Cirrus Engine Failure at 1500 Feet 

I've been a pilot for 30 years and an aircraft owner. I watched a hundred engine out videos. I'm a worrier and I believe it can, and will, happen to me. I practice engine out landings regularly. Still I have the fear of the real thing. IN all the videos and information I have studied, I never heard your perspective on this. The idea that all the training and practice I continue to do will allow my brain to act appropriately when it is necessary. It's a wonderfully positive thought that I will remember. And of course I will keep practicing and training for emergencies. Thank you for posting this. It really struck home to me.

I’ve had 4 emergencies in 52 yrs of flying, fortunately was able to nurse the plane to an airport each time. Just as you describe, I found my mental awareness instantly became hyper focused, alert and decisive. It’s fascinating to experience how the brain works when flooded with adrenaline.

Brilliant. I am a cfi and am taking this to tell me to give my students even more practice in this area. Mix, pump, tank switch. Mags. Air source (carb heat ). Thanks for putting yourself out there for us. All the best neal sw fla

I'm a new pilot and I watch as many of these videos as I can get my hands on to see what can go wrong and how the situations were successfully handled. I appreciate all the time people put into making these videos just so that others lives can be spared, should they be exposed to the same scenarios. Keep the blue side up!

This is a great narrative and recap. Thanks for doing this, and more than anything, I’m glad you’re safe! Great job!

Fantastic video! I don’t think anyone could have explained that type of situation better and I am so happy you landed safely! I will def take some things I learned from your video which Ik will make me a better pilot but furthermore much more efficient with critical thinking. Thanks for this video!

This is a very well-done explanation of what you need to know. Obviously, inspections and AD compliance need to be taken very seriously and not just a get-her-done attitude. I had previously seen you on a "Then Finer Points" episode and was already impressed with your reaction and skills. Having never lost an engine I can not imagine how the surprise element grabs you.

An outstanding video. I teach military pilots in a small Grob 120 TP turboprop, flying with parachutes but no ejection seats, and I might just show your video on our next ‘Flight Safety Friday.’ We have loads of mnemonics to deal with such situations; but you basically covered them all seamlessly. As a professional pilot with 40 years experience I would have been proud to have handled the situation half as well as you did. Thank you for sharing this.

I had an experience where I mistakenly left my engine switch on B instead of going back to AB. I was taking off in a piper Cherokee from a 3000 foot uncontrolled field in New Jersey at night. I didn't notice anything strange on take off run, but the second my tires left the tarmac the stall warning horn started to go off. My brain went into auto mode just like you said. I immediately trimmed for best climb and I could see the dark contours of the trees at the end of the runway rapidly approaching. At that point I truly didn't know if I was going to clear them but my focus remained on best climb speed as I didn't have time for much else. I flew over the trees and breathed a sigh of relief. I continued to aviate and gain altitude however slowly. When I reached about 800 feet I decided to make a very shallow turn back towards the field so I would have a place to land if the engine failed completely. Then I automatically went into power failure checklist mode and a few seconds later discovered the incorrectly set switch. I felt a little shaken by the adrenaline but proud of how my brain had handled the situation. I then proceeded to tell my wife and sister who were in the plane with me what had just happened.

Excellent job on the landing! I'd also say that learning to fly from an airport surrounded by farmland & lots of fields, is a lot nicer experience than flying over lots of water and hills!

Had a similar issue. Took off and the engine started dying at 1000ft. Fortunately for me I'd heard someone in the club house ten minutes earlier talking about the same plane running very rich. Within a moment I went through all my training, then leaned the plane off and it sprung back into life. It's very true what you say, immediately my training came into action and saved my life, I was over a town with no-where to go. The good news that came from this was, I went straight out and bought my own gorgeous little Robin that I flew for years without a problem.

