Dying to Get Home: Squawk 7700. Earls Colne to.......? Emergency Flight Vlog 

Update: Reaction to this video: (btw I make less than £50 a month from this YT channel - this video wasn't for money, which some very sceptical armchair pilots seem to think it was. One guy even accused me of faking this emergency for clicks and likes. Almost as stupid as my decision making in this video.) ru-vid.comqAptHibPehs

Instrument flight with an instructor every three months, instrument flight with foggles and a fellow pilot as safety pilot every month and get your autopilot fixed! You deserve a standing ovation for your honesty and being humble enough to share the emotional fallout. So glad you are safe and sound, keep going, you have the skills, so keep’em sharp and current! Thank you for sharing! 👍👍

Thanks so much for sharing. I had an almost identical experience from Elstree to Bembridge back in March 2024. Ended up on 121.5 also squawking 7700 and diverted to Rochester on radar vectors from the Distress and Diversion Cell. All pilots make mistakes, some small, some big. It happens. You absolutely did the right thing by just simply getting the plane on the ground rather than trying your luck. Well done, great lesson learned.

Retired pro pilot here. Don’t beat yourself up too much. There are 3 types of private pilots… ones waiting to scare themselves shitless, those that have and lived and learned, and dead ones! You are in the top 33%. Congratulations.

Don't feel bad, I think even good pilots get it wrong occasionally. I had an almost identical experience a number of years ago. I was visiting Dunkeswell for lunch and knew that the weather was coming in later in the day. I bumped into a pilot friend who I hadn't seen in a while and ended up talking to him for far too long as so I departed much later that I planned. I had to get back home as I was flying to France on holiday the next day. As I passed Exeter enroute back to Plymouth, the weather started to deteriorate. After 10 minutes I contacted Plymouth for a weather report and it was still VMC there so I continued thinking that I could always divert back to Exeter or even Dunkeswell. At about 10 miles from Plymouth I was flying dangerously low and when I looked behind the cloud was down to the deck. The weather at Plymouth was still OK but there was no way in. At that point I declared an emergency and told the Plymouth controller that I was planning to land at a private strip that I knew of a few miles to the south. I had never landed at the strip before but I knew the length to be suitable. As soon as I landed the cloud closed in around and the drizzle started. I got a lift back into Plymouth and I went straight up to see the controller in the tower. Apart from all the paperwork I caused him, he was glad to see me. A friend flew the plane out and back to Plymouth the following day in perfect conditions. I know that feeling of 'I've got to land now', that's what I felt too, I just wanted to be on the ground. My aircraft and licence were VFR only and I had no other options. In hindsight I should have acknowledged that I was leaving too late and that I didn't have enough time to get back before the weather deteriorated. I should have then accepted the wrath of my wife when I called and asked her to come and pick me up from Dunkeswell.

Wow. What a learning experience. So powerful a video. You don’t know how many people you might have saved. Thank you for posting. I was recently concerned another UK aviation RU-vidr who suggested that we should push our limits, and ignore the classics of if there was doubt there is no doubt etc, and then you come along and demonstrate the old adages are so real and important, with real life experience. Yes you made mistakes, easy to say in hindsight, but you also dis the right thing, not once but multiple times. Realising that you were tasked loaded was the first. Declaring an emergency was also a great decision. You did the right things and continue to do so by educating others with your experience. Thank you. Wayne WhiskeyAlphaPilot

These videos will literally save lives. Thank you Charlie 🙏

Charlie, it takes some balls to share like this and show your mistakes so others can learn. I am grateful for your video and all to aware of how easy it is to fall into such a trap. Thank you for sharing with us fellow aviators. Safe flying for you, your family and friends. Cheers Rob from SundayFLYR

Charlie - just thank you. Honest vlogs like this do help us all learn and so fly safer. Let your experience be a lesson to us all that gethomeitus can strike anyone. I have personally been saved by something I saw on the flying reporters channel, it kicked in at a horrid fraction of a second when I was starting to porpoise when badly landing at Lydd. These experiences GA pilots share do help keep us flying safe.

