With a failing engine and unforgiving terrain all around, flight instructor Mark Henshall had a decision to make about whether or not to turn back to the runway. Also, picking up a mayday from a fellow pilot comes to a difficult end only to be followed by a surprising revelation.
Finding the right teacher can be complicated, but when a flight instructor falls asleep on a student’s first-ever lesson it raises red flags. Also, low visibility and a failure to communicate lead to a head-to-head close call in the pattern.
A pilot faces an instrument failure in the clouds and recalls how a decision to head home in the dark—despite having never flown at night—led to a harrowing experience in the pattern.
Experienced pilot Al Hewitt was proficient, current, and ready to go for a short IFR trip he’d made many times before, but when he broke out of the clouds on a familiar approach nothing was as expected.
Wanting to build flight time and under pressure from another pilot, a young aviator decided to take a jump plane up for one last flight in spite of dangerously low fuel indications and the approaching sunset.
During a night proficiency flight, a pilot was practicing partial panel IFR when he had an emergency he did not expect.
Pilot Victor Vogel was left with only a flashlight and a pencil following a total electrical system failure in his Beech Sierra—and he was headed straight for the nation's capital region.
Pilot Scott Tomlinson hopped into his RV-6, ready to take his girlfriend on a flying date to Ocracoke Island. But a skipped part of the preflight just about ruined their day together.
An Air Force Warthog pilot suffered an engine failure during a training mission, but was his course of action the right one?
Pilot Charles Turner witnessed an accident and tried to save one of the occupants. It took him 20 years to share the story, and where it led him.
Sometimes we conduct a careful preflight, and we still don’t find everything that might go wrong under the cowl. This Bonanza pilot discovered fuel all over the engine—after returning to the airport.
A pilot practicing aerobatics nearly lost a critical part of the airframe of his project Pitts S-1, a problem that couldn't be found during preflight.
Instructor Josh Harnagel acquired a Beech B36TC Bonanza and was flying on a work trip when the turbocharger failed, leading to an off-airport landing.
Pilot and instructor Doug Rozendaal recounts stories of flying the Douglas DC-3, Beech 18, and Cessna 402 across the upper Midwest for a freight operation—and key lessons on avoiding or mitigating icing encounters..
An expert pilot in the airshow and movie business recalls a shoot in Hawaii when a trio of cables appeared where they had not been before, and almost killed him.
A former flight test pilot for the U.S. Navy had two encounters with icing--in a Piper Seneca and in an Aero Commander--that he'll never forget.
A former Air Force pilot was taught to always follow the procedures—but a foray into weather almost cost him his life as a student.
Helping a cousin get to college orientation turned exciting for pilot Ford von Weise, and the ensuing emergency caused a VIP aircraft to break off its approach.
Pilot Tom Hill heard a loud bang and saw something fly off of the front end of his 1974 Cessna 210, and the closest runway was at one of the busiest airports in the U.S.
Pilot Ryan Worley suffered an electrical system problem in the Cessna 172 he was flying, exacerbated by the fact the ammeter wasn't working to clue him into the issue.
After the photo mission was done, the wake turbulence generated by a PT-19 trainer was enough to upset a Cessna 170, as pilot and photographer Leonardo Correa Luna found out.
John Jordan shares stories from early in his career flying out of California's wine country, in a Warrior and a 172, that illuminate why preflight planning is crucial.
Musician and pilot Christine Mortine was flying a mission for the Recreational Aviation Foundation when she had engine trouble and applied her backcountry training to the resulting off-airport landing.
Al Cerullo transformed his experience flying helicopters in the Vietnam combat zone into a career flying aerial photography for a long list of movies and TV shows in his Eurocopter AS355 Twin Star in New York.
Instructor Matt Keane found himself over the marine layer with a failed engine and an electrical system on the discovery flight he was conducting. Find out how he managed the emergency.
When pilot Jim Desmond thought he was ready to fly a two-thirds-scale homebuilt Mustang in which he had no experience, he set himself up for a serious lesson.
With an F-4 Phantom throttles stuck in full burner—what does a crew do? Pilot Brad Hood tells the story.
A flight taking a day-VFR-only airplane in the darkness led airshow pro Matt Younkin to re-evaluate how he got there, and consider next time to listen to his gut instincts.
Air boss, controller, and private pilot Wayne Boggs took the opportunity to ferry a Piper Arrow across the Caribbean, and ended up in an encounter with instrument conditions, without a rating.
With a career spanning the military, the airlines, and pilot training, Skyborne Airline Academy's Ed Davidson shares key lessons learned in two incidents from his flying experience, including an assist to a light twin ailing over the Caribbean.