Excellent video. I'm a new pilot and constantly think about what will I do if I have engine problems. Just recently my headset mic quit working. I could hear everyone else but they couldn't hear me. I had a feeling others could not hear me as I could not hear myself through my headset and when asking for a radio check I got no response. Since there were quite a few planes in the pattern practicing landings, I opted to stay away for from the airport (since I had 3/4 fuel) and found an open area where if something else arose I could set the plane down there. Once there was only one plane left in the pattern on crosswind, I made my way towards entering downwind and entered downwind when the other plane was landing. Figured that was my best option for spacing. I spend quite a bit of time thinking about what I would do should I have an emergency which is great but I need to incorporate the thinking into doing action practice. I am glad that you made a safe landing and was willing to share this with the rest of the world.

Thanks. 🙂👍 I've never flown anything more than a hang glider, but I have experienced brushes with death a few times in various non-flying situations. I think you're describing what happened to me each time; adrenaline kicks in, and the focus of your conscious mind becomes 'What do I do now to try to ensure my survival?'. There is often no time to think 'What did the trainer or coach tell me to do?' because conscious thought runs at less than a thousandth of the speed needed in those situations. Everything in your mind runs at hyper-speed, and nothing irrelevant has a chance to intrude. Many people experience it as time slowing down to a snail's pace. The human brain works on far more distinctly different levels than most people can ever imagine. Those levels have many names, including subconscious, instinct, reflex, hypnosis, sleep states, muscle memory, out-of-body experiences and others. Whatever names we give those mental states, nothing prepares us better for an emergency than proper training and assiduous work in drilling that training into our minds through as many senses as possible. That's why it's vital to simulate potential hazards, to read about them, to talk about them, to watch movies about them, to share experiences, to marine them, to dream about them, and even to repeat the training ad nauseam. It saves lives, as you found out when that engine became too bored to be an engine any longer. Live long and prosper.

I’ve been flying for 49 1/2 years, and because of layoffs here and there, I’ve accumulated just under 3000 hours. At about the 1800 hour mark, in March 2004, I had an engine out, in which my engine looked just like yours. I too was at low altitude, and besides the same “oh shit” comment, I had no panic. I attributed it to two main things-an incredible number of mock engine out emergencies during my initial training, at least one and often several each lesson, and a relatively recent insurance checkout which included a mock engine out all the way to a landing. Although the airplane was new to me (I had 15 hours in it, including the ferry flight home), it is a 172, and I had better than a thousand hours in 172s including instructing in them, so I knew the make/model well-and in my mind, that makes a world of difference. My 4 takeaways from my own experience were train for emergencies, practice emergencies, know the airplane, and regularly keep looking for places to set down. I had become complacent on the last one, so I was fortunate that a suitable field presented itself, but after that event, I constantly look for suitable places. I think, as you do, that if all of those things are part of every pilot’s tool box, panic won’t occur, and the best outcome available will happen. Like others, I was a little surprised that popping the chute didn’t come into your mind, or perhaps it did and you rejected it, because you were relatively low, there have been some chute failures especially at low altitude, and once it’s deployed, you’re no longer in control of where the airplane lands. I’m reminded of the story I read back when I was a student pilot, about a Navy aviator trainee who was thoroughly trained that if he had to land in an engine out emergency in a T-28, he should land gear up. So when he had a true engine out emergency in the pattern, he landed on the 8,000’ runway at Pensacola NAS with the gear up. There are always times when an exception to training is appropriate.

Unfortunately, there is a lot of luck in aviation, as well. Yes, you can make your "luck" better by doing all you can to be a proficient pilot but, as an example, where the engine decides to quit is a big factor in survival no matter how prepared the pilot is. After take off in a densely populated area and the brain will be very challenged in doing a basic task as switching tanks, as the obvious outcome is almost surreal. I hate painting a grim picture but let's also realize that no matter how prepared, aviation has its risks and sometimes those probabilities are against you no matter how prepared. Anyone getting into or staying in aviation must know this.

Good job man! Nicely done!

with my volume low at the start of this video, I was trying to whip my laptop screen off to see what he was circling.

CONGRATULATIONS ON ANOTHER FIRST! If you'd like - I'd be honored to take you up in my glider - and we will give you a proper engine out experience! 😊 Seriously. Reach out to me and I'd love to share with you what gliding can be. You get an honorary ride IMO! Haha! Congratulations again on a well done engine out. NICE FIELD!!!!!