🦘🇦🇺 Thank you Charlie for your raw honesty. I really believe you are on the cusp of a major neurological discovery. Even the jigsaw you have pieced together in this blog could be put into an app or a short worksheet that could be done at the get-go would be instrumental at saving countless lives. But the real take away would be to put your experience together with others who have lived to tell their story, in front of some neurologists who could determine the key decision points / red flags that would raise the awareness to all the deadly ‘itices’ in order for pilots to really stick to rational actions in such cases. Well done 🙏

Appreciate the candour. I and everyone can learn and be reminded of this. I have done my fair share of sketchy weather flying whilst hour building and looking back I should have just stayed on the ground Thank you again for sharing.

Fairplay to you Charlie, glad your ok and still here to tell this tale.

The fact that you are telling the story its a learning curve and lucky you can live to share with us, we have all been in those moments when we have to make a decision, to either go further we can always turn around 180 which is what we have been taught during pilot training. this video has taught me that if there is any doubt don't fly. if you plan vfr then fly weather accordingly or have an ifr route planned. The flying community needs more videos like this and not the if buts and maybes of people that don't live to say what happened.

Thanks for sharing- powerful to watch and I’m glad you’re safe.

I really appreciate you sharing this and the honesty Charlie!

Great question from my instructor once : " Is the weather improving or getting worse at your destination".

As so many have said, thank you for the honesty and bravery in sharing this video and analysing your own mistakes and weakness in a very public way - a brave thing to do! My take away is that given you knew you were not comfortable flying IMC and given the conditions you knew you were heading into, you simply should not have departed Earls Colne...or if you had only with the definite plan of landing at an airfield you expected to have suitable conditions. Anyway, good decision making prevailed at the end in getting on the ground and thanks again for sharing. By coincidence, I actually saw you before you departed Blackbushe where I am based! Safe flying and blue skies!

Well done Charlie, honest, open and candid. We who are fortunate enough to keep going in aviation are here due to a combination of good planning, judgement and sticking to the SOPs, ... and yes a certain amount of luck, if we are all honest. Flying is the mistress who gives and takes in random measures, never to be underestimated and always there to deal one a curved ball when we least expect it. Sounds like you've learned a valuable lesson or two after your day out, and what a great service you are providing to others - no one can have watched your video without thinking yep, could have been me.......... thank you. Well done on declaring the emergency, even if Exeter could no longer hear you the 7700 squawk surely helped. Like many others have said, please do keep up the IMC flying skills, they are a life saver. Weekly practice makes sense with the vagaries of the UK weather, as they are an erodible skillset in the use-it-or-lose-it toolkit. Get your autopilot fully serviceable, and never, never rely solely on a portable navigation device without back up elsewhere in the cockpit. I know you had your phone on the day, and this shows just how essential navaid redundancy is. Get comfortable with using that GNS430 (I think) in your panel. Get back on the horse soon, best of luck with the continued journey.🙂🛩

thanks for sharing man! Good lesson for all of us. im glad you made it home safe

Glad your safe. Not sure what to say. I have the IRR rating and i regularly use it. I consider it the most important skill ive learnt and must keep. Just last week i tried salcombe which was fogged in and without a second thought diverted to newquay no issue and did the ILS. Did worry this situation was just for the views but its clear to see or hear your panic. Use the IRR as much as you can, it's an enormous safety net. I aim to do an approach atleast once a month. Oh and fix the autopilot, it massively reduces workload in IMC as you know.

Thanks for sharing your story. So important!

Thanks for the video Charlie, really great that we are able to learn from your experience, glad you are ok and I hope you haven't scared yourself to much. A great instructor saud to me recently; the best pilots have chicken tattooed down their back. All the best and safe flying.

