I Learned About Flying From That: Beware of the Super Cell

Daniel Mack

Sunday, July 29, 2012 at 01:16 AM ET

Verified

** To see more of Barry Ross' aviation art, go
to barryrossart.com.**

Key Takeaways:

An inexperienced single pilot, flying a Piper Navajo Chieftain with a non-functional weather radar during a challenging 1985 Gulf Coast summer flight, pressed on despite rapidly building supercells.
Ignoring indirect warnings and following another flight's path into a moving storm line, the aircraft was caught in extreme turbulence, suffered instrument failure, and was severely damaged, nearly leading to a catastrophic crash.
The pilot miraculously landed the crippled plane, learning vital, hard-won lessons about trusting gut instincts, respecting equipment limitations, prioritizing safety by landing early, and never following others into severe weather.

See a mistake? Contact us.

It’s really weird how certain memories stick like fish in a hot iron skillet. So it is with a memory from my past, early in my flying career.

“Miserable” is the only description that fits for that Gulf Coast summer morning in July 1985. Don’t get me wrong: The sun was shining brightly, but the temperature and dew point were the same, and both were in the upper 70s. Anyone who is a pilot knows that, when those two numbers are in the 70s and low 80s, it is a recipe for boomers. I had a long day ahead, six legs and all single-pilot. I was to leave PNS (Pensacola, Florida) and fly to MSY (New Orleans, Louisiana) for the first leg, MSY to PFN (Panama City, Florida) for the second, then to TPA (Tampa, Florida) for the third, JAX (Jacksonville, Florida) for the fourth, back to PFN for the fifth and finally back to PNS.