Never flown a plane, nor do i plan to. But i am fascinated by flying. I enjoyed the video. Especially the part where you talked about the brain. I've had my brain do that in different senerios. Nice video stay safe👍

Well done. Congratulations

Great job, great video. As a fellow Cirrus owner, I'd love to know what caused the engine failure.

How do you decide whether to pull the chute or make an amazing landing like you did?

You done good.

Oh no but still a nice landing!

Great out come, glad you made it down ok. I’m a SR22 pilot as well with 400+ hours. Part of your 321 training should involve a discussion around CAPS and the thought process of when to use it. From the video I would venture to say your CFI wasn’t a CSIP? In the past Cirrus was still having a lot of deaths in their planes from pilots forgetting about CAPS because pilots weren’t getting proper training on CAPS. They had a big push to make sure folks added CAPS training into their arsenal of things to do when you lose an engine. They also have us say on every takeoff “CAPS available” when we reach available altitude for CAPS deployment so CAPS stays on our mind and we don’t go into land the plane even if there’s nowhere to land. They’ve even implemented 3 days of free training with a CSIP to anyone who buys one of their planes new or used. This push to include CAPS training has dropped their loss of life instance’s substantially, over 200+ folks are alive today because “CAPS was available”. You were very lucky. I would recommend finding a CSIP in you area and loading up that beautiful brain of yours with info from an instructor that can give you all the ins and outs to all the wonderful technology a Cirrus has to offer. Cirrus planes are on steroids and if your flying it like any other plane you’ve left a bunch of money on the table.

IO-540? Yep, that'll happen....

If you're a real pilot, your biggest fear should be stalling and spinning to the ground, followed by CFIT and mid-air collision. Off-field landings should be way down on the list.

I had an engine failure in February of this year. I had 82 total hours. Jut like you said, training kicked in and lucky for me and my wife, I had an airport 3.5 miles away. It was an uneventful landing. I credit my fantastic CFI's with pounding that training in my head!

I love how the big boys were talking with you. Aviation is an amazing community.

Excellent flying, excellent video! TRAINING TRAINING TRAINING!! I'm a 30 year pilot, 23 year 121 driver, CRM/TEM instructor. I cannot give you enough hi 5's. I certainly appreciate your vulnerability, candor, and professionalism. Nice work my friend. Thank you for putting the time and energy into making this video. I hope it empowers everyone watching to put the same effort into their airmanship as have you. E

I love how another pilot on frequency reminded you to fly the airplane to the ground and how aviation is such a close community. Good job on this emergency and this video.

Always chose BROWN over GREEN. Perfectly done here. As a glider pilot "out landing" is quite normal. No need to get scared. Just land at the lower or lowest end of the speed range! And keep the front wheel up... As long as possible

I'm a new pilot who is fortunate enough to own a plane and when I am flying with my wife she asks why are you always looking at the ground, and I say I am looking for place to land and she gets worried. I then let her know that I was trained to always look for your engine out landing area. Great job on your emergency landing!!

Thrilled to hear you are all right and here to fly another day. I have added this video to my CFI Training list to share with students. Thanks for sharing with us.

Back when I was a student pilot on my first cross country I reached the Set heading point and went through the set heading checklist which starts with pulling the carb heat on. I did that and the engine quit. Well instantly one of my Dads many and hard earned aviation anecdotes came jumping out at me. He used to say "if you move a lever or switch a switch and bad things start happening - move it back to where you found it" . So as I was reaching for the mic button this hit me and I simply pushed the carb heat back off and voila, the engine came back to life. The training school changed the carb the next day.

So…. How did you recover the airplane and let us know what happened to the engine when you get it torn down. Great job.

Great work!! I command the NW Ohio Civil Air Patrol and got a notice of your distress call from one of my lieutenants. I alerted my team and we tracked your ADSB data to that field while we got to our HQ/hangar. We all breathed a sigh of relief when we heard you were un-injured. Fantastic after action report, looking forward to hearing about the engine!

Thought you recently overhauled it. Would love a follow up as to what happened with the engine, I know your diligent about maintenance. Good job keeping your cool and doing ad trained.

