A routine self-training flight turned dangerously life-threatening when my cockpit carbon monoxide detector spiked to 300 ppm. Muscle memory and quick thinking got me safely back on the ground, but the experience was a wake-up call: CO in small GA aircraft can be silent, fast, and deadly. Here’s my story – and why every pilot should have a reliable CO detector in their plane.
Very soon I was on the approach and thought I could still make 06C. The ATIS called out the overcast at 800’ AGL, the minimum I needed (mistake #5—not mine, but it counted anyway.) I held at 800’, assuming I’d see the runway lights below me and then I could continue to 06C. As I crossed the runway threshold, it was solid IMC and I had to go missed. I asked the Tower what the current ceiling was, and the response was that the ATIS was old and the ceiling was actually 400’ and you’ll have to go around.
I turned toward my side and saw that the the left main was hanging but not locked in the forward position. Uh Oh! I immediate called the Tower and explained my situation and they sent us out over toward Lake Winnebago to manually pump the gear down. A C-172RG gear should pump down and lock in 35 strokes (just like in the movies). About pump 100, I knew this was not going to work. It was a hydraulic system failure.
About our third trip, this time from Pontiac to Waukegan past South Bend and Gary, flying the shoreline, George told me that if he survived this experience, he’d love to learn to fly and maybe even make a living doing so. He had fallen in love with aviation and wanted to really be part of it. My response was, “Well, hey, no time like the present, are you ready?”
I was on a return flight, mid morning, deadheading back after an early Angel Flight. Downtown Chicago was basking in the morning sun and it was an excellent photo op. Soldier Field, the Field Museum, Adler Planetarium, and Grant Park in the foreground and Willis (Sears) Tower to the John Hancock in the background.