Engine Failure and Emergency Landing

4 Answers

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   Russ Roslewski on Nov 09, 2015

   I’m not quite following your scenario, but I think I get the general question. Think about what you’re saying. It sounds like you’re asking, “if my original plan isn’t going to work out, do I just concede defeat and crash, or do I take whatever action is necessary to ensure a safe outcome?”

   Emergency landings can’t be driven by a formula. There’s too many variables.

   However, it is generally a bad idea to change your plan at low altitude once you’re committed. If you have to do it to survive, then do it, but if it’s just a matter of Field 2 looking a little smoother than Field 1, then I advise against any low altitude maneuvering.

   Your use of the terms “high key” and “low key” implies you may have an instructor with a military background (at least in the U.S. – those terms are not widely used in the civilian flying community). What is necessary in a high-performance fighter aircraft may not translate well to what is necessary or possible in a Cessna 172 or other common trainer. But that a supposition on my part, you’d have to discuss that with your instructor.

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   BJ Miller on Nov 10, 2015

   I’m reluctant to join in given that I may not have all the information that I need, but what I will add is that if you are flying a proper ground track and on/above altitude for high key/low key, there should be no need to make a last minute change in field selection. The point you should be concerned with is hitting your proper ground checkpoints on your glide profile. The idea is to train to survive when there is only one landing option and to do pilot stuff to put the plane exactly where you decided it belonged instead of having to choose whatever option is left after gliding down in an arbitrary left or right hand turn.

   High key and low key are not altitudes, they are points on the ground. Physical locations that you need to manipulate the controls to reach by a certain recommended altitude, not the other way around. The point of that kind of training is the profile as much as the landing site. Having to change fields because you missed your chosen one is more or less a failure of the entire lesson objective. Obviously if it’s real, do what you have to do to survive, but doing what you described above eliminates the point of having a high and low key in the first place.

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   Dawodu-A on Nov 11, 2015

   I’m currently a student pilot at Epic flight academy. I’ts not a military training school and we use the high key point/ low key point methods. Also, in my scenario there’s only one field in sight not two. So if i continue turning left i may not make it but if i bank right immediately i will be on a good glide slope for the field. What decision would you make as a flight instructor?

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4. Best Answer
   
   

   
   

   BJ Miller on Nov 14, 2015

   Unfortunately, I am even more confused now. If there is only one field in site, then there should be no doubt in which direction your turn should be. You either enter a left or right hand pattern with the idea of hitting your ground points for your imaginary runway. Otherwise you are not flying an actual high/low key pattern, you are simply gliding in an arbitrary turn all the way to the scene of the crash.

   There is no scenario where reversing your turn on the profile is a sign of a properly flown high/low key dead engine approach. Therefore, if I were your CFI AND my objective was to teach a high/key low key gliding approach concept and not simply to teach a survivable landing (although it certainly meets the standard), then I would consider a reversal of your turn on profile a solid failure of the objective. I would reset and retrain that particular objective.

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