Well done for posting this. A close call.. It reminded me of an IMC 'event' I had about 10 years ago. At the time I had an IMC rating (as was) but was rusty as hell. I didnt flight plan overly well (no real alternates except a glider site at Ashbourne) and was headed back over Derbyshire after a pleasure flight , on track for Gamston. I was over the Dams (of Dambuster fame) a bit low and realised clag was rolling in from the hills.. Anyway, I had to climb for terrain and remember entering solid thick cloud, and a cold sweat started to build on my brow.. I think that was the loneliest place I have ever been. I switched to the artifical horizon and realised my Garmin handheld GPS was off and I didnt know where I was going. Anyway I snapped out of it, got my game face on and managed to somehow get the garmin back and pop out near Sheffield where conditions become VMC again. Lesson learned. A few years later I did an IR rating which is not valid currently... I think the main thing is to always get IMC instruction if you are rusty and to always practice IMC regularly regardless of if you plan to use it or not. I have not been flying the last 18months due to family issues but hope to get back later this year. Keep the videos up and hope to meet you in a GA cafe someday!

powerful video charlie thank you for sharing - messaged received loud and clear...🙏

Thanks for your video, plenty of food for thought. As a relatively new pilot one of the best things that I did post IMC rating was to go out with my instructor and simply hand fly holds (VOR & NDB) in cloud (hard IMC) for an hour. Cloud base was 3-4,000 ft so no concerns about getting back down. This was a great exercise and really boosted my confidence.

RESPECT TO YOU!

6 mins in and still waffling. Will fast forward to get to the flying.... OK, I can hear Exeter trying their best to look after you with great advice. You must know about the tragedy there 2 years ago, in IMC? If it's that bad, put it in a field, any field that is long enough. You took far too many risks, lots of holes in the cheese. As PIC you are legally obliged to check the weather at departure, en route and at destination is such that you should be able to safely complete your flight. Saying you took off knowing it may well not be safe is not what I'd like to hear. Having a diversion field in mind is always a necessity but flying past it several times in deteriorating weather is useless. When I was a student my instructor made sure we went up in crap weather to show me how a) thoroughly unpleasant it is, and b) how darned dangerous it is, ESPECIALLY near rising ground! He got the message over. My second qualified flight I turned back due lowering cloudbase and on landing I sought him out and thanked him. PS, were you not allowed to show your approach or landing as it was mil airfield? It would have been interesting to hear the RT, too.

I live two fields away from Merryfield. Next time let me know so I can bring you a cuppa.

Thank you, Charlie. This brought back some haunting memories of recent flights, questioning whether I should have pressed on.

Crikey Charlie…scary stuff. Glad you are safe!

Appreciate you sharing this experience. Glad it ended in a positive outcome. 👍

Wow. This video was brilliantly put together. Kept me watching right to the end. I follow you on both your channels, Charlie, and you can be bit of a drama queen sometimes, but the self-analysis here was superb and will undoubtedly help others to make better decisions. Btw, another invitation to come to Hertfordshire to fly my full size 737 sim sometime!

A similar thing happened to me coming back from Duxford years ago… 121.5 and ATC were brilliant… got me on the ground at Cambridge with a ceiling of 400 feet.

A good one to share Charlie. You are always self critical and honest in your situational reviews which I am sure will help many of us and is always a good practice of yours. Well done!

And the tories are out - it's a lucky day indeed. Happy you're not splattered, you've got a lot of potential still ahead of you.

If there is any doubt there is no doubt. Well done for declaring an emergency and getting on the ground. At least you’ve done your caa reflection form now 😂

Some bad decisions to press on. Get home itis. Good final decisions. Don’t rely on autopilot in IMC. you gotta be able to always hand fly IMC!!!! Good you bared your soul here. Many have gotten into this situation, lost all options and stalled/spin to crash and die. You used up some luck, of your luck bucket.

thanks for sharing!

Well done for surviving! A good bit of reflection and the right lessons learned. We've all done something stupid. Next time the soup is ahead of you... take the divert.

