Story of self - opened and shattered canopy mid-flight
2,091,948
Published 2024-06-20
I also made the mistake of going to the training camp right after recovering from COVID, without allowing my body enough time to fully regain strength. Additionally, flying without any eye protection made the flight even more challenging than it already was.
The flight was a distressing experience, filled with noise, breathing difficulties, and impaired visibility. It took me nearly 28 hours to fully recover my vision. Aerodynamically, Iโve experienced some buffet and controllability challenges. Probably the most difficult part was to keep the power in, thus trading my vision and breathing for kinetic energy.
Although due to all the noise it was difficult to hear what my coach was saying on the radio, one thing I've heard loud and clear "just keep flying"
If you are a pilot watching this, I hope that my story serves as a cautionary tale and that you will learn from my mistake.
I regret that it took me so long to share this video footage. It's not easy to put my vulnerabilities out there for you all to see. However, I have come to realisze how important it is to be transparent about our shortcomings and the lessons we learn along the way.
To all my fellow pilots out there, fly safe.
#aviationsafety #learnfrommistakes #pilotlife #flysafe #pilottraining
All Comments (21)
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Whoever was playing the piano just kept on going like nothing happened! Amazing
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As an Army Aviation guy, this excellent video really emphasizes the need for head and eye protection in a canopy-style airplane. Very well done - Bravo Zulu!
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Jesus. Opening my visor on my bike at 80 to scratch my nose is rough. This must have sucked the big suck. And you still got your bird to ground. Bravo, fantastic piloting.
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Owning your mistakes nowadays is really an honorary thing. Respect.
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I'm a pilot. You made a mistake. You owned it. You've learned from it. You did exactly what you should have done, demonstrating outstanding airmanship in the process. You got the plane back on the ground, no blood, no broken bones, no bent metal. Kudos to you for keeping your cool under extraordinary pressure. And high kudos to you for coming forward and sharing so others may learn from this incident.
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"In case of emergency, fly the airplane!" Safe landing + self awareness and excellent attitude, 10/10 no notes.
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Im not a pilot but I was a crew chief on a ch-53 and we have a crew door on the side that opens in two pieces, and upper and lower, we also wear gunners belts. Once the lower door was close we took flight but the same issue occurred as with you. The locking pins were set but not fully. During flight one of the new crew chiefs was leaning on the door looking out as he was suppose to watching for things... and the door flew open. He went out the door and down the side of the bird. Flapping between the sponson and the engine like a ping pong ball because of the gunners belt holding him. It happens and can be life threatening but luckily he was okay and you were to. Live and learn and if you don't make the same mistake twice then its worth the lesson. it never fails once you start getting comfortable, that's when you make a simple mistake. She did really well and handled it like a boss.
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Thank You for sharing this,,, much was learned, leather headgear w/goggles were the norm in the old days.... Fly the plane is #1 , took you 1-3 sec. to sort it out & then solid focus to the ground , That was beautiful , I'm glad you walked away from this , Guts of Steel....! 70 yr old USAF vet F4E Phatoms ..
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I donโt think most people realize how impaired her vision was, anything over 40 mph without eye protection is brutal, props to you for staying calm and landing the plane safely ๐
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Brilliant how the pianist didn't miss a beat.
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Iโm not a pilot and I have no idea why the algorithm suggested this, but if I ever get on a plane and you were the pilot, Iโd feel completely safe. You managed that like a pro. Amazing girl.
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Omg ,,,I literally jumped and shouted when canopy flipped open my whole family watched you ,,my children cheered when yu landed..You are a bravest and coolest lady I have seen,,extremely intelligent and load of patience,,God bless you with long life,,Best of luck๐๐๐๐โค
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I am an aviator. First, so glad you suffered no serious injury. Second, you demonstrated outstanding airmanship. ALL pilot should aspire to this. Third, so grateful that you shared this. Incredibly helpful.
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Those dry eyes did a superb job of seeing the speed indicator preventing going below stall speed upon the approach. Great handling of a demanding situation like that.๐๐๐๐๐๐ค
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Your'e Unstoppable Narine.!! Your expertise in safely controlling a very serious problem is admirable, and your self-deprivition & thoughtfulness for other pilots safety is worthy of applause!! An impressive young lady indeed!!
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As a former aviator (hopefully I will be flying again soon once funds are in place)you did Excellent - You flew the plane First. I was flying a T-Tail Tomahawk one day many many years ago at age 17 and the door wasn't latched completely (has 1/2 of the bubble-canopy attached to door for those who may not know ) and the wind from the propellor was so loud and boisterous in my ears that it was almost deafening & made it easy to lose focus but I didn't - God and instinct took over-- it happened on takeoff as I was climbing to TPA and so I just kept flying the plane , entered downwind, base & final and then shut the door properly once I landed - and yes, it shook me up but I took back-off into the sky afterwards. Not nearly as bad as what happened to you but I want you to know that You did the Ultimate Correct thing and you piloted the plane First , then once you landed , you took a breath -- You're an Amazing pilot , I'd fly with you in a heartbeat โค.
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I'd fly with you. In YouTube social-media land, you could have avoided responsibility and told your audience that the pin failed, but you acknowledged your own actions. Respect to you.
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10/10... Rule #1.. fly the airplane... She did... No panic... Just got her back on the ground... No jacking with the canopy frame or anything.. Handled perfect... Bravo...
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So much respect to you. Both for landing this after the emergency and for sharing it with the world, regardless of how long it took you to share. It's not easy to put your mistakes in front of everyone. But you did well.
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It was a good recovery and a good, though expensive, lesson and you did the proper analysis after the fact. I learned many years ago lessons like this and even today when I ride my motorcycle I have a full face helmet with integral windscreen, integral sunshade and I still wear my shatterproof sunglasses beneath those. Eyes are precious in an emergency. I watched the video over and over and while a visual check is good, I have seen many a pilot push up on the canopy as an additional check while listening for anything out of the ordinary. This was a good recovery and didn't cause any irreparable harm to either pilot or aircraft. I compliment you for sharing your experience in the hopes that you may prevent others from this or a worse mistake. Keep it flying !