Similar experience engine out 1500 ft. Over lake out of Pomona. Tried to restart twice. Fortunately, the engine restarted. I fire walled and traded as much altitude for airspeed as I could and simultaneously headed back to the airport. Turned out it was fuel contamination.

How right you are, I had an engine failure a few weeks ago and I didn’t panic it was all automatic. Made a safe landing back at the airport I had departed.

Took a lot of courage to make this video. Thank you for the great advice and candor. I’m so glad you are okay!

I heard this somewhere recently...."In an emergency, you don't rise to the challenge, you sink to your training". We've all trained for off airport landings, and we all hope we don't have to remember our training.

well done. As a Glider pilot of airfield landing as somewhat more common, and our aircraft are defiantly more suited for them, but even then, it is always a challenge

This just shows at the beginning of the video that he must have been broadcasting on 121.5 and others were listening. We all while flying are one and we all look out for each other. That's awesome.....no air rage!!

Continental engines are garbage !!! My friend had a Cirrus with 800 hours since new, and. You guessed it, the engine exploded (the #3 cylinder was never found) in cruise. Continental and Cirrus both tried to deny his warranty, but after contacting his lawyer they covered fully, firewall forward replacement !!! .

Training training training. Flying as a solo pilot we need to have the feed back and create excellence and SOP’s

GREAT JOB! I find my time as a sailplane pilot really helps with outlandings. You are always looking for a place to land and learn what kind of fields are best. When you run out of lift it's time to pick a field!

"[The brain] was just being perfect at bringing up data that I provided it earlier." This is the key reason to train! I fly from an airport with very few off-airport landing opportunities and rising terrain on departure. My departure briefing always includes the 5 different small fields that I will try to make and in which order they will be available during the departure. And while departing I will actively call out the fields in my head to make sure I am ready. I hope I will never need this knowledge, but if I ever do, I have it. Also: Wonderful piloting job there! There is not really anything to improve.

Might help to go for a ride in a glider and learn from that perspective as well?

The beauty of small single engine airplanes they glide pretty good ! Glad you landed safely ! Good Job

I lost power last August at around 800' AGL shortly after takeoff. I ended up gliding under power lines and landing in a field of standing corn which made for a firm but fairly soft landing. Your mention about not being scared is the same thing I felt. I don't remember a bit of fear, just 100% concentration on what I was going to do next and how to get back on the ground safely. I later found one of the throttle cables broke which explained why the engine idled fine but would not produce any power. This event made me realize how one small failure can turn into an emergency at the worst time possible. Practice engine out landings often. Some day it might be for real.

Great job! As we said in the Marine Corps - Prior Planning (or Preparation) Prevents Piss-Poor Performance - the Six P's. I try to apply that to my flying as well.

Problems? In a Cirrus? Nooooooooo can't be..lol

Engine out, fire, airframe failure, control failure. Super worried about all of those. Engine out the least though since you'll most likely survive it.

Thank you for your excellent job treating an emergency situation properly and not just pulling the chute. I hate it when Cirrus pilots have a manageable problem and just use their chute as a crutch to avoid having to deal with their problem. They belly-flop into a residential area, risking the lives of others, and damage their airplane, which causes insurance rates to go up for all of us. Meanwhile, there's a field or barren stretch of highway half a mile away. The true test of your composure in an emergency will only come when you have that emergency. I've had about 10 in over 22,000 hours of flying. I wouldn't change a thing on any of them. You remained calm and did what you were trained to do. Well done. Not everybody is like that. On two of my emergencies, my first officer froze in fear and shut down. I had to secure the engine myself and talk her down afterward to get her to take over the radio. You talked about the brain being wonderful by shutting off hearing the "pull up" calls to focus on the important things. That's not exactly a good thing - but it is something that affects all humans at a point of task saturation. Nobody is completely immune to it. The hearing is the first thing to go in a stressful situation. In some cases what you are not hearing (not in your case) IS the priority. Consider the Eastern Air Lines 401 crash in the Everglades. All four pilots were pre-occupied with a burned-out landing gear indication light, and not one of them heard the autopilot disconnect, the altitude warnings, or ATC trying to call them to check their altitude. 101 people died on that flight. The important take on that is to be aware of that Human Factor and try to avoid falling into its trap. Nicely done, sir! You should be proud of your accomplishment. Textbook prioritization example!

great job landing, would be cool to see some of the eng photos showing the failure and damage as well.

