Jason Schappert

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Copyright © 2013 Jason Schappert

Cover Photo Copyright © 2013 Kristin Perry

Cover Design Copyright © 2013 Jason Schappert

Jason Schappert

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MzeroA.com

All rights reserved.

PROUDLY PRINTED IN THE USA

ISBN: 0615687857ISBN-13: 978-0615687858

DEDICATION

“To my BEAUTIFUL wife! Thanks for putting up with me :)” - Jason

About JasonJason Schappert is a full-time flight instructor with more than 8,000 hours of instruction time. He shares his love for aviation and his passion for teaching at his website MzeroA.com

Jason is the author of multiple books and the creator of the highly acclaimed “MzeroA.com Online Ground School”

You can find more of Jasonʼs books in pilot shops around the country.

......................INTRODUCTION! 1......................How This Book Works ! 1

WHY INFLIGHT EMERGENCIES ARE .........................UNDER PRACTICED! 2

WHAT YOUʼLL LEARN IN THIS .................................................BOOK! 3

.......ENGINE FIRE ON START! 5................................INFLIGHT FIRE! 10

..........................ELECTRICAL FIRE! 14

..........ENGINE FAILURE INFLIGHT! 17

...................UNUSUAL ATTITUDES! 32

.................ALTERNATOR FAILURE! 38

...............VACUUM PUMP FAILURE! 41

..PITOT STATIC SYSTEM FAILURE! 43

.............................RADIO FAILURE:! 46

LOST COMMUNICATIONS ................................PROCEDURES! 46

.....THUNDERSTORM AVOIDANCE! 53

....................ICING EMERGENCIES! 60

.........................................HYPOXIA! 64

...................NIGHT EMERGENCIES! 68

........................................DITCHING! 70

.........................THE UNEXPECTED! 72EMERGENCY LANDINGS!80

BASIC SAFETY CONCEPTS!82

AIRPLANE CONFIGURATION!85

TERRAIN SELECTION!86

APPROACH!87

ENGINE FAILURE AFTER TAKEOFF (SINGLE-ENGINE)!90

EMERGENCY DESCENTS!92

IN-FLIGHT FIRE!93

FLIGHT CONTROL MALFUNCTION/FAILURE!97

LOSS OF ELEVATOR CONTROL!99

LANDING GEAR MALFUNCTION!100

SYSTEMS MALFUNCTIONS!103

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PITOT-STATIC SYSTEM!105

DOOR OPENING IN FLIGHT!106

INADVERTENT VFR FLIGHT INTO IMC!107

MAINTAINING AIRPLANE CONTROL!109

ATTITUDE CONTROL!110

TURNS!111

CLIMBS!111

DESCENTS!112

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MORE GREAT BOOKS BY JASON:

Pass Your Private Pilot Checkride 2.0“Your Examiners Favorite Checkride Questions”

Pass Your Instrument Pilot Checkride“What You Really Need To Know For Your IFR

Checkride”

The FAR/AIM In Plain English “Evergreen Edition”“Finally Regulations Explained In Plain

Conversational English”

Aviation Acronyms“Every Aviation Acronym You Know and Some You

Donʼt!”

The Pilots Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge“The Classic Staple of Flight Training Revised”

The Airplane Flying Handbook“The Other Classic Staple of Flight Training Revised”

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Iʼve been so blessed to have such a wonderful team around me! Without them nothing you see on

MzeroA.com would be possible.

Thank You: Ashley, Larry, Matt, Elijah, Gabe, Jericho, Johnny, Juliet, and Mark.

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INTRODUCTION

How This Book Works

The book you hold in your hand is unlike any other aviation book in the market. This is more like a “vook”: the term, which I am coining, is derived from a combination of video and book. This is because at the end of each chapter, I will be sharing a URL or link pointing to videos of interviews with aviators sharing real-life inflight emergency scenarios for you to watch and learn from. Each video will complement the text in the book in order to help you further your knowledge as you become a safer private pilot and help you learn the unexpected: Inflight Emergencies.

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The first rule is always to follow your POH (Pilotʼs Operating Handbook). The details youʼll read in this book are simply big picture guidelines. You will have aircraft-specific items that would need to be done in various emergencies. So, always follow your POH. A great way to use this book is to read the chapter, watch the videos and then pick up your POH and see what aircraft-specific items relate to that emergency.

WHY INFLIGHT EMERGENCIES ARE UNDER PRACTICED

For whatever reason, we train, and focus hard on inflight emergencies. However, once we obtain our private pilot certificate, certain concerns like inflight emergencies fall on the sidelines and become less practiced. In truth, we need to practice inflight emergencies every single flight. The unexpected can happen anytime, and you need to always be prepared.

I know youʼre already doing a great job on this because youʼve picked up this book and

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decided to take further action on planning for the unexpected.

WHAT YOUʼLL LEARN IN THIS BOOK

Inside this book, weʼre going to learn more than just inflight emergencies. Weʼll talk about things like:

Engine fires on startup Inflight fires Electrical firesEngine failures on takeoff (with and

without runway remainingDitchingUnusual attitudesAlternator failuresVacuum pump failuresRadio failuresHypoxiaIce emergenciesNight emergenciesThe unexpected.

