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I Learned About Flying From That

Gemini Sparkle

Key Takeaways:

  • A routine flight to the Bahamas was interrupted when a venomous copperhead snake appeared in the cockpit, startling the pilots and passengers mid-flight.
  • Despite extreme fear and the snake's disruptive presence, the pilots maintained composure, communicated with air traffic control, and successfully diverted the aircraft to an alternate airport.
  • Upon landing at Craig Field, a quick-thinking line crew member safely identified and removed the snake, which had attempted to hide and was resisting removal.
  • The incident served as a powerful reminder of the importance of pilot training to "fly the plane" and remain calm in unexpected, high-stress in-flight emergencies.
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“Fly the plane, fly the plane, fly the plane!” I remembered my instructors from years back drilling this phrase into my head during my training … and it would pay off!

It was a foggy April morning in Atlanta. I had checked the weather the night before and the ceilings were forecast to be low but getting better throughout the day. We were all excited about this trip to the Bahamas. It had been planned by one of our clients, Superior Flight School at Cobb County/McCollum Field (RYY). Superior does the recurrent training for the licensed pilots in our company and they plan a number of trips like this each year for their customers and friends.

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