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Close Calls
Have you had a close call? Write to us about an aviation incident or accident that you have been involved in (as long as it’s not the subject of a current official investigation). If we publish your story, you will receive $500. Articles should be between 450 and 1400 words. Submit your close call by emailing fsa@casa.gov.au and your story could be published like the ones below...
A scary downhill take-off
Anonymous
After many years of on-again off-again training, I was finally the proud holder of a private pilot certificate.
I had been aware of an...
The long and hiding road
By John Void
Becoming lost in unexpected bad weather and low on fuel was a scary experience.
For years, we had been flying around western Queensland...
Crossing the line
By Tim Rankin
Trying to make decisions when fatigued proves difficult for this pilot.
This story started some months before the flight about to be...
Too close for comfort
By Des Webster
I was flying a Piper Archer from Richmond to Young in December 2018. Around midday I was approaching Young airport from the...
A picture in your head
By a Flight Safety Australia reader
One pilot’s apparent distraction with cockpit technology led to a loss of situational awareness in the circuit area, narrowly...
Nothing on the clock
By Warren Scanlon
This pilot had to make quick decisions after the airspeed indicator failed
Shortly after obtaining my private pilots’ licence, I hired a Warrior...
Comedy of terrors
Comedy of terrors
By a Flight Safety Australia reader
It was a departure from Karachi, Pakistan at 0100 local, with the outside air temperature in the...
What’s the circuit height?
I originally learnt to fly in the mid-1970s, but a stint working overseas followed by some serious health issues, caused me to stop flying...
Complacency does hurt
By Dion Puru
In mid-2018 I attended a skydiving training event at a small skydiving centre on the Central Coast of NSW. I was training...
Aerobatics training saved me from a death spiral
By Charles O’Neil
As I write about this close call, I have been flying for 58 years and am enjoying it now as much as...
The passenger trap
By Greg Ackman
It was a lovely day for flying and my two passengers were a husband and wife who owned a business that sold...
Red means danger
A young engineer who followed his training and stood his ground when others assured him there was no problem may well have saved his...
It’s not worth dying for
by Lea Vesic
It was a cool, calm and cloudy winter’s day in Adelaide, but (in hindsight) not the kind of day you wake up...
How I learned to say no
Name withheld by request
The general narrative of a close call story is one of a singular incident, where perhaps one came much closer to...
Not very happy returns
A much-anticipated first flying lesson ends badly in this close call, first published in 2012
Name withheld by request
I was 18 years old, and each...
Programmed to deceive
The amazing technology that directs you to wherever you want to go will just as happily direct you to where you don’t want to...
You can do this, just breathe
In this close call from 2012, Terry Anderson thanks his instructor for the flying lessons and general attitude that made a night engine failure...
Ignoring the windsock
This contributor had a scary encounter with a slippery runway
Name withheld by request
On a cold winter morning, I departed the Yarra Valley (Victoria) in...
The old man was right
Now older himself, the author of this 2011 close call rues the combination of inexperience and confidence that almost got him killed.
Name withheld...
Locked into terror
Sometimes it’s important to listen to your doubts, even when there seem to be perfectly good explanations for something that just doesn’t feel right,...
When in doubt speak up
This repost of a close call from 2010 is timeless in its lessons, and in its ability to raise a cringe
Name withheld by request
A common...
Fully sick
Simon Pettit tells of a less-than-VIP experience in an oldie-but-goodie story from our 2010 Close Calls Special
I was flying tourists around Kings Canyon, as...
His story … almost history
Pilot Michael Ralph’s graphic retelling of an all-too-common VFR occurrence. On 29 July 2007, a Piper Warrior flown by a VFR pilot, with three...
A brutal hazing
Flight Safety Australia reader Nic Barnes discovers things are different up north
As a VFR private pilot from Adelaide, I have enjoyed many years of...
Overly task focused
As I sit here typing in a neck brace, arm cast and with a mouth full of stitches, I can’t help but note the...
This can’t be the leans, I’m not in cloud!
by Julian Yates
I’ve tried to avoid situations that cause raised heart rates and sweaty palms while flying and have mostly achieved this. I’m pretty...
First Solo Sorrows
by Gavin Richardson
As most of you would understand, your first solo is a big deal. The emotions, nerves, confidence and premature elation is consuming...
Aviate-navigate-communicate-administrate
by Alexander Robinson, a Flight Safety Australia reader
‘Aviation in itself is not inherently dangerous. But to an even greater degree than the sea, it...
The air was electric
by Peter Ffrench, a Flight Safety Australia reader
As a newbie paraglider pilot at Stanwell Park in 2006, a part of my site induction was...
Green walls of Salamanca
by Tony Sandeberg, Flight Safety Australia reader
It was my second paragliding adventure to Europe. The first had been the best five weeks of my life,...
Rescued in the nick of time: what not to do
Name withheld by request.
I had not long before purchased a beautiful Skyfox Gazelle aircraft from Boonah Queensland airport and I was very proud of...
Flameout!
by Stephen Cooper, a Flight Safety Australia reader
Today’s mission was to be a four aircraft simulated attack on HMAS Perth sailing 140 nautical miles...
