Page 54 - Volume 14 Number 4

TRAINING
Dealing with In-Flight Emergencies
by BILL FRANK
It is indeed fortunate that the vast majority of pilots will fly their entire lives without ever encountering a major in-flight emergency. In my 45-plus years of flying, I have experienced:
= a partial power failure (cracked intake manifold)
= acompleteenginefailure(lossofengine-drivenfuelpump) = an electrical fire (a lot of smoke, but very little fire)
Each incident ended safely, but I can honestly say that not all of my actions (reactions) were entirely correct. When things start going south in a hurry, time may indeed seem to slow down, but clarity of thought often goes right out the window.
In the Air Force, each major emergency checklist starts with bold face items that have to be committed to memory. With enough frequent regurgitation of these memory items, pilots reach a point where they can reliably recall them under the stress of an actual emergency. Most of us, myself included, rarely find the time to review, let alone regurgitate emergency checklists, leaving us unsure of what will happen when the “you-know-what” really hits the fan.
The Big Three
There are three major emergency conditions that you need to be prepared to deal with in your aircraft. It can be argued that all emergencies are major, but many emergencies allow time to reference a checklist (e.g., alternator failure, overvoltage situation, etc.) or require activation of CAPS (structural failure, overload, midair collision, etc.). The three emergencies that do not fit these categories, and therefore are worth examining in further detail are: partial power loss/engine failure, engine fire and electrical fire. In each instance, appropriate and timely action is required to reach a safe conclusion to the emergency. It is difficult to memorize three separate checklists and then recall them correctly in the heat of the moment.
I have tried to teach pilots that they can recall one simple checklist that will cover all three of these emergencies. Before getting started, I want to make it clear that all emergencies, big or small, begin with maintaining aircraft
52 ■ COPA Pilot
MAY 2019