Flight Training - January 2014 - 28

Pitch and trim for best glide speed; pick
an emergency landing spot; head toward
it; troubleshoot and attempt a restart;
make a Mayday call; review the emergency checklist. Fly the airplane.
The practical test standard is a bit more
specific. The FAA wants to know you will
exhibit a satisfactory level of knowledge
relating to the various elements of an
emergency approach and landing. The
agency wants to be sure you can appropriately analyze the situation and select
a reasonable course of action. The FAA's
standards for airspeed allow for up to 10
knots above or below your airplane's best
glide speed. It will test your ability to plan
a pattern that avoids obstructions while
putting you in a survivable setup to land-
and that you've considered your altitude,
the wind, the terrain, and even the possibility of a field full of livestock. Finally,
your examiner wants to see you use the
appropriate checklist.
BEYOND THE PTS. Is that enough for an
actual engine failure? Maybe not. Designated pilot examiner Frank Gallagher
would like us to think beyond the PTS,
envision a more realistic scenario, and
prepare for it before we ever get into the
aircraft. When it comes to engine failures,
he says, "It's either an inconvenience or
a disaster."
The key to a successful outcome may be
as simple-and as difficult-as the thought
processes of the pilot experiencing the
failure. That's the challenge inherent to
emergency training: working successfully
with the least-reliable and most accidentprone component in the aircraft, the
human element.
Although the causes of engine failures
deserve our attention-because many are
easily preventable-Gallagher is focused
on more than the question of what made
the propeller stop spinning. "You need
to think about yourself and how you're
going to react if an emergency like this
occurs," he warns.
A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy
and a retired colonel in the U.S. Marine
Corps, Gallagher's flight experience spans
careers in the military and civilian worlds.
He's held positions as an instructor and
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a test pilot. He's flown fixed-wing and rotary-wing
aircraft, single engine and multiengine-and he's lost
an engine in all of them over the years. While most of
us claim a total experience of zero in real engine failures, Gallagher is working on recording his second
dozen in his flight log.
During a presentation at the Emil Buehler Center
for Aviation Training and Research in Melbourne,
Florida, Gallagher fleshed out his personal experiences losing power while airborne in everything from
a Cessna trainer to a Vultee BT-13 to a multiengine
military helicopter. "Let's talk about panic," Gallagher says. "Panic is an out-of-control situation. The
way to prevent it is training." To simulate an engine
failure, he advises pilots to pause for at least four seconds after closing the throttle. That pause will mimic
what is likely to happen should you ever experience
an actual engine failure.
According to Gallagher, that first four seconds
is critical. Your airspeed will fall rapidly while you
briefly go into denial. The first thought that most
likely will go through your head is This can't be happening to me-not lower the nose and trim for best
glide. Training to deal with emergencies is valuable
if it is continuous and realistic. When confronted
with the real-life situation you will react as you were
trained to react. Hence, if your training is sporadic or
unrealistic, your reaction to the real thing may very
well be insufficient to the event.
Stress is part of your reality in an engine failure.
You are a human being, and you will react as human
beings react when confronting a potentially dangerous situation-which is to say, not very well-unless
you train for the experience. "Deep breathing works
really well," Gallagher says. He encourages new
student pilots as well as veterans to learn calming
techniques that can help us work through our problems when airborne. Gallagher teaches his students
to talk out loud as they react to the emergency. "One
of the most soothing things for you in this type of
situation is to hear your own voice."
"Your reaction has to be automatic and correct,"
says Gallagher of the engine-out scenario and your
response to it. The basics of the PTS serve us well
on this point, but Gallagher encourages pilots to go
beyond the generic task the PTS sets out for us, a task
that far too many CFIs take at face value and present
to their students without any additional context.
THE REAL THING. In real life you may have a passenger sitting beside you who is a nervous flier. "How
is your passenger going to react?" Gallagher asks.
"Are they going to be calm and quiet or will they be
a distraction?" Gallagher's advice is to give your pas-

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Flight Training - January 2014

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