flight service station and told the controller I had gone inadvertent IMC and I needed help. He asked me to squawk 7700 and call Albany Approach. I complied. During this time, my track shows I did a full, 360-degree right
turn and was completely unaware. From the time I went IMC to the time I was in straight and level flight was a good 15 minutes. Once I was on with Albany, the controller essentially told me
I was at a good altitude and assigned me a heading of 280 toward the valley, blue skies, and several airports. The Albany controller informed me of any time my altitude or heading fluctuated and served as a crew member to me. I found it very comforting to know someone else was helping me essentially watch my instruments. A local pilot in the area
chimed in on the radio and said VFR conditions were ahead. He was right, and soon I broke between two cloud layers, the lower one being scattered, and I could see the ground. After completely emerging from the area of bad weather,
“After about two minutes of utter panic … I knew if I didn’t get control of my aircraft, these were my last seconds to live.”
valley, I should have assumed that the reduced visibility would be precipitation and not have relied on the outdated weather report, which stated that the airport ahead of me had 10 miles of visibility. In deciding to proceed, I should have slowed down more sig- nificantly so I would have had more time to react to the changing conditions. Once I started descending, to stay below the clouds, I should have acknowledged that the rising terrain was putting me below my personal minimums. Once I started having trouble seeing, I should have turned around before it was too late. I shouldn’t have lost sight of suitable landing areas, but once I did, that should have immediately been my signal to turn around. Just before reaching the moun-
tain chain, there were blue skies with a few clouds high overhead. In my mind, the bad weather was behind me. Everything I’d been watching on the forecast, including
I informed the controller I could see the ground and requested to descend visually. Eventually, I asked for landing clearance at a nearby airport, where I landed safely. Once on the ground, I was asked to call the Albany tower on the phone. I complied, and the same controller I was on the radio with asked me for my information. He commended me for getting on the ground safely, and I thanked him for his help. What would I do differently if I could do the day over? I wouldn’t
have flown at all! I had already delayed three hours, and the mar- ginal conditions, combined with mountainous terrain, were more than enough to warrant rescheduling. However, we can’t see into the future and will never be right in our decision to fly 100% of the time, so assuming I did fly, I still had several more opportunities to make a safer decision and avoid getting backed into a corner. One by one, I had lost my “outs.” As I approached the moun-
tainous terrain, in seeing any low-level clouds, I should have gone around the mountain chain, rather than into the valley, so that I could have maintained the ability to divert. Once approaching the
the AIRMET for mountain obscuration, was all behind me. So as I approached the mountains, I let optimism and the idea that the bad weather was behind me skew my judgment of what I could see outside.
Once I accepted the situation I was in and decided to climb, there are a few things I did that saved my life, and a few things I could have done better. Committing to my instruments and deciding to climb are what
saved me. But I wish I had set the power sooner. I wish I had set the heading bug and stopped worrying about the mountain to my right. Lastly, I wish I had narrowed down my instruments to two primary ones sooner.
Had I done these things, I likely would have gained control of
the aircraft in a few minutes rather than 15. I feel very lucky I was able to hang on and stay calm that long.
If the situation were to be repeated, I don’t know if I’d be able to hang on that long again. If I had known how hard it was going to be, I’d have been more determined to prevent it. I never gave up. Once I hit the clouds, I never thought of my personal life again. I shifted 100% into training. That’s the biggest reason I’m alive today.
MARCH 2022 ROTOR 69
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