JayDee

Yea, I was curious about the engine myself.

Why did it turn on? Twice. I mean was it being restarted and the failing to remain on? Or was he turning it on for power to make sure he made the landing?


I just think it is one heck of a coincidence, that they had those well trained cameras, and that nice large un used piece of roadway...

Sure it is all possible that it just happend that way...


No matter what, that seemed to be a very dangerous, very stupid thing to do, (Assuming it was intentional)

No matter what, very Dangerous...

Lysol

One of these maybe

HectorD

If you watch the video closely again, you can see that the engine started to fail before the CFI turned the key. Here is what they said:

Raw video:April 21/09.WINTER HAVEN,As a flight instructor, Kyle Davis teaches his students how to make emergency landings. On Sunday, he got put to the test.

"I was incredibly lucky," Davis told FOX 13. "It was a whole bunch of luck and a little bit of experience."

Davis, and his passenger, a professional videographer, left Gilbert Field in Winter Haven around 10:30 a.m. They were on their way to the Sun 'N Fun Fly in, a 15-minute flight.

Since so many other planes were flying there as well, Davis's passenger told FOX 13 that they thought "it would be cool" to video their trip.

Just minutes after taking off, the engine conked out. Davis got it going again, then it stopped a second time. Then, a third.

"He was just awesome," said John Amundsen, who taught Davis to fly. "I just hope if I ever have a situation like that, I am as cool as Kyle was."

As the plane got closer and closer to the ground, Davis had to make a split-second decision. Land in a nearby lake, or on Havendale Boulevard -- one of Winter Haven's busiest streets.

For whatever reason, there was no traffic on his side of Havendale, so Davis set her down there.

Now people around the world are watching what happened on YouTube. By Tuesday, it had gotten thousands of hits.

Even though Davis may have nerves of steel, a number of words on the video are bleeped out.

"I was saying my prayers," Davis said. "I was saying my prayers."

I my opinion it is real. Either that, or they are good actors.

USMCFLYR

I have a question. Again - I don't remember things like the immediate action steps for an engine failure in a small aircraft - but it didn't seem like they were doing much else than looking for a landing spot and that part seemed a little...........scripted. Wouldn't there be some switching of fuel tanks (if they ran out of fuel then that would be HUGE misplanning), or pushing forward of the throttle (I didn't see anything like that but I really don't know what I was looking for). What are other people's opinion on the above.

USMCFLYR

HectorD

Well in my training I was told that first and foremost is to fly the plane which they seemed to do when the engine shut down, second, look for a place to land which they tried to do, third, try to restart the engine, which they did. Fourth if engine fails, shut down fuel etc. They didn't seem to do the last part but then again they didn't have much time for it. They seemed to be very close to the ground.

Obviously you know all of this. But I am just giving my opinion in relation to your question.

bryris

Folks, the video is real. I know this guy. I drive pass that very building they pulled off at every time I drive to the airport (KGIF).

They were filming the flight to Sun N Fun, not particularly an abnormal thing.

FlyJSH

If, as has been posted, they were just departing, one would assume they had more than a few minutes of fuel. Also, if just after take off, they were probably already at full throttle.

As for the "scripted" part..... isnt that what we all do for all emergencies? Whether it is "mixtures props throttles" or "confirm l/r engine has autocoarsened" or what ever your a/c and company demands?

Actually, my hats off to them..... they stayed pretty cool under the circumstances.


(not trying to be being snotty, just making an observation)

Ewfflyer

Saw it was on the news this morning, so I now retort my prior post. Still seems wierd how that lil rotax fired up multiple times.

TheSultanofScud

I agree with the above, when discussing USMC's observations. In a single engine airplane my first action after puking an engine is to execute the published memory items (if applicable) and, in every case, to find a suitable forced landing site as quickly as possible. It doesn't matter if I'm at 5,000 or 500. Sure, if I'm higher up and lose an engine during cruising flight I'll take more time to troubleshoot. But at low altitude, any procedures for restart take a back seat to finding a forced landing site. As a CFI I've always taught students to identify their "outs" first...hopefully before they ever need them. You lost the engine once. While the situation may be recoverable, it's ludicrous to start with the assumption that you are going to get it back. I state the obvious because I think people can often talk the talk on forced landings and then forget to walk the walk. It's an airline forum, and it's probably fair to say that many reading this thread have been practicing a very different sequence of procedures following simulated engine failures (in their most recent recurrent training). As an airline pilot, there's life after a single engine failure en route...and usually continued flight. And how much more time is spent in training dealing with single engine failures versus total power loss? In a single you have to assume you're going down, and start the EP with that in mind, every time.

By extending the same pessimism to cruise flight, I hope to share the same result that these two men enjoy: Walking away, and hopefully being able to use most of the aircraft again.

There are a number of guys who have called these men stupid for posting the video. It may be hasty to post it, but any other judgment seems premature to me. Time will tell whether their own judgment was prudent or not. Either way, the plane has cameras, which I deduce, survived the incident. The feds will be looking for footage either way. These guys just committed to the high road+judgment in the court of public opinion.

JayDee

Then Thank Gold Almighty they were blessed with the perfect set of circumstances to not only survive a full blown engine failure, but to have such a perfect landing area.