r/nextfuckinglevel 26d ago

Engine fails during student pilot’s flight

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u/old_skul 25d ago

Hate to say it, but....that's par for the course. Unless you're over a densely populated area, there's always a field of some sort to put a small plane down in. Not to say it wasn't exciting, but pilots are trained for exactly this (although I have to say this pilot didn't follow any type of troubleshooting procedure, at least not in this edited video).

When getting even your private pilot's license, it's part of the training to have your instructor "pull your engine" at any point during any training flight, and then expect you to follow procedure to bring the aircraft into a safe configuration to make a safe landing off-airport. This usually means setting up the aircraft for maximum no-power glide time, picking an appropriate landing area, troubleshooting the engine issues, and approaching for a safe landing. When getting my PPL I did this dozens of times and could do it in my sleep at this point.

This pilot did the real deal and lived to post his video for everyone to armchair quarterback. Good job pilot.