Excellent video Charlie. Flight into bad weather, since the Wright Brothers is still the biggest GA killer….The haters can get stuffed. Even IFR rated and pilots have weather limits. Anyone who treats thunderstorms with contempt, has his days numbered no matter what your IF capability is. I have been flying since 1980, mostly military. I think when you are dicing with the weather, I like to define exactly what my weather limit is on this trip and I will clearly define a point at which if it still looks marginal overhead that point, then I WILL divert. Another thing I brief myself is if during the diversion, the weather looks to be improving, I will not deviate from my plan but will continue to land at the diversion field, regardless. It’s funny but two factors seem to be often forgotten. If the weather is getting worse ahead, it’s a good chance it’s getting worse behind you….cutting your options. Another thing is in bad weather drop10 degrees flap and SLOW DOWN….it buys you time to think and often may mean surviving a CFIT. When was the last time you chose a section of dirt road or a field and practiced a low level precautionary tight circuit, to a low go around on final? Watch out for power lines however! Yes I remember losing a good mate who died in bad weather. Yet the very next day, it was a gin clear, limitless blue sky….just the next day…..tragic.

Well done. Thanks for the transparency and posting this. If you fly long enough you will experience stressful situations that will push you to your limits. This video will help someone make better decisions during preflight and in-flight, which will hopefully prevent their poor decision making from being the catalyst to them in a deadly situation. Again thank you.

Very honest, thanks for sharing.

A thought provoking and candid video Charlie, thanks for posting. The 7700 was absolutely the best decision in the end. It was very uncomfortable watching you getting sandwiched between the IMC and the terrain below, especially when SD started playing up and you got behind the aircraft a bit. I think your takeaways are valid - climbing to MSA in IMC would have been ideal - but I'd include one of getting that AP sorted out asap so that you can have some confidence in it... It would have allowed you to get back ahead of the aircraft (admittedly probably in IMC, but at least above MSA) and then work out your options with some more thought-capacity available (ILS into exeter...). Fly safe - and do dust off those foggles!

You can always say never again, but you are now a little more prepared for the oh shit I am doing it again. Great video as always. I have done it more scary than yours as nearly hit a wind turbine I was that low I flew between them!!! Not clever I know but the get home, got me home, no instruments, only skydemon…. Couldn’t have gone vmc as didn’t have that IRR under my belt. Live and learn and live is enough

Hi Charlie, just watched your video and commend you for your honesty, As a commercial pilot / trainer could I pass on my thoughts ???? For what it’s worth ….Whilst you’re kicking yourself, bear in mind you had the sense not to blindly carry on to Dunkeswell, you were aware of the weather and made a conscious decision not to carry on. Yes you could have diverted sooner or not be drawn into the ‘suckers gap’ but that’s pure hindsight.The overload has spooked you but you still had the sense to gather your wits and make a safe and successful arrival into Merryfield. History is littered with accidents where pilots sadly hadn’t done this. Next time (preferably at a planning stage) why not consider setting a ‘bottom line’ or minima ie, low cloud base, viz, MSA etc at which which you will ‘knock it off’ and divert.- and when approaching marginal conditions stick to it!!! This also helps avoid being drawn into a ‘suckers gap As for climbing into IMC is a tricky call - if current and confident with Instrument flying it’s a good option… if not or unconfident in the instruments etc it’s not so cut and dried… Lots of lessons here and don’t let this put you off… every pilot worth his salt have stories similar and it’s through sharing and learning we improve…

Such a good and important video, even hits closer to home because I'm a regular at all these places (Salisbury based). I think I'm more cautious when setting off (if weather is marginal I'll either go elsewhere or not at all) than you but I *definitely* fall foul of press-on-itis. I hate disrupting others and feeling judged and I would have pushed until the last minute just like you did. Brilliant lesson, thank you. Next time I'm at Dunkeswell I'll put a beer behind the bar for you to calm your nerves!

cherry on the cake "a risk assesment for my departure" 🤣🤣🤣 maaate

Let me give you a positive from your experience. I fly near and around the tern hill/shawbury cmatz. I've always had in my head that even in an emergency I should avoid them. But I think you've removed that concern, which wasn't a reasonable one anyway. But sometimes it's nice to see somebody else do something before you do it yourself.

Thanks for sharing Charlie. I notice that you have both two Garmin's onboard, do you think that there is potentially an over reliance on iPads and personal devices that can catch us off guard when they fail? (All my flying was without these devices back in the day with paper maps 😂 - although Sky demon is awesome!)