So sit down and hang on tight, because weʼre about to prepare you for the unexpected. Enjoy!

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ENGINE FIRE ON START

You wouldnʼt think an engine fire on start-up would fall under the category of inflight emergencies However, itʼs a very serious emergency and we need to understand it. Thatʼs why weʼre covering it in this book.

How do you start a fire in relation to an airplane? The three “ingredients” to start that fire are the following: fuel, air, and ignition. One thing that is mandatory for you to prepare is a flow checklist. Imagine this scenario: Youʼre starting the engine and it catches fire.

Are you going to know what to do or will you be fumbling around with the checklist wondering what to do as the fire worsens and grows larger?

Specifically, there are two scenarios that you need to have down to pat.

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IF THE ENGINE STARTS….

If the engine starts, continue to run the engine. In fact, rev the engine up to a higher RPM setting. The philosophy here is that you want to suck the flames back down into the engine in an effort to extinguish the fire. Wait 60 - 90 seconds... Did that extinguish your fire? If Yes then turn the fuel off, mixture back to IDLE and inspect the damage. If not turn the fuel off, mixture back to IDLE evacuate and extinguish.

Look for the “Engine Fire On Start” section inside the POH. 90% of the time youʼll be told to turn off the fuel, set mixture to idle, turn off the master switch and ignition, evacuate the plane and extinguish the flame.

REMEMBER: Just because you

extinguished your engine fire on start that doesnʼt mean youʼre going flying that day! There is a deeper problem you

need to solve.

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IF THE ENGINE DOES NOT START...

If the engine does not start, you are to continue cranking. Some of my students have pointed out that this might be bad for the starter, but in a situation where there is a fire threatening your airplane, the starter is the LEAST of your worries. You want to continue cranking in order to suck the flames back into the engine and extinguish the fire as described earlier. If the flames are not extinguished after 60 - 90 seconds of cranking, it is time for you to evacuate the airplane and try to extinguish the flames.

THIS IS WHY WE BRIEF...

Every time before that engine starts, you should be doing a briefing on the scenario.

My students do a pre-start briefing where we discuss both scenarios, i.e. the fire occurs

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when the engine starts and when it does not start.

One of the scenarios we always discuss in the briefing is that, assuming that there are two of us in the airplane and the engine catches fire, I will continue to crank the engine if it does not start while my student or co-pilot evacuates and retrieves the fire extinguisher in the hangar. In essence, the pilot-in-command will crank as the co-pilot reaches for the extinguisher and snuffs out the flames. You can call it crew resource management, (CRM) and you should incorporate that in a preflight briefing each time so you know what to do in each case. The last thing you need to be doing is fumbling around with the checklist in the scenario. Have this memorized; itʼs absolutely vital.

PREVENTING AN ENGINE FIRE ON START...

Thereʼs an easy way to prevent engine fires on start. First off, do not over prime. Adding too much fuel to the engine and flooding it is a

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classic way to ignite fires on engine startup. A very common occurrence of this is during the winter time. Itʼs hard for the engine to start already because of the cold temperatures. So the pilot usually thinks that the engine needs “a little more” prime to start. Youʼre actually feeding the fire in this scenario, do not overprime the engine.

Also, make sure that your air filter is clean. If your air filter is clogged, dirty, or filled with grass from your last soft field landing, youʼre in danger of an engine fire on start-up. Hereʼs a general rule of thumb: If you hear a backfire on start, (bear in mind that is not supposed to happen). Sit for 15-30 seconds and be alert. A backfire on start is not normal.

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INFLIGHT FIRE

An inflight fire is really two emergencies in one. Not only do you have to extinguish the fire, you are now encountering an engine failure inflight and looking for a place to land. Knowing your inflight fire emergency procedures is going to prove crucial if that were to happen.

Detecting an inflight fire will not be as easy as you would think. Most people imagine, smoke will fill the cabin, flames would be everywhere etc... However, because of air flow, an inflight fire will be difficult to detect. Some things to look for include a drop in fuel pressure or a rough running engine. These are both common early signs. The best thing to do is to trust your nose. Smell is the best way to tell whether or not youʼre having an inflight fire.

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HOW DO YOU ADDRESS AN INFLIGHT FIRE?

The first step after determining that you have an inflight fire is to turn off the fuel source. You can do this by turning off the fuel selector or by pulling the mixture back to IDLE. A common misconception is that pilots should leave the engine running and begin an emergency descent. This plan, however, can backfire quickly. (no pun intended) :)

PAY CLOSE ATTENTION THIS NEXT STEP IS IMPORTANT...

After turning off the fuel selector and pulling the mixture back to idle, you should then turn the cabin heat off. This step is almost always overlooked by new pilots and seasoned pilots alike. The cabin heat is simply heat from your muffler shroud that comes into your cockpit, and will lead flames into the cockpit if left on.

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If smoke has filled the cabin, open up a window or vent to ventilate the cockpit. If the fire continues, you should then begin an emergency descent in order to attempt to extinguish the blaze.

