20-C1 (N223NH).  I am finding that the time doing my pre-flight check is decreasing as I become more familiar with the aircraft.

My taxiing has gotten better, but I still have little frustration in my struggle to keep the plane on the center line.  In the air, I find my rudder work is a bit awkward as well.  I think it will come with more practice.

In this flight, we practiced a lot of what we have done in the past (high speed and low speed stalls, hood work, slow flight, etc).  A couple of new maneuvers he introduced were high angle turns and mid-air engine failure procedures. 

The high angle turns are self explanatory, so I will not go into a lot of detail, but I will say it was really fun.

In the event of an engine failure, the pilot should follow the A, B & Cs.

A = Aviate & Maintain Airspeed

B = Locate the Best place to land

C = Checklist (trouble shoot) & Communicate

"A" is the most important because a pilot's first action should be to insure you have the maximum time in the air before an emergency landing. By setting the airspeed for best glide speed (Vg) the plane will cover the most distance over the ground, hopefully far enough to get to an airport, and the pilot will have the most time in the air to prepare for an emergency landing.  The glide speed (Vg) for the Diamond is about 73knots.  The obvious question: if the engine is off, how do you maintain air speed?  The pilot can adjust the air speed by adjusting the pitch of the aircraft.  Tilt the nose down slightly and the plane will speed up, raise the nose, and the plane will slow.

In an emergency "B" is not Best Airport or Best Huge Open Space, but rather Best Place to Land. After setting the plane for Vg, the pilot's next task is to identify the best place to land and fly toward it. As airlines flight attendants say during the passenger briefing, "Take a minute to locate the nearest exit, keeping in mind that the nearest exit may be behind you." The pilot should spend a few seconds evaluating all the available landing sites to determine the best one for landing. These may be airports, abandoned airstrips, open fields, roads, or any other long open space. Once a landing site has been picked the pilot should fly towards it and be mentally prepared to land there.

"C" is the last item, but hopefully the one that will change the situation from major disaster to a momentary panic.  After picking a landing site the next job is to run thought the engine failure and restart checklist.   This is also the step where the pilot should contact ATC for assistance.

When every step is complete, and the pilot is preparing to land, they should disconnect the fuel and electronics.  If the landing is a bit rough, you don’t want a spark igniting the fuel.  On a side note, engine failure and an emergency landing is not a death sentence.  For the most part, landing speed is about 42 knots (about 48 mph), which is a very survivable impact, especially if you can slow the plane down a bit by landing in soft soil or a pavement where you can utilize the brakes.

My CFI put the engine to idle and we practiced the A, B, Cs.  Of course, I didn’t actually land in someone’s cornfield, but I was surprised at how quickly I was able to identify a suitable to landing area and set myself up for a landing.  This technique that had a big impact (no pun intended) on me and I’m going to make it a regular practice of indentifying emergency landing areas.

Finally, we spent some time in the flight pattern, and I executed three addition take offs and landings.

Ground instruction: .5 hours   Flight time: 1.50 hours

Cost:  Plane rental - $141.00, Instructor Fee - $80.00