There but for the grace of God. Thank you for posting this, so hopefully others can learn from your mistakes. A similar experience by a friend of mine has led me to practice instruments at least weekly on a home computer sim - obviously that’s not equivalent to currency for a planned IFR flight, but I hope it will help if I ever find myself in the position you did in this video. Thanks again

Great video Charlie Lamdin. Thanks for sharing your latest flying experience. I’ve been following your videos for a long time, so I know you are a very competent Pilot and have flown in very marginal conditions before, since you know your limits and capabilities. I recall you had a close call with the weather soon after getting your PPL when you to an ex-girlfriend flying. I don’t own my own aircraft, so I can imagine it can be more tempting to fly in these marginal weather conditions. I have about 260 hours and like pushing myself past my comfort zone occasionally and finding it very rewarding in terms of experience. However, one thing I have learnt over the years is to always listen to instructors and ATC when it comes to the weather. When you own your own aircraft, you may not always get a chance to speak to another Pilot or instructor before you fly, so you don’t have that second pair of eyes as a safety net. I have read many similar stories of experienced Pilots getting into trouble as they are more likely to fly in challenging conditions as compared with a less experienced Pilot. You did the right thing, you held your hand up and asked for help before it was too late. Listen to your instincts and others around, it’s not worth the risk. Hopefully you and others will learn something from this. 🙏🏽

Thank you so much for sharing this, I started messaging you about one of my own bungles on instagram but the message is apparently too long and won’t let me send anything more..

Very interesting for me. I was based at Eggesford for 12 years with my super cub from 2002 to 2014. Now in Australia with the super cub and a 185. I have been in a similar situation many times and once sat on the ground at the farm strip north of Bampton, watching an R44 go over to the West which then crashed near Bude due loss of control in IMC. I must admit that I am surprised that as a Dunkeswell based pilot you didn't appreciate that the clag can sit on Dunkeswell on top of the hill all day while Exeter is fine. This is so common and the idea that Dunkeswell was ever going to improve that day was seriously crazy. Well done for surviving. Back in the day when I did my PPL (1983), precautionary landing in a field with power due to weather was on the syllabus. I am always prepared to do that, though I do only fly tailwheel aircraft and have a lot of strip / off airport experience. Nevertheless, for anyone it is preferable to loss of control in inadvertent IMC.

Never lost my GPS signal. Android tablet. Not an ipad with link to external gps device. Was it a SkyEcho? I hear reports of them being unreliable

Agree about recognising that you're not current on instruments 100%. However, once every 3 Months is still not enough. You need to be doing a good hour of IMC every Week or two to stay current enough with some flown approaches to be safe. Also, buy an iPad with cellular!!

A part of me is going "What an idiot" but I also know human factors with complacency its a definitely risk for all us pilots. Videos like this means we can at least have our stupid brains have extra confirmation to realise maybe don't fly like a idiot so thanks for putting yourself up there and being vulnerable. Advice from my instructors hopefully it can help. I would say you've got a GPS in your aircraft use it. The iPad are great and add extra situation awareness but shouldn't be used as a primary navigation device. iPad don't have features like RAIM or WAAS etc. I guess you do have your SkyEcho that can improve that but it doesn't hurt to have your avionics working for you.

As others have said, and will continue to say - well done as ever for being open and honest enough to share this. We all learn from our mistakes - in aviation, particularly so - and this video might just save someone's life. Thanks again.

With a N reg a/c, why not consider a trip to the States, do your commercial certificate (to get the full US license as opposed to piggyback your CAA licence) and progress on to doing the full IR. That will give you full access to airways in UK airspace Just as easy to do the commercial with your flying experience as it would be to just do the PPL certificate. I see you like sea plane flying - Laconia NH has a great field and is very close to the great lakes with B. Maes Hotel in walking distance between Lake Winnipesaukee and the field. Both of those would open up whole new experiences for you, be great fun and improve your flying experience and confidence no end. Be great content for your channel too as a bonus 👍

You biggest mistake is no 3. You should practice Instrument flying on regular basis. And not under the hood, but when you see the weather is marginal, every now and then plan a flight in a soup, even with instrument approach. What is the point of having instrument rating if you are scared to fly into cloud and switch to instruments. Other than that, SkyDemon and SkyEcho is great. but to be safe you should always have a backup (to be fair you had at least one anyway, so all good).