I n a n e m e r g e n c y descent, you simply nose the plane over to VNO or i n s i d e t h e a i r s p e e d indicatorʼs yellow arc. The goal is to down quickly and put as much airflow over the fire in an attempt to extinguish it. This seems contrary but the added airflow may help extinguish the fire. This process is the start of the second phase of your emergency, which is the emergency landing. Thatʼs the disadvantage of an inflight fire: itʼs really two emergencies rolled into one package that you have manage one after the other.

To hear Jasonʼs story about his run-in with an inflight fire, click or visit the URL below:

http://inflightemergencies.com/fire

REMEMBER: An inflight fire is really two emergencies in one. First you must extinguish the fire and second find a

place to land!

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Eager to learn more about emergency landings? Weʼll talk about this more in a later chapter.

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ELECTRICAL FIRE

You could often detect an electrical fire long before it becomes an actual blaze. Your first clues might be a low-voltage warning, a popped circuit or, most obviously, the smell of hot or burning insulation. These clues can lead you to an electrical fire long before it turns into an actual blaze.

If you catch it early enough, turn off the electrical source of power via the master switch.

THE ENGINE WILL CONTINUE TO RUN EVEN THOUGH YOU TURNED THE

MASTER SWITCH OFF...

This should be enough to extinguish the fire on its own. However If the fire has grown too hot, youʼll need to use a fire extinguisher to put

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it out. Regardless, you need to be making a beeline for the nearest airport.

Thereʼs also the option of isolating the problem.

ISOLATING THE PROBLEM...

We often learn that with an electrical fire, we can isolate the problem. This means turning on every electrical component one by one to troubleshoot. For example, I want to manually t u r n o f f e v e r y t h i n g . R a d i o s , G P S , transponders, etc. I then turn on the master switch and wait for a second. From there, I turn on the transponder. If the smell doesnʼt persist or there is no smoke, we can deem the transponder to be ok.

If we go and turn on our GPS and the smell comes back strong or smoke begins to come back out, we can consider the problem isolated to the GPS. We turn the GPS off and turn on the other electrical components, assuming that

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everything else is still okay and weʼve isolated the problem to be the GPS. However, this runs the risk of actually restarting the same scenario you have worked so hard to extinguish. In any case, regardless of whether or not youʼve isolated the problem, you still should be flying towards the nearest airport.

The last step to extinguish an electrical fire is to open the vents and windows to ventilate the cockpit. The last thing you would want to be doing is inhaling the smell of burning insulation.

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ENGINE FAILURE INFLIGHT

When we think about inflight emergencies, the first one that comes to mind is this “The Engine Failure Inflight.” Itʼs the one we practice and prepare for the most because it can sometimes be the most severe. Weʼre going to look at a few different scenarios related to an engine failure inflight.

Failure On Takeoff With Runway Remaining Failure On Takeoff Without Runway

Remaining Engine Failure At Altitude The Impossible Turn

AT ALTITUDE...

The engine failure inflight at altitude is what we constantly train for. I want to share with you guys what I call the ABCs of an emergency, and it goes like this.

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The A in our ABCʼs is our airspeed. The moment that engine quits or it runs across a problem, you need to get to your airplaneʼs best gliding speed so I can stay aloft as long as possible to troubleshoot the problem.

The B in our acronym stands for best landing area. Keeping in mind that the best landing area may be behind you or below you. A common problem with any pilot is that we get tunnel vision in vital situations. What I mean by that is, if the engine quits, pilots will usually concentrate on whatʼs immediately out in front of them. They forget about looking behind or below them and thereʼs often a beautiful airport or great field right below or just behind them. Itʼs your job as a pilot to make some shallow turns and not forget about whatʼs behind you or below. Nine times out of ten, thatʼs usually where your best landing area is.

The C in our ABCs is

REMEMBER:A - AirspeedB - Best Landing AreaC - Checklist

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for our checklist. This is time permitting. As we have learned earlier, we need to have a flow check memorized. You should have what is called a “flow check” using muscle memory to perform this checklist. So picture this with me now. This is the emergency procedure flow-check for my Cessna 150.

Iʼm sitting in the left seat so my right hand starts on the floor, on my fuel selector valve. My fuel selector valve is ON, and my right hand comes up to the mixture. The mixture is RICH. I next work my hand over to the left, to where my throttle is. Next, I turn ON my Carb Heat. I continue working on the left, checking everything as I come across. I check the ignition to make sure it is in the ON position and the primer is IN and LOCKED. After that, I attempt to restart the aircraftʼs engine via the ignition switch.

That is my ABCs for emergencies. You need to have that flow check memorized. The last thing you need to be doing is fumbling

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around with the checklist when youʼre about to make the most important landing of your flight career.

Want to see a great flow check in action? Click or visit the link below...

http://inflightemergencies.com/flow

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END OF SAMPLEA must have for any student. Again we added real videos to the end of each

chapter sharing more stories and insights from instructors and pilots.

After all that is the best way to learn. So not only do they get the book but the videos as

well. (via the links at the end of each chapter)