case. Needless to say, I slept maybe an hour and my coworker didn’t fare much better. In the morning, I turned on the satellite
tracker and checked my texts. Te weather was still garbage at our destination. However, another airport that was approximately 40 nm away from our destination was showing 1000BKN. Is that 1,000 ft. broken or 10,000 ft. broken?
I wish I’d paid better attention during that weather class. I confirmed with my director of maintenance
(aka my flight follower) that the weather at that nearby airport was 10,000 ft. broken and 7 mi. visibility. Unfortunately, that didn’t matter much because it was dense fog where I was. I knew I didn’t have the fuel to dillydally, and when the weather broke, I wanted to make a straight shot. Around 10 am, the weather finally broke enough to where I could make out a defined overcast. I could also see some mountainous peaks that hadn’t been there when I landed on that wonderful beach. We fired up and got one last confirmation that the weather at the adjusted destination was still good. I aimed for the clear spot near the mountain peak and, poof, we were above a sea of thick fog for the next 40 nm. We didn’t see ground until we were nearly
directly over our destination airport. I per- sonally hate flying over water and am not a fan of over the top—flying over the weather is a risky maneuver, particularly in a single-en- gine aircraft. We fueled up the aircraft, put her to bed, and then found lodging while that low pressure took its sweet time moving farther out to sea.
Lessons Learned I have acquired more than 11,000 accident-free hours of combined rotorcraft and fixed-wing time. But as is clear from my story, pilots must always be open to continual learning. Here are my lessons learned, in order:
1. Listen to your gut. Don’t let anything or anyone influence your decision to fly.
2. Don’t ever be afraid to Land & LIVE. I’ve done that twice now and lived to talk about it. Tat’s better than the alternative—when
42 ROTOR SEPTEMBER 2023
someone else must tell your story.
3. Expect the unexpected. 4. Plan for the worst. 5. If you want a job done right, do it yourself, especially when it comes to trips like these. Don’t let someone else pack your survival equipment or your aircraft. Do it yourself. Sump your own fuel.
6. Be happy and enjoy the experience. Tink about what a great story it will make—and take every step to ensure that YOU will be the one to tell the story. Te day after spending the night on our
lovely beach, I received a call from our FAA inspector regarding other matters. I told him my story and was expecting to be told, “You should have done a better job of checking
weather.” I was shocked at what he did say: “Right on. Congratulations! Land & LIVE.” Tat statement of support has stuck with
me. I thought, You know what? I did make the right decision, and I’m proud of that. Tis is my story, one that I lived to tell. I
want to share my lessons learned, as well as the bigger lesson that it’s important to talk about experiences like this. Out in the field, the right thing to do isn’t
always obvious—if it were, everyone would do it!
I hope my good outcome will help other
pilots and that our industry will hear more stories FROM those who have chosen to Land & LIVE, rather than stories ABOUT those who chose the other route.
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