Glad you are safe and appreciate the time it took to share your experience.

Congratulations on not ending up on Juan Brown's channel. :)

Mansfield isn't too far from me

Well at least you are flying over a huge flat airport the entire way. Interrupted by minor obstructions.

What a great lesson for ALL of you pilot's & wannabes! So profound in explaining how to be PRO-actionary & not RE-actionary to a MAYDAY situation!

I have never seen an engine look like a grenade went off inside the case until now. Thankful for your safe landing.

Thanks for this vid. Much appreciated. Glad your good 👍🏻

My instructor constantly harped on forced landings. Pick a spot to land--LAND THERE. Do not try to pick a better spot---land on the spot you chose. Practice until you know how much room your aircraft needs to safely land. Always have a spot in mind to land---ALWAYS.

Fantastic video - learnt a valuable lesson: we need to keep building/conditioning muscle-memory. I will do more checkflights from here on! (I had two unplanned outlandings with a glider in fields in the past 4 years - In the Swiss alps this is not so simple)

Excellent handling of this emergency. Glad you are still in the land of the living. I've had one emergency in my time - a night electrical failure when I was a low time pilot. I experienced the same feelings: extremely heightened awareness and decisive decision-making. I'm somewhat ashamed to say, I've never felt more alive. Training and proficiency are everything. Keep up the good work.

Thank you for your great commentary! I guess we have all learned much from this video! Thank you for posting! Wish you a great day! Many happy landings! 😊

Reading all the keyboard Karen's in their infinite wisdom talk bad about him for making a darn good landing.... yes he had "CAPS" available I don't think anyone will argue that but let me ask you this... were you in the aircraft?? Were you the pilot?? No?? And No?? Then you talking down, the should have done this should have done that mean nothing just air out the old exhaust pipe. Maybe we should just appreciate the fact that he landed safely and is here to make this video for us and keep your rude derogatory comments to yourselves!! Blue skies y'all blue skies.

In 26 years of Motocross racing, I often noted how things slowed down once I accepted the reality that a crash was inevitable. A calm focus allows time to position the bike and body to minimize damage. I remember thinking clearly, “Here’s the part that’s gunna hurt”🤕

GREAT,GREAT INSPIRITIONAL CONFIDENCE BUILDER VIDEO...I WONDER IF I WOULD HAVE PULLED THE CHUTE..I GUESS YOU ONLY GET THE CHANCE WHEN YOU FIRST THINK OF IT..PULL IT....OR PASS..?...I LIKE HOW SOMEBODY SAID..''FLY IT TO THE GROUND...WAS NICE.!

Great job. Man that's a beautiful plane.

So many crashes in Cirrus planes. That’s why I’m buying a Diamond.

It's a better video if you spend a few seconds to say "I forgot all about the chute, but it would have worked in this scenario." OR "I was too low for the Chute" OR "I chose not to use the Chute because X". That single decision in the most important one you made, and the most important one for a Cirrus pilot to consider if they find themselves with no engine. It's what other pilots and instructors with such an aircraft should learn about from this event. Something went very wrong in your training if you did not even consider it. In the absence of an operable Chute the most important thing was that you did not stall the plane as many do just before touchdown in a forced landing. Just general flying was perfect. I'd also say that field selection was perfect. There's grass airports that aren't as nice as the field you chose. Smooth, away from trees, power lines, obstructions, extra room and you landed right where anyone would have wanted to. Glad you're alright and hopefully that plane will be flying again before too long. Also thanks for letting the aircraft above know you were okay!

The PT6 is a widely used turbinr . KingAirs , caravans and other been going down all over as well . As for air cooled motors we got the Corvair I had two , Porsche , VW . However , still the rip off price for a simple 4 cyl. is stupid high andmany don't last to TBO . I am a 47 year pilot with a few thoudsand hours and I been building engines for over 60 years .

