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The owner of a concrete company hired me to fly three of his truck drivers from central Nebraska to Cape Girardeau, Missouri. I didn’t know them and they didn’t know me. My instrument instructor knew their boss and both trusted the drivers would be safe. It began as a beautiful day with thin scattered clouds above 12,000′. There was a fantastic tailwind of 60+ kts. above 8,000′. We were going to make great time and get the drivers there fast so they could be home the next day.
The flight was just over 550 miles and I had planned a fuel stop to give everyone a bathroom break. With groundspeed above 185 kts., and fuel consumption leaned for the thin air, nonstop would have been easy and safe. The thin air was smooth as glass and you could see for miles in every direction. In other words, this was a great time to be flying–truly a pilot’s dream flight. The four-seat Archer was in need of a long-legged flight and so was the pilot. The higher we flew, the better the tailwind topping out at 9,500′.
The Archer was in need of a long-legged flight and so was the pilot.
The drivers/passengers were enjoying the mid-summer view of the green crop circles, the golden wheat fields, and the lakes they wanted to fish or had fished previously. Everyone was having a good time. Jokes and storytelling helped pass the time. We would pay a price for the tailwind gift near the end of the flight as I explained to the drivers it would get a little rough on the way down as we dropped below 9,000′. I was accustom to rough air and knew to slow the plane down so the turbulence was more of a swing from side to side with a drop of 10 to 20 feet now and then. My young son would have enjoyed this flight and probably would have asked for more.
On the way down, one of the drivers in the back grabbed my arm passing thru 6,500′. Turning back, I saw the right rear passenger as white as Casper. All he said was, “Are we going to die?” Nothing could be done to change the convective wind currents and we had to go down, but I knew I had to calm him down.
My first thought was to let him know it was safe and not to be afraid and reassure him that I was not scared. His come back was “You are a pilot and are trained to stay calm.” So that didn’t work. Next was to talk him through it, so I asked “What do you think is going to happen?” His reply was, “When we get close to the ground we may get slammed into the dirt.” While I knew this wasn’t realistic, trying to explain that to someone that thinks he may not see his kids again is not easy.
As we passed through 5,000″ with the turbluence still present, he had many more questions, like how can you be so sure? How can you land in this turbulence? How much longer is this going to go on? I took the time to answer each one, as I could see the other drivers were worried too and listened to each answer. The fun was over and they now hung on every word.
I reinforced to the passengers that we should drop into smooth air around 1,000′ above the ground. I actually thought things would smooth out sooner, but wanted to give myself some additional margin. Turns out, it wasn’t until turning base leg that we hit smoother air. With a 20+ knot headwind straight down the runway, my touchdown was slow and thankfully smooth. Had we made a fuel or bathroom stop, the guys may have ask directions to the nearest Greyhound station.
I had never had a complaint from a passenger before this flight, but nevertheless, this was the only time in 44 years of flying that one hugged me. He may have found Jesus in the sky that day or made a few promises to live a cleaner life. Sure, his kids got a big hug when he got home too.
Again, my young son would have enjoyed this flight, but the point is that not everyone does and it should be our goal to make everyone feel safe. And YES, the flight home was far worse as I was flying low to keep the groundspeed in positive numbers and thinking the truck drivers were going to beat me home. I finally gave up and landed Kansas City Downtown–always a fun airport. I took on fuel, had a good meal and flew home later when the wind was giving up.
This is a special gift we are able to provide to our passengers and we should strive to make them feel comfortable. Here is a short video leaving Kansas City Downtown back to Nebraska just before Covid-19 hit. Watch as we turn into the sun to show you what we enjoyed all the way home.
- Your passengers may not always enjoy flying - July 17, 2024
- One hour closer to your first accident - July 31, 2023
- Flying over water, from Nebraska to the Florida Keys - December 14, 2022
A better title for this story may be “When your passenger ask are we going to die!!!
Good you didn’t answer – “yes, we are all going to die some day”
Funny comment…It was not my personal Plane that day, still there are certain body fluids I don’t like to clean up.
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I was flying outbound to Colorado and hit an air pocket. In smooth air, no warning at all. I instantly dropped 1000 feet off the altimeter.
Luckily I didn’t have any passengers, because if I did, I doubt that they would have flown back with me after that episode.
Flew into Centennial many times over the years if you read https://airfactsjournal.com/2023/07/one-hour-closer-to-your-first-accident/ we flew towards a Tornado with some strange wind. I got a ear full when I landed. We were in clear air the entire time.
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In 51+ years of flying, I’ve had a few passengers who, whether they voiced it or not, were surely thinking, “are we going to die?”, and were greatly relieved when the prop stopped at the end of the flight. On the other extreme, I’ve also had passengers who were so enthralled with the flight that they decided to take lessons, or who hugged me and said, “you always make me feel so safe”.
But the one that I got the best “inward giggle” about was when my instrument student wanted me to fly with him to Jackson, WY, in his airplane, a PA32-260, taking a couple of the University of Wyoming coaches on a recruiting trip. He was an excellent pilot, it was great VFR weather, but he hadn’t been to Jackson and felt more comfortable with me along. He especially wanted to impress the coaches, who were of course big, burly, tough men, and his friends.
The flight from Laramie was smooth, and it was a gorgeous day. We were all chatting about how pleasant it was, as we flew past Riverton and then Dubois. About 20 miles past Dubois, we turned toward the saddle in the ridge that marks the head of the Gros Ventre River drainage. As many times as I’ve flown that same route, I’ve always marveled at the view as the Tetons come into view. And most of the time, my passengers shared my delight.
But this time, as we came over the top and started down the drainage, which is essentially a super wide canyon, I looked back, and both of the coaches were clearly not seeing the beauty—they were both white as sheets, and one of them was gripping the edge of the back seat so much that I’m sure his hand prints were permanently embossed into it.
I couldn’t think of anything to say to them, so I just bantered a bit with my student, complimenting him on how he was handling the airplane, commenting on how beautiful the Jackson Hole looked, basically trying to divert the coaches from their fears by making the descent seem totally benign—which in reality, it was. But I did wonder if they’d get back in the airplane after their visit!
Somehow, I guess they regained their bravery in the course of their recruiting, so we all flew back together.
Wow thanks for your comment. Wyoming has had many flying deaths over the years some more famous like Bill Clinton’s plane as president that carried some of his vehicles. I flew out to Jackson with a 60 KT head wind building on the other side of the Tetons with rolling clouds so I could not stay long. With a thin cloud layer at 13K, I chose to fly over the layer and notice a mountain peak just above the clouds. I understood how easy it can be to fly into a mountain years ago. My GTN 750 Xi and Fore Flight on my I-Pad was showing both my first and second strike. Your Student was smart to ask you to go along. I fly with a copilot when ever I can and always on flights of 200 miles or more. My best friend and I both learned to fly in 1980 he is 15 years older than I am and can no longer take long trips or even short trips with out getting sick. So I need to find a younger copilot for my future trips, would love to fly over Yellow Stone and Jackson Hole again was shocked to see the many Volcanoes so close together and think of the number of years it took make that beautiful country. If you ever fly over Flagstaff AZ that is the largest volcano I have flown over. I have landed at Riverton and Casper, would enjoy your view of the best part of Wyoming to fly over. I did a video I call my “most boring” of the water around pathfinder that feeds our Lake in Nebraska, untill this year it had the most views not sure why maybe you can explain it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nY3JoB4QqT8