Student Pilot SOLO has ENGINE FAILURE | Crashed and Survived near Waterbury, CT 

Wishing a good and fast recovery to that student pilot!!

this is my friend. She did an amazing job and I’m so proud of her. Many people would have not walked away from this. She’s doing ok! She will be back in the air soon:)

Student pilot had better radio calls than 90% of pros on this channel.

To keep her comms on point like that as a solo under pressure was amazing!

American 2992 repeated those instructions as fast as he could to get off the radio.

She did great. You can see her speed the whole time, she kept it at around 68-70 knots, which is best glide speed for a 172. If the pilot is reading this, everyone is very proud of you and you did a great job.

From the news, she was taken to Waterbury Hospital. Her injuries were not considered life-threatening. I wish her a speedy recovery.

"I am panicking." Well, she could have fooled me. She seemed calm considering the stressfull situation. Keeping it together under pressure is an important skill for a good pilot. Hope she makes a full recovery and that this experience doesn't discourage her from flying again.

When she asked ATC for a vector to fly I cheered!! So smart of her and beyond her experience. Bravo kiddo!!

Her ability to slow her speech down, remain as calm as possible, listen to instructions from the controller and the other pilot. Pretty impressive

This student pilot and the ATC both did a great job! I hope she recovers smoothly.

Student pilot solo, engine failure looking for a grass strip and 'panicking right now'. Good grief, some of the best aviating, navigating and especially communicating that I've ever heard, Makings of a truly great pilot. I wish her well. Credit too to ATC and other pilots helping out. Nice to see an example of humanity at its best...

Everyone did the best that they possibly could. The student came painfully close to making it. With unknown winds plus turns, her glide ratio wasn’t bad, and she was primarily hamstrung by looking for an unfamiliar patch of grass amidst a bunch of trees. Maybe she made mistakes, but she absolutely did her best. I wish her clear skies and following winds on her path to recovery. The Skyhawks that chased her down was magnificent for calling out the turns and doing the best he could to give guidance, then giving critical information to controllers. Very well done to the controller who did the best he could to calm and vector her, even reminding her to trim for best glide. I get the impression that he has flying experience. Kudos even to American who seemed intent on not cluttering the frequency.

The fear in the other pilots voice just before the plane crashed 😬 Kudos to him and wishing the pilot a good recovery

You can watch her flightpath on FR24. Looking at the satelite map, I think it is totally understandable that she did miss the airfield on her first approach. It's not easy to spot if you don't know what to look for. Especially considering the angle she approached it at first. It was on her right side so that's harder to spot from her point of view. Edit: I tried this myself in MSFS just now and VR. Even though I knew what was coming and in what direction the airfield was, I missed it just as she did and only saw it after leaning over to the right side spotting it below me. And I only knew that it was there because the G1000 told me that I was right above it. So under the circumstances she did the best she could.

For a student pilot she did an amazing job utilizing all of her resources. I have no doubt she will make a great pilot once she recovers.

She is a hell of a competent pilot. Her communication was amazing. Even the "I'm panicking." sounded professional and in control. Really too bad she crashed so close to the runway.

Tough one to listen to. She got so close to making it straight in, but just couldn't get it in sight first time around. Not surprising given the high stress situation and the unfamiliarity with the airstrip. Kudos to ATC for great service. Hope she pulls through.

I would like to commend the pilot of N12180 for doing everything he could to try and help the student pilot make a safe landing at Waterbury. Lining up for landing on a hard-to-spot grass strip with no engine as a student pilot solo is NOT an easy task and many experienced pilots probably also would have struggled. Thankfully the pilot of N78445 survived with non-life-threatening injuries and is planning to get back in the air soon (the best decision). She will make an excellent pilot once she completes her training.

The controller sounded so defeated after the other pilot said she went down in the trees. He was probably anticipating the worse. Glad she survived.

Identifying a grass strip can be hard enough even in completely normal conditions. She did as good as anyone could hope for in the circumstances. Hope for a speedy recovery!

She kept her shit together SO WELL. I cannot IMAGINE losing an engine on a student solo, and she did so well.

“Im freaking out, man!” “Okay, just stay calm.” Good job to the student. It’s my worst fear as a CFI, and we work on engine failures and fires a lot prior to solo.

My god her composure was practically super human. Her comms really could not have been better! If that’s how she handles herself as a solo student pilot she’s going to make a phenomenal professional pilot if she chooses to follow that path. Everyone here did an amazing job but she should be immensely proud of how she handled it. The outcome may not have been perfect but New England is a very scary place to be engine out. I hope she gets back up in the air soon!

She was more in control of her emotions that I was just listening to this. No doubt she's going to be a very successful pilot.

Get that gal healthy and back in the air. She is far more impressive that most long time pilots I’ve encountered. You did great, heal up fast.

Extreme poise by the student pilot. I pray she recovers quickly and enjoys huge success with future aviation endeavors or whatever she chooses to do with her life. She has the Right Stuff.

