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Any thoughts on emergency procedures? Engine Failure, Power Loss?

Engine failure? Power loss? Yeah, been there, done that.

During my long solo x-country while a student pilot, the engine sputtered and after about a minute the RPMs went from 2300 to about 400. I panicked for maybe 500 miliseconds, and then shot the drill as if my instructor was in the right seat. I can attest that having the checklist was VERY important... because in a situation like that it's really hard to think.

I turned back to an airport I had just passed, set for best glide speed, and circled over the approach end as I descended. Power returned before I landed at the airport, but that was the end of my flight nonetheless. Turned out to be [probably] a case of vapor lock in the fuel lines due to a poorly designed fuel selector combined with me not reading all of the operating placards.

That was the most adrenaline I've ever produced for one event in my life. "You're a rock star," said the kindly female CFI on the flight school's phone when I called in to describe my situation. "Thanks, Anais."

_________________
Jeff Klug
RV-8A prebuild

The ABC's of engine failure are very important as Jason pointed out. In the event of an emergency pilots need to know exactly what to do without having to think about it. The ABC's are a great way to remember the important actions to perform.

My ABC's are a little different but follow the same basic pattern as those described in the podcast. A is for Airspeed and Aviate. B is for Best Place to Land. C is for Checklists, Communicate and Commitment.

Please keep reading for the complete explanation of each letter and its meaning.

"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.

"A" is also important because in the heat of an emergency it is easy to forget you main job as a pilot, FLYING THE PLANE. I know it sounds silly but forgetting to fly the plane is easy. Forgetting to aviate can lead to disaster even if the plane is within glide distance of an airport or landing site. Stalls and spins occur quickly if a pilot is focused on the emergency and not on flying the plane.

In an emergency "B" is not Best Airport or Best Huge Open Space, but rather Best Place to Land. Hopefully the engine will fail at 3000 ft right over a airport with a 5000 ft runway and on a VFR day with light winds. But more likely it will fail when the prospect of landing without a scratch don't look as promising. 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 end the flight with the pilot on the couch of an FBO a little shaken up and tired, but ok. After picking a landing site the next job is to run thought the engine failure and restart checklist. If the first run through of the checklists does not restore power do not keep trying until there is adequate time. Trying again will most likely yield the same result and will only waist valuable time which needs to be spent finishing important duties as the pilot in command.

After running all appropriate checklists it is time to communicate the situation to ATC. No matter what the outcome of the checklists are the pilot should inform ATC. If the engine did not restart ATC may be able to point the pilot to an airport which is within gliding distance that was missed earlier and can also initiate search and rescue operation if needed. They will also give the pilot priority landing clearances and separation from traffic in an emergency.

Lastly, in an emergency the pilot needs to make a commitment to the chosen landing site. As more information becomes available through the checklists and communications will ATC the pilot may become aware of a better place to land and should therefor change course and prepare to land at the new location. But the pilot should not change the landing site more than twice because without power to make a go around and setup for a second landing, having enough time and altitude to land well the first time is critical. By committing to a landing site the pilot will have time to setup properly for the landing and build up confidence in his or her ability to make a safe landing.

Every pilot should develop his or her own engine failure procedures and memory aids. These procedures should be practice regularly so that emergency situations become second nature. Every pilot can make it to their destination when conditions are perfect but only good pilots can make it safely to the ground when the conditions go south. The confidence gained by knowing exactly what to do at each stage of an emergency and the preparation gained from following these procedures, can make an emergency landing into a pilot's finest hour, in which he or she will show self control, great skill, and the ability to work effectively under extreme pressure.

Thanks for reading.

I would love to hear what other people have developed for their emergency procedures.

-Alex Unger
Private Pilot from RI.

p.s. Thanks StarvingCFI, you have taught me well.

Well said...

I have to say I like the emphasis of A on Aviate as well as airspeed. Although we teach this way, to further re-iterate AVIATE, AVIATE, AVIATE...is what we want.

thanks for the input,
a

For engine failures and emergencies, I like to use the following: Aviate, Navigate, Investigate, Communicate, Secure. (ie. a slight modification of the 'Aviate, Navigate, Communicate' that everyone is already familiar with).

Aviate - fly the aircraft. Best glide speed. Clean up the configuration if required. Trim.

Navigate - identify and turn toward the best place to land. Consider vertical navigation as well as horizontal.

Investigate - attempt to identify the source of the problem. CFMOST works well. Carby heat, Fuel, Mixture, Oil pressures and temps, Switches, Throttle.

Communicate - to ATC/other aircraft and to your passengers. Mayday call on appropriate frequency, transponder to 7700, passenger briefing.

Secure - fuel sources off, electrical sources off, passengers secure and protected, doors popped open.