January 2, 2008

There is an old aviation axiom:  “There are those that have and there are those that are going to.”
    
On September 21, 2007, I was flying back to Moose Pass in my Cessna 206 on floats from hunting charters in Kotzebue, AK. Approximately 100 miles NW of McGrath an unexpected brief shudder came from the front of the airplane, followed almost instantly by a loud explosion or “bang!” A large hole appeared in the top of the cowling where the piston and rod exited, and the prop came to an abrupt dead stop.  My trustworthy Continental IO-520 catastrophically failed during cruise flight and I became one of “those that have.”

    
Thanks to you though --- Yes, thanks to each of you, during the past 30+ years as an instructor and pilot examiner I’ve practiced hundreds of power-off landings. When “IT” happened, I flew the airplane down just like I had imagined a thousand times whenever I flew over strange territory and thought of what would I do if…?  I just never imagined a burnt forest. Because of my practice, neither my passenger nor I sustained any significant injuries. I do have a very sore neck and back, but they are getting better quickly. The C-206 was rolled up in a ball.

Bob Hoover, renowned aerobatic and test pilot, says,

While I was landing my plane among the blackened trees, we started breaking the tops of the trees, severely banging the leading edges. My thoughts were: "How I am going to fix the wing." Then the left wing hit a large tree which slewed us sideways, breaking the floats, and we rolled over.

The C-206 had been perfectly maintained. Just 20 hours prior to this engine failure the A/C had a very thorough inspection, including borescope, engine oil analysis, compression check, etc. A very thorough disassembly of the engine and propeller by the NTSB has not been able to come up with a reason the engine failed so severely.

What is the moral to this event?  Sh..t happens!  So be prepared.

However, as I have often said in my classes,

So my New Year’s greeting is:

    

Train for the emergency.

    Know, like you know 2 x 2 = 4, your speeds & emergency procedures for the aircraft you are flying.

Be prepared, then you too, with a lot of luck, will survive.

See you on the water,
Vern Kingsford
CFII, ATP, DPE