Two genius moves: "Mayday-Mayday-Mayday" and "Can you advise a heading?" Yes, I know people here will reply "That's not genius, it is basic stuff", but for a student solo, to remember to say what help she needed that early and that clearly was way beyond what many decades-experienced private pilots have done.

Well done! Declared the mayday immediately, other best glide speed, and she kept it together mentally. That’s a very tough scenario for a student pilot trying to glide into a grass strip she couldn’t see until the last minute. I’m glad she survived!

"ARFF World" is reporting that the student has MINOR injuries and there was approximately 60 gallons of fuel cleaned up (if associated with the plane...I'm gonna say sub 53 gallons unless she had a ferry tank (tongue in cheek)). Either way, good job by all, and hope that what ARFF World is reporting is indeed the case. And nice job by the student to quickly declare the emergency.

That student pilot has better radio skills than a lot of seasoned pilots. She did great. Speedy recovery to her.

Hope she’s okay with no permanent injuries. Kudos to the folks that did their best to help.

I hope this pilot recovers and can get back in the saddle. Unfortunate circumstances of where this occurred. We rarely get enough practice working in and around grass strips to readily identify them in an emergency.

Glad she survived. A bit unlucky she didnt see the grass strip earlier or she might have had enough altitude to land safely. By going over it first and turning tightly she probably lost so much altitude and speed that she just couldnt make it back...

AA did a good job getting off the frequency as quickly as possible.

She did exceptionally well. Grass strips are not the easiest to spot. Add the panicking on top of that, won’t be easy. She did everything right, she kept her coms clear and made her intentions clear. Hope she recovers quickly.

Although she told ATC she was panicking, she stayed remarkably calm with her radio calls. May she go on to have a speedy recovery and fly again soon.

Wishing her a speedy recovery! Well done to N12180 and ATC for their assistance

Oof. Glad she's alive. The grass strip probably made it harder for her to find. Even though the controller said it was grass, she may not have processed that and been looking for a paved runway, making it harder for her to find until she was right on top of it.

"I'm panicking" Sure as hell didn't sound like it. Wish her a speedy recovery.

The ATC controller is calm, helpful and cheering her on. Thankfully she had the presence of mind to declare that she is a student pilot and needs all the help she can get.

She sounded calm a collected for someone “freaking out”. Wish her a speedy recovery.

So emotional listening to this. Wishing speedy recovery to the student pilot and thank you to ATC and the 180.

Grass strips can be so hard to spot even with 100% visibility. Glad to hear she is doing ok she did an amazing job aviating, navigating, and communicating.

I don’t know why but whenever I was these solo student engine out videos it makes me tear up.

That was some seriously ice in the veins flying by this pilot. I mean she said she was panicking at one point but damn her comms were on point, she flew it all the way in and from the sounds of things she's going to be alright and hopefully will fly again soon. Great stuff, great support by ATC, and 180 doing his best to help as well.

RESPECT. Everyone did an exemplary job. I hope the pilot recovers soon and will overcome her trauma and pick up flying again. Because she's got what it takes, and being low on final doesn't change that one bit. She did a perfect job on the radio. While staying on point in her comms, adding "...and I AM panicking" was exactly the right information to the ATC, who did an impeccable job providing guidance and solace. The pilot offering assistance did a great job stepping in and going the extra mile, and the others staying quiet did an important job as well. Seriously, if this video doesn't restore your faith in aviation, I don't know what will.

What a bummer. The job of a CFI to not delay training but also ensure a student has the skills to deal with these situations must be so hard. She made the airport but it seems like her pattern was too long. Either way she did a great job of getting there and asking for help. I really hope she recovers quickly and still wants to fly afterwards.

So intense. She did great. I hope she recovers and gets back up there.

This was so hard to listen to, I’m also a student pilot at an airport nearby. Heartbreaking.

Damn - that was emotional.... Kinda shame the ATC couldn't immediately hand off other traffic to someone else and allow him to exclusively focus on her. Appreciate some pilots picked up on the situation and kept to minimum chat.

This reminds me of Maggie. Brave to both the girls!

Smart student pilot in saying they are student solo on contacting ATC. They did an amazing job.

Witnesses said the pilot was helped from the downed plane by a maintenance worker at the campground. The pilot was injured and was taken to a hospital.

Hope she comes out if it OK. For a "panicking" solo, she handled herself extremely well.

6:54 "we're uh contacting everybody we can right now"

That “and I am PANICKING” was so relatable. Nice job, student. Heal well!

Fantastic work by the pilot!! Making sure ATC knows their skill level and not avoiding help. Hecking perfect that they recognised the saturation on them..... Dang they really couldn't have done anything better imo... (not a pilot, just a fan of avation)

Still remember my basic pilot training back in 1967. Very first airborne exercises were to look for an emergency landing area. Basic engine scan started and ended with that landing spot. Unfortunately, in the middle of Connecticut, trees dominate! Great job for ATC, but they can't always find you a place to land in an emergency, that's on the pilot. Sounds like the student did her best in this situation: keep flying, even if it is just to the crash site. 👍👏

She was very calm, wonderful assistance from ATC and fellow pilots. God bless I hope she's able to make a full recovery

I really felt for her - she sounded so young but kept her head admirably under incredible stress. Wishing her a speedy recovery.