Mountain weather can easily fool you
by Gilbert Griffith, a Flight Safety Australia reader
I had taken my ultralight thruster single seat aircraft out for a short trip of less than...
178 seconds, the real life version
Lee Ungermann, Former Manager Sport Aviation at Civil Aviation Safety Authority
This precautionary tale is one of what happens when experience, complacency and rapidly changing environments conspire...
Deadly decision
by David Wood, Flight Safety Australia reader
I’d test-flown this paraglider at 10,000 feet over the Himalayas and as far as I could tell it...
Crosswind Chaos
Several years ago, my father was visiting from overseas and we were both keen to attend a small fly in and airshow prior to...
A close shave
by John Michell, Flight Safety Australia reader
The Jodel D9 aeroplane was a very light wood and fabric aircraft that would now easily fit into...
Rush is the greatest enemy
by John Raby
There was never a better time to have set out to make your career as an airline pilot than the early nineteen...
Avocado aviator
I had just completed my RA-Aus cross country endorsement when I ventured across the Tasman for my annual visit to catch up with friends...
Complacency – The sleeping dragon
by Greg Ackman
After 40 years and almost 5000 hours of general aviation flying I thought I had it down pat. But one Saturday recently...
It’s always darker on the ground
Close call by Simon Bromiley
I was an occasional jump pilot for a small skydiving operation in Western Australia. It was one of those perfect...
A perfect summer day
by Frank Bender, a Flight Safety Australia reader
It was nearing the end of a beautiful summer day on King Island and I was feeling...
Avoid assumptions without confirmation
Back in the early 80’s I was flying a new Cessna 210 for a company based in Central Western Queensland, servicing an area from...
A very bad decision
Just sitting down to write this still makes my blood run cold. On a day of very marginal weather I went out to Bankstown...
Phoebus and me
Glider pilot Warren Scanlon learns the importance of ergonomics and familiarity
Having been a member of Waikerie Gliding Club for about four or five years...
I should have known better
They say you don’t know what you don’t know, but I should have known better!
I was really enjoying instructing now I had got the...
An unplanned outlanding
‘Well, the weather isn’t like last week at all,’ I thought to myself as I sat in the cockpit, heart pounding almost as much...
Accomplish the mission
Many years ago, I did a lot of my flying in and around North Queensland and Cairns was a regular destination for me. I...
Valuable lesson learned
It was the mid ‘90’s and I had a restricted pilot’s licence under my belt and was half way through navigation training for my...
Don’t ignore the basics
This is a case of ignoring some of the most basic rules. My instructors had always drilled into me the option to go around...
I learned about flying from that
Close call by Rob Nieuwenhoven
I’d not long had my PPL-A (SEA) when I decided to hire an aeroplane to fly to RAAF Amberley from...
Past the point of no return
Mark Sullivan, Branch Manager, Client Services Centre, Civil Aviation Safety Authority
My life didn’t flash before my eyes, nor did I have a sense of...
A blackout in the dark
by David Francis
Introduction
My wife and I spent seven years building our pre-retirement project, an RV7. It started out as a simple VFR project, then...
That sinking feeling
This is an incident that occurred many years ago but has stuck in my memory ever since.
I was departing a certified, but remote, gravel...
Unintended touchdown
As it was a nice day, I thought it would be good to take the plane out for a trip around the local area...
Fully loaded and going fast
by Morgan Mackay
Skydivers are often asked why they'd want to jump out of a perfectly good aeroplane, but what if it wasn't perfect?
I was...
Trim, taut and terrifying
A LAME and low-time pilot learns about aspects of automation that aren’t in the user manual
It was early December and I had the...
Heightened emotion
What happens when the most complex component on the aircraft has problems?
Name withheld by request
This event occurred a number of years ago, and is...
Acid trip
Name withheld by request
A recreational pilot realises he should have trusted his nose for trouble
Autumn mornings often present great flying weather in south-east Queensland...
Conspiracy theory
Name withheld by request
Conspire (verb) of events or circumstances, seemingly to be working together to bring about a particularly negative result.
That word conspire went...
Holes in the cheese
by Paul Gordon-Brander
A Piper PA28R-200 Arrow arrived at our facility for an annual inspection and engine overhaul. The work pack was compiled, the engine...
Flying into cloud
Name withheld by request
Around 5 pm, after a summer’s day, 30 miles south of Biloela, I became surrounded by thick bushfire smoke on top...
Radios—it’s a big sky, but are you listening?
Name withheld by request
Early on in my commercial flying career, I was operating a Cessna 172 on a scenic charter flight will three passengers...
Thermal lesson learnt
Chris Sieberhagen
It was a warm, sunny, late morning on an abandoned airfield surrounded by patchy red earth. You could almost see the thermals popping all...
Drinking distraction
Name withheld by request
It was my rostered day as tow pilot at the gliding club. I got there early so I could pre-flight the...
Time is ticking
by Noah Mirosch
The beginning
It was a routine training flight like any other—Archerfield to Lismore via an overfly at Gold Coast, Lismore to Stanthorpe, and...
