Simviation Forums

...An example of just how easy it is to get lost!

Air Accident Report:

Cessna 152.
Injuries: Minor.

MIA07CA134

The pilot stated that she was on her first solo cross country VFR flight from Lantana, Florida, to Immokalee, Florida, to Air Glades, and back to Lantana. She stated that she departed from Lantana at 0930 eastern daylight time, for Immokalee, Florida, and further stated that she deviated from her course and tried to locate airports, but she could not find them. She said she was aware that she had endurance for 3 hours 30 minutes of flight, and keeping in mind that she was running out of time and fuel, decided to head back to Lantana. On her way back she said she tried to track Labelle and Pahokee VORs but could not, and by that time it was 1310, and she could not locate any airport in the close vicinity, so she decided to make an emergency landing in a field. During the landing the grass was tall and the pilot said she could not land properly, and the airplane incurred damage. An FAA Inspector who responded to the accident scene stated that during his examination of the accident airplane, he found the airplane sitting in a field, left wing down, at about a 45-degree angle, with the right side fuel tank was empty. When he dipped, the left fuel tank he stated that it contained about "two inches" of fuel. According to the inspector, his examination revealed no preaccident anomalies with the airplane or either of its systems, and there was no evidence of fuel spillage at the scene of the accident.

http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_i ... 134&akey=1

http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief2.asp?ev_ ... 134&akey=1

F..... 8-)...!

Hmm, would that be a "controlled flight in to terrain"?  To me it sounds like the nut behind the controls was a little loose.

To me it sounds like the nut behind the controls was a little loose.

This one is on the instructor for turning her loose before she was ready  ::)

I'll cut her a little slack- Florida all looks pretty much the same, so it's pretty easy to get lost. But if you look at a chart of that area, you can see how easy it would be to get un-lost, or at least find an airport with fuel available. Even if she was south of course down over the swamps, the coastline gets closer-east or west- as you head south. Florida isn't even 100 miles wide at that point.  A smart move would be to head for the nearest coastline and try from there to get oriented.
Or she could have just called Miami Approach to see if they had her on the scope...

Or she could have just called Miami Approach to see if they had her on the scope...

Sadly admitting you're lost is difficult for many people. Even more frustrating is how some "professionals" berate private pilots over the airwaves for using 121.5 to ask for ATC help (when some "professionals openly use 121.5 as a chat freq ). As the abve report shows, being lost is an emergency...

Or she could have just called Miami Approach to see if they had her on the scope...

Sadly admitting you're lost is difficult for many people. Even more frustrating is how some "professionals" berate private pilots over the airwaves for using 121.5 to ask for ATC help (when some "professionals openly use 121.5 as a chat freq ). As the abve report shows, being lost is an emergency...

One is never lost, just temporarily unaware of one's position

Matt

Or she could have just called Miami Approach to see if they had her on the scope...

Sadly admitting you're lost is difficult for many people. Even more frustrating is how some "professionals" berate private pilots over the airwaves for using 121.5 to ask for ATC help (when some "professionals openly use 121.5 as a chat freq ). As the abve report shows, being lost is an emergency...

One is never lost, just temporarily unaware of one's position

Matt

Same thing - "Lost" wastes fewer keystrokes and breath!

Flying to a landmark (the coast)... calling approach or FSS ...  using a VOR ....


These are all things she should have known to do (how and when).. before taking off alone, cross country.

Seriously... a student gets so lost on her first X-country that she has to ditch before fuel exhaustion and it's anybody but her instructor's fault ?

One is never lost, just temporarily unaware of one's position

Matt

I think you'd have to be in a pretty sever psychosis to not know your position.

When up in the Club's Cessna 152 I can recognise all the landmarks around my County, so providing the visibility is OK and my NDB radio and gauge is working to guide my back home if necessary, all should be well....

But once in unfamiliar territory, its a different story.

A few moments lack of concentration, and a slight drift from the intended course, then confusion can quickly kick-in..

The more you struggle to make sense of the  map in your lap, and your Compass, and take your eyes off the way ahead, and you are drifting, the more the panic can set in!

You struggle to correctly identify roads, rivers and railway lines, and there are no Nav Aid Beacons in range to help you, and all the time you are using up fuel.

Its then that I can feel the Pilots worry......!

With one tank dry, and very little fuel left in the other tank, (according to the findings), a quick search for a safe landing spot becomes a priority...!!


F....G-BPLF.... 8-)...!

Simulator flying with my FS Navigator GPS is all too easy... ...!

My instructor told me, if all else fails find a railroad and follow it, they always lead to towns.

Or she could have just called Miami Approach to see if they had her on the scope...

Sadly admitting you're lost is difficult for many people. Even more frustrating is how some "professionals" berate private pilots over the airwaves for using 121.5 to ask for ATC help (when some "professionals openly use 121.5 as a chat freq ). As the abve report shows, being lost is an emergency...

I dunno about "chatting" on 121.5, but... using the emergency freq for a position check from ATC... WTF?? If you have a chart, there's no need for that! Call the nearest TRACON, or even a tower!!
Being "temporarily unsure of one's position" is not an emergency if you have your priorities straight- remaining fuel is more critical than your position relative to your intended destination.

That's why I love flying in Victora, Australia... distinctively shaped bay on one side, mountains on the other, another bay with two islands in the middle of it, and the sea on another. You've got to be stupid to get lost here.

Oh, and even if it were a student pilot, how can one fail to forget to use a VOR instrument thingy?

I just looked at the VFR sectional. Assuming good visibility (as it should be for a student's first, solo X-country) ..  Lake Okeechobee would have been visible for the whole flight  :-?

In slack-cutting, we could allow for deteriorating visibility and the failure of a lone Nav radio, and take some of the blame off of the instructor....  But my gut tells me that she just got flustered and couldn't focus through her panic.

I got lost a few times, as a fledgling aviator, and it's a kind of scary in which you cannot predict your reaction, until it happens.

But still... On a well-planned, relatively short X-country flight ?  To get that lost and end up ditching ?

Her instructor let her down.. she wasn't prepared  >:(

Or she could have just called Miami Approach to see if they had her on the scope...

Sadly admitting you're lost is difficult for many people. Even more frustrating is how some "professionals" berate private pilots over the airwaves for using 121.5 to ask for ATC help (when some "professionals openly use 121.5 as a chat freq ). As the abve report shows, being lost is an emergency...

I dunno about "chatting" on 121.5, but... using the emergency freq for a position check from ATC... WTF??

Because calling the emergency frequency (for exmple in the UK) will have your position fixed (triangulated) in about 5 seconds by the nice chaps and chappesses at London or Prestwick ATCCs. I didn't say for position checks either - for when you don't actually know where you are, transmitting on the emergency freq (particularly if not under a radar service) can save a lot of bother  such as spearing/bimbling into controlled airspace. This is particularly so in the UK/Europe, where I imagine the airspace is slightly more of a shark infested custard than the US is (outside of the major cities TMAs/Control Zones) due to the smaller physical area.

I've been temporarily unsure of my position once solo. 4 miles/minute at low level in quite radio intensive and complicated airspace. Not a pleasant feeling, particularly as I was just about to call and pass a reasonably busy airport (Doncaster Batman & Robin Hood "International"). Thankfully within one orbit I had spotted my next turning point (I'd got about a mile and a half left of track). If anyone in the UK knows the Blythe roundabout on the A1, it isn't very easy to spot at low level!