I hope she continues her training. This was a huge learning experience, even if it did not end well. She will make a great pilot.

The worst nightmare for every pilot. Hope she will recover soon!!!

My heart goes out to this student pilot. I really admire her ability to overcome the anxiety of the emergency so that she could aviate, navigate, and communicate. Finding a grass strip that you aren't familiar with can be difficult in the best of conditions. ATC did such a great job giving guidance and support... very calm and reassuring. Well done. Wishing that pilot a quick and complete recovery. ❤

I hope if I ever am reliant on another human during a time of crisis, that human being remains as calm and collected as this controller did. What an amazing job of concisely providing all of the relevant information, without breaking his calm tone. Provided encouragement when needed, kept her focused on the objective, and dealt with obstacles as they arose. Absolutely fantastic job, and so glad the student pilot is okay.

Wow God Bless all of these folks. The student pilot did a GREAT job on the radio and navigated at an unimaginably scary time. The controllers were calm, cool, and collected and very helpful. The spotter pilot did all he could to be helpful without adding to the chaos. I am so glad that she will make a recovery. Thanks to all involved for their wonderful efforts.

Tough listen. Always hard to hear student pilots in these predicaments but I feel like she handled it better than others with certificates would have. My only burning question was if there was a farmers field that would have been more suitable in this situation. I know it's atc's job to assist in finding a suitable airport to land at, but in this case (especially after seeing it was a 2k foot grass strip hidden in trees) I think it would have been more to her advantage to try to just find an odd airport landing sight to put it down in. Time compression and fixation are a real thing in these scenarios and you just hate to hear the outcome. Hoping she makes a speedy recovery and gets back in the saddle as soon as she's well! Great job by all involved.

She was doing so good. Prayers for a quick recovery.

A brave and strong pilot. And she had very good people doing everything they could help. Best wishes to her and her "team".

I don't think anyone could've done better under the same circumstances. She's amazing! Wish I could tell her that.

Great teamwork by ATC and the other pilot trying to guide her in. Here’s wishing her. A speedy recovery.

Just hoping that she will fully recover and be back to flying, the world needs more pilots like this. ❤

Hope she makes a quick recovery and gets back in the air!

Really hope she recovers, did pretty well considering! Fly safe out there students.

She did amazing. How calmly she said she was panicking. Wishing her a fast recovery.

Direct and to the point communication, "I'm freaking out".

Perfect control of the situation, using everything she could, communication on point ! Kudos to her ! Hope she will be up there soon !

She did a really, really good job. Wishing her a speedy recovery. I hope this doesn't sour her on flying.

Get well soon, student pilot.

Well, that's one way to build confidence early in your training. She did an amazing job and I wish her a speedy recovery.

Wow, this is like a town over from where I live. Hearing about this incident from VAS first! I hope she has a speedy recovery and is able to get back to flying, she definitely has the stuff!

Kept it calm, collected and very nearly made it... Captain Maggie would take her as a co-pilot

Hope she’s ok. If you’re reading this, great job. 1st round’s on me.

How inspirational from everyone especially the student pillot

Poor student. She did amazing. Hope for full recovery and return to flying!

Tough listen at the end there. Best wishes and speedy recovery.

Good luck for the pilot!

She is going to be a great pilot! Wishing a speedy recovery and hats off to you!

I had an engine failure on my second solo cross country and as a student pilot it's not a very nice place to be so under the circumstances she's done pretty well. Hopefully a full recovery is on the cards.

Buy N12180 a drink, he also did a hell of a job. Coming from a pilot that had this exact same thing happen when I was a student..great job, under the circumstances. There's much to learn here.

She did Amazing and walked away to tell her story. Kudos to ATC and 180 and all of the first responders involved in this accident. Wish a speedy recovery to this young lady.

12180 did a great job trying to help. I hope he doesn’t blame himself for her not making the strip. Good work on her part as well

Superb work from the pilot in difficult circumstances. And amazing work from the controller and that pilot who did his best to come help. Glad she wasn't seriously injured.

she handled it like a pro!

She did pretty damn good as a student pilot solo that, by her own words, was panicking. She kept her communication on point and fought for every last second of time and every foot of altitude and distance. Sucks she ended up crashing but you can't win 'em all. I hope she has a speedy recovery and is able to get back in that seat.

Oh Lord, please make her okay!

As a student pilot aswell, i can only confirm: sometimes its freaking hard to find the runway, especially if its grass. I can only imagine the stress someone must feel doing this while having an emergency.. Wishing a speedy recovery..

Great support!

:( I hope she makes a speedy recovery! And I also hope she's not discouraged in her training but I totally understand if she doesn't continue. She seems very sharp in her handling of the comms but got overwhelmed on the aviating in this situation. A few more engine-out lessons should rectify the issue here.

Great job in a tough situation by the pilot. Get well soon. Great assists from the ATC and N12180 as well. Good to see pilots who know they should be helping in situations like this.