Going about this backwards; I watched your live stream first then back tracked and watched this one; you have a new subscriber - not because of the nail biting, heart palpating value, but because you're absolutely correct: we as pilots need to fess up to our mistakes, candidly so that others may learn from them, rather than become a statistic. As for some of the less kind commentary below-get your own RU-vid channel and put up or shut up! Or simply move along, save your completely unjustified advice and all those keyboard strokes for your own epitaph. Mr. Lamdin, I too have made obvious mistakes here and there and thankfully none of them has brought me to a sudden end - yet, I guess. Your mistakes it appear to me were simple enough: too much I can, so I should and not enough, yeah but the weather is going to hell, better to wait. I've twice in my life been unexpectedly flown into IMC, by other pilots. I was "technically" a passenger and therefore not responsible for the outcome of the decision making process - right? Negative. I learned that from the first experience and vowed I'd never let it happen again. Until, it did. Second time I was standing next to the PIC when we got our weather briefing face to face! We took off at night, stormy weather to our west, so, not an optional escape route, and promptly flew into the clouds over 500 feet below the "measured" ceiling...we ran about 50 miles at just under 1000' AGL until we could climb a little and landed safely at home. I also feel as though I'm a conscientious pilot, unwilling to take foolish risks, such as flying into diminishing vis and ceilings and I hope I ever remain that way. I don't have a RU-vid channel, at least not for flying, so I confess freely here. In both inadvertent encounters with IMC - I was scared senseless and thinking: this is how it ends, yet remained as calm outwardly as I could and managed the comms in both instances to unload the PIC. In both cases I made it, but I have absolutely no desire to have that heart rate or taste in my mouth ever again. Each one of these is at least a three pint story, so perhaps one day I'll share it face to face with a peer and record it; maybe we can slay a few keyboard dragons together.

So glad nothing bad happened. Call me selfish but we all need u to help guide us navigate and improve the housing market as few, if any, are! For realz! And ur kids need a dad. 😅

Good open & honest attitude (Just culture) and recognising skill fade (Flying IFR). Debriefing is just as important as briefing. A minor question but when you initially called Exeter and the weather was marginal, why did you only request a Basic Service, force of habit? I appreciate it wouldn't have changed the situation you were experiencing or the outcome, but requesting a TS in poor weather may have been better?

BRAVO BRAVO BRAVO!! As a CFI for 30 years and Pilot for over 45 years, this testimonial is among the BEST I've ever seen and heard! Been there done that. THANK YOU for sharing. I especially hope it gets through to the Z generation pilots that's lucky enough to see and hear it.

I’m sorry you went through such a horrible experience. You already said it so as you already know this would have just been a fun routine flight had you been current and proficient flying IFR. Conditions that are life or death for VFR pilots are just normal and safe for proficient IFR pilots. Every pilot that wants to travel should get the rating and use it on every cross country flight regardless of the weather conditions. Learn everything you can about weather. Weather is unpredictable. VFR is not a good way to travel. Practicing every 6 months isn’t going to make you comfortable flying IFR. Practice monthly and always travel IFR. Reserve VFR for pattern work and practicing maneuvers. With all due respect don’t consider flying an airplane a hobby. Do you call driving your car a hobby? It’s a skill you worked hard to learn, the fun comes from being the best pilot you can be. None of us are perfect we all make mistakes. I’m glad it all worked out in the end. Good luck and safe travels.

There's a distinct lack of shots out of the cockpit so we can see what the conditions were actually like - I can clearly see ground through the side window. There are so many things to say on this but I can't be arsed to type!

You cannot regard yourself as an instrument rated pilot and practice approaches once every six months. The IRR rating should not be regarded as a get out of gaol free card, because when you need it you will be under pressure and unless you are proficient, you will increase your risk of crashing. I believe you have a GNS430, your route should have been programmed into it from the start. It should be your primary nav NOT an iPad with a SkyDemon GPS. Learn to use the kit you have. Marginal VFR flying, a recipe for disaster.

Throw out the SkyEcho, it's rubbish