Swap the engine , temporarily change to bush wheels , and relocate the beautiful airplane

Glad..VERY glad, it went about as perfect as it could have. My guess is, a LOT ot that apprehension and LACK OF NERVOUSNESS, came from ALL those EXCELLENT, huge number of fields to choose from!

Yessir, you had a Catastrophic Engine Failure! You also picked the very best field to land in; well packed/not freshly plowed.

Thanks for sharing your story! My home airport is KDKB - DeKalb. I certainly will be scheduling some time with an instructor. Especially since “life” pulls you away from flying.

You really put together a great video here. Showing the lesson with a CFI going through engine out emergency in the same airplane you had the emergency in was brilliant. Most GA pilots fly 50+ yr old, one engine airplanes. I feel the most important thing for GA pilots is to is keep a vow that you will never be afraid to make an off airport landing, and this landing will be the best landing you will ever make. When I fly my 1972 Cessna 182 I always know the winds (smoke from stacks etc are great indicators), and I'm always looking for the closest airports and open fields.

Perhaps we should be incorporating the psychology of decision making into flight training.

Thank you. Yours is the BEST aviation training video I have ever watched (and I have watched many). Your message confirms, in time of crisis we do not rise to the occasion. We revert to the level of our training. Again, thank you.

However, you also had the benefit of a near perfect place for an emergency landing. It this had been tree covered terrain...your composure would have probably been different. But, you did a great job!!

Its a lot about good primary training, Ive had two launch emergencies in gliders, both times I reacted correctly with little to no thought, surprising myself in the process., as you put it, on auto pilot.Proper planning pays

I think you did very well. Wide open area to safely land do that. No safe area to land pull chute.

I celebrated 50 years of private/military/commercial aviation last year.. I've had a plethora of engine failures and emergencies (never dead sticking in but a couple of zero thrust) but the one thing that has come back to me is training, training, and more training! (I guess that's three) It becomes mental muscle training. If you train correctly, it comes automatically when things go sh*t-house. Your brain autoshifted into that training mode. Never forget the aviation tenet, aviate, navigate, communicate as the basis of every emergency. Congrats on your decision process!! Well done...just like you trained.....as it should be!

Thanks for walking us through everything and nice job. I had a few emergencies in my lifetime but all were in turbine equipment and not too scary.

That’s funny, I heard this mayday call on guard that day flying into CMH. I was working that day. Now here it is on RU-vid. Nicely done, sir.

Awesome 👍

I have 680 hours in my belt and have never had an engine out…………..YET. The engine outs that I’ve had were controlled training scenarios. You must train for these things or you will panic when push comes to shove.

Does that mean the plane is trashed?. Do the insurance companies take over. That plane looks repairable.

Very few people will rise to the occasion, the best the average person should expect is to fall back on your training. Are you ready for an emergency?

My first off "airport" landing was during primary flight instruction. The CFI simulated an engine out near a grass strip airport. We did a full landing on the grass strip which was not at all like a paved runway but my confidence grew greatly knowing I could safely land off pavement.

Yeah, I think your CFI set this up to see if you REALLY were paying attention! jk. Great outcome and great response to your situation.

Nice job! My emergency landing checklist includes turning the fuel selector to "off" and turning off the master switch just before touchdown. These are fire prevention measures. Also, since SR planes are fixed-gear I would use your soft field landing procedure. Landing on the mains only and keeping the nose wheel off the ground as long as possible reduces the chance of cartwheeling.

Wonderful video with lots of great points! One of my favorite things about the aviation community is everyone's willingness to share their experience and eagerness to learn from others' experiences! - Beth

As a new pilot I absolutely appreciate your positive attitude on this. Entering into every new experience with an open mind and appreciating just how important good preparation like this is in critical situations. It’s something that’s always expected in aviation but seldom explained as well as you put it. Thank you for keeping us safe.

Commercial power-off 180’s are great practice!

Great job. Thank you for sharing. Your story benefits many. I never heard the 3-2-1 rule....useful. Happy flying.

You mentally caused the engine to fail. Crazy but who knows.

“I’m gonna pitch for 87” “88 is actually the best glide speed” I’m sure he’s a fine instructor but I almost rolled my eyes out my head at that. Good job though buddy.