Learning about airplanes—how they fly, how to fly them, how their engines work and what to do should something go wrong—are all things that can seem overwhelming to a new pilot. But it’s critical that student pilots know all of it and are passably proficient with it (and more) before they become solo student pilots. And this is exactly why.
A student pilot was out on a routine training flight when the engine on the Cessna 150 training plane he was flying started acting up before going dead altogether. Things started going haywire shortly after he called the Concord tower inbound at 2,200 MSL (about 1,500 feet above ground level) nine miles southeast of the airport for a full-stop landing. He would never get that far. And you won’t believe the landing spot he chose.
The video is riveting in several regards, including because it shows just how unintuitive responding to an emergency can be. The pilot tells the tower a number of things they don’t need to know, which is totally understandable, and the controller handles it like the pro he clearly is.
And at some point, the student takes charge and declares that he’s going to find a place to land the plane. That’s when the good stuff really starts.
And before we go, let us just say, “Great job, dude!”