When I was young and fuellish
Name withheld by request
It had been a picture perfect day when I set off from Brisbane on a solo navex out west in a...
The hills are alive
Name withheld by request
I’ve held a VFR private pilot’s licence since 1988 and have around 1100 hours in command. Recently, I was involved in...
Sit up or die
Doug Hollstrom
It was a beautiful summer’s day in northern Michigan, in the US. It was 1979 and I had decided to go flying in...
More than a tropical breeze
Jason MacLeod
In June 2016, I travelled to Bali for work but managed to make that coincide with a paragliding tour. With a newly minted...
Easter road trip
By Anthonie Schutte
It’s the Easter weekend. The weather’s perfect, skies are clear and my mate Kevin and I are in the cockpit of my...
All right on the night
Name withheld by request
After the incident, I could only laugh how typical Murphy's law had been to me. I hadn't flown a single minute...
Obvious, with hindsight
Matthew Tomlinson
15 seconds. That was all it took. From the threat first being detected, to a potentially deadly situation, took just 15 seconds. This...
Down to the last drop
A hangar story that could easily have been a front-page newspaper story
Name withheld by request
It was early autumn many years ago and I was...
Watch those last few feet
Name withheld by request
My first close call occurred in September last year. At the time it frightened me to death, but it proved to...
Driven to distraction!
By Frank Martinelli
I am a low-hour recreational pilot who flies from Tyabb, a non-controlled airport south of Melbourne. I usually fly alone, or with...
Edging around the storm
Name withheld by request
As someone who grew up in south-eastern Queensland, I will always remember the strong summer storms that would blow through: the...
Arcing up
It was a simple, mostly harmless event, but it embarrassed an experienced pilot and caused him to ponder his attitude to risk.
I had been...
Hot and distracted
It was a summer day in the north west of NSW and quite hot. I departed the airfield mid-morning and climbed out for some...
At any second
Allan Wardill recalls a crystal clear memory: his first engine failure
I was based at Wewak on the north coast of Papua New Guinea in...
Never forget they’re out there
By Phil Carrick
About a year and a half ago, I took a friend for a great day of flying from Sydney out to Temora...
In sickness and in health
By Deborah Blackman
My partner’s and my four-year dream was about to come to fruition—we were departing on a 78-day flight from Brisbane through northern,...
AUDIO♫: The devil in the detail
How a recreational pilot found himself loaded with fuel without a drop to spare.
Many years ago, I was given the task of delivering a...
All fingers and toes
A low-hour pilot meets the imperatives of ergonomics.
It was a crisp, early morning—cool enough to make your fingertips slightly numb, but a perfect flying...
Popping a joint
A glider jaunt turns serious.
I arrived at the airfield at around 11am on a blue, but soarable day, and found several club members already...
AUDIO♫: Out in Africa
By Rob Rickards
This newly instrument rated pilot was as happy as a warthog in elephant dung. I was flying old, but still shiny, twin...
Power plus attitude
By Max Collins
Night over the Pacific. A Falcon 900 returning to Perth from the United States via Honolulu and Townsville.
The aircraft was operated by...
Light bulb moment
By Peter McCarthy
As a young pilot with about 170 hours total experience, I agreed to make a five-day trip carrying university students on a...
AUDIO♫: What you don’t find can kill you
How secure is your cockpit and cabin? Is everything stowed safely, but still readily available if needed?
One of the fundamental problems with flying is...
Hard lesson to learn
By Mark Awad
It was the type of day most of us pilots live for—low 20 degrees, severe-clear blue skies and not a breath of...
Three-ring mistake
By Mike McGrath
My name is Mike McGrath. I am (or was) a professional skydiver with over 12,000 jumps (7000 tandem jumps) and was the...
AUDIO♫: Undone over Gulgong
By Brendan Cammack
I was running late when I finally left Canberra for the five-hour drive to the town of Gulgong, NSW. Once there I...
A second chance
Name withheld by request
It has taken me six years to actually write this. On many occasions I have thought about it and not done...
Head for the hills
Name withheld by request
When a scenic hang glide took a turn for the worse.
I haven’t mentioned this sport aviation close call to many people,...
AUDIO♫: The rule of three
Name withheld by request
I spent my childhood dreaming of becoming a pilot and getting paid to do something I loved so much. I was...
Solo flight: group errors
By Graham Rees
‘If you see any lift, take it!’ exhorted my instructor. Or so I believed. This was not the first error of the...
Hot and high
Name withheld by request
As a fresh PPL pilot, I was always thrilled when I got to navigate across the state all by myself. The...
AUDIO♫: Learning by threes
Name withheld by request
Complacency is a silent killer. Distraction is beyond dangerous. Situational awareness is everything.
These are the three insights I have gained since...
VFR in not-so VMC weather
Name withheld by request
After lengthy pre-flight planning and preparation, a fellow CPL student and I left Parafield for our commercial training navex to Ayers...
Get there ‘itis’
Name withheld by request
After having recently achieved my private pilot’s licence, I decided to take up an offer from a friend to fly to...