'Never Quit Flying The Airplane'

‘Never Quit Flying The Airplane’

Saturday, May 06, 2023 at 08:21 PM ET

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Key Takeaways:

A student pilot witnessed a fatal plane crash resulting from an engine failure, during which the pilot and passenger were heard panicking.
The flight instructor took the student to the crash site, using the tragedy to illustrate that panic led to a poor decision to attempt a return instead of ditching in a nearby shallow waterway.
The enduring lesson emphasized the unforgiving nature of flying, the importance of maintaining control ("never quit flying the airplane"), making sound decisions, and always having options, even in an emergency.

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I was a student pilot with approximately 20 hours. During one of my flights back to my home airport, I was talking to the tower and was given approach instructions. Then the frequency lit up with an emergency call, the pilot reporting engine failure. The airplane had lost its engine on takeoff and the pilot was trying to return to the airport.

All the tower’s traffic was put into a hold and I was instructed to make 360-degree turns over the Interstate highway, which was approximately five miles from the airport. I heard the pilot and passenger screaming over the radio in complete panic, and then I saw a large fireball and smoke near the airport.