In-flight Emergencies/Close calls fairly routine?

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wdewg88

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WDEwg88
I am still evaluating whether to commit the time and money to obtain my PPL. I'm by nature a pretty risk-averse fellow, but I am fascinated by flying- always have been. I'm not scared of it per se, but in reading tons of threads on this forum, it seems that having engine issues (whether they be technically emergencies or not), as well as electronic or other mechanical failures are fairly common. For instance, in a thread talking about which handheld backup radio to buy, there were several anecdotes about panel failures where the radio came in handy.

I'm not talking about issues which lead to off-field/crash landings (where the FAA and NTSB get involved)- but I am seeing what seems to be a lot of pilots talking about all sorts of failures resulting in urgent "get down to an airport quickly" situations which to a prospective pilot seem to happen a ton.

Am I reading that correctly? OR is this more a function of human nature where folks share the 1 thing that happened to them and make it seem like it happens more frequently than it does?

Said another way- it is fairly routine as a general aviation pilot after a few years of flying to have more than a handful of engine outs and/or radio failures causing you to get clearance via lights from the tower/etc. etc. where you walk away, but it was pretty scary there for a bit?
 
wdewg88 said in part "Said another way- it is fairly routine as a general aviation pilot after a few years of flying to have more than a handful of engine outs and/or radio failures causing you to get clearance via lights from the tower/etc. etc. where you walk away, but it was pretty scary there for a bit?"

Have flown for business and pleasure for over 62 years, from Cubs and Champs to Bonanza, Mooney and now Experimental Light Sport (RANS S-6S) and have yet to have such an experience. Training and good maintenance is key.
 
wdewg88 said:
I am still evaluating whether to commit the time and money to obtain my PPL. I'm by nature a pretty risk-averse fellow, but I am fascinated by flying- always have been. I'm not scared of it per se, but in reading tons of threads on this forum, it seems that having engine issues (whether they be technically emergencies or not), as well as electronic or other mechanical failures are fairly common. For instance, in a thread talking about which handheld backup radio to buy, there were several anecdotes about panel failures where the radio came in handy.

I'm not talking about issues which lead to off-field/crash landings (where the FAA and NTSB get involved)- but I am seeing what seems to be a lot of pilots talking about all sorts of failures resulting in urgent "get down to an airport quickly" situations which to a prospective pilot seem to happen a ton.

Am I reading that correctly? OR is this more a function of human nature where folks share the 1 thing that happened to them and make it seem like it happens more frequently than it does?

Said another way- it is fairly routine as a general aviation pilot after a few years of flying to have more than a handful of engine outs and/or radio failures causing you to get clearance via lights from the tower/etc. etc. where you walk away, but it was pretty scary there for a bit?
Click to expand...

No, not common. Keep in mind, people are more inclined to talk about their unusual occurrences more than normal operations. I can't think of a single occurrence in GA flying where I had to put it down or had a significant maintenance problem. But if I did have a story, I probably would have told it a hundred times by now, and maybe even added a little excitement to it.
 
In a little over 1200 hours over 15 years of flying I've yet to have a major emergency forcing me to land off airport. (Knock on wood of course.) I've had two alternator failures in my airplane (very early on, switched to a well-regarded company and have had that alternator for over 5 years now), an attitude indicator failure in a rental, a near gear-up due to a hydraulic leak in another rental, and once made a precautionary landing at a deserted airport due to a fuel gauge glitch. I also hit a bird in my own plane about 6 years ago. I think those are pretty common occurrences, and they were easily dealt with with little danger to myself or my passengers (if any). Engine outs in a well-maintained single do happen, but they are fairly rare, on the order of 1 in over 10,000 hours (I don't know the exact figure, that's very rough).

You take all the precautions you can, choose to fly only well-maintained airplanes (or better, own one yourself and make sure it is well-maintained) and your chances of having a major emergency are a lot less. Not zero, never zero, but much less. I changed flight schools halfway through my primary training, in large part because of concerns over maintenance.
 
wdewg88 said:
OR is this more a function of human nature where folks share the 1 thing that happened to them and make it seem like it happens more frequently than it does?
Click to expand...

I'd vote for this being most of it. At least that's my hope as a student pilot myself :D
 
abqtj said:
I'd vote for this being most of it. At least that's my hope as a student pilot myself :D
Click to expand...

I hear ya! There is something to be said for human nature and me extrapolating it into "happens every time I fly"


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
paflyer said:
Risk adversity keeps pilots flying until they are really old.
Click to expand...

Yep - I'm a flying chicken!

This is likely the saddest reality most of us will face: losing the medical (even basic med) before selling the airplane ...
 
wdewg88 said:
I am still evaluating whether to commit the time and money to obtain my PPL. I'm by nature a pretty risk-averse fellow, but I am fascinated by flying- always have been. I'm not scared of it per se, but in reading tons of threads on this forum, it seems that having engine issues (whether they be technically emergencies or not), as well as electronic or other mechanical failures are fairly common. For instance, in a thread talking about which handheld backup radio to buy, there were several anecdotes about panel failures where the radio came in handy.

I'm not talking about issues which lead to off-field/crash landings (where the FAA and NTSB get involved)- but I am seeing what seems to be a lot of pilots talking about all sorts of failures resulting in urgent "get down to an airport quickly" situations which to a prospective pilot seem to happen a ton.

Am I reading that correctly? OR is this more a function of human nature where folks share the 1 thing that happened to them and make it seem like it happens more frequently than it does?

Said another way- it is fairly routine as a general aviation pilot after a few years of flying to have more than a handful of engine outs and/or radio failures causing you to get clearance via lights from the tower/etc. etc. where you walk away, but it was pretty scary there for a bit?
Click to expand...

In 20 years of flying I had one actual engine failure, and that was at 14,000' with plenty of time to get things squared away and land (taxiing a twin with only one operating engine is another story entirely). No close calls, no off-airport landings, no horror stories with which to frighten people who want the experience the joys of flight.

Bob Gardner
 
azure said:
In a little over 1200 hours over 15 years of flying I've yet to have a major emergency forcing me to land off airport. (Knock on wood of course.) I've had two alternator failures in my airplane (very early on, switched to a well-regarded company and have had that alternator for over 5 years now), an attitude indicator failure in a rental, a near gear-up due to a hydraulic leak in another rental, and once made a precautionary landing at a deserted airport due to a fuel gauge glitch. I also hit a bird in my own plane about 6 years ago. I think those are pretty common occurrences, and they were easily dealt with with little danger to myself or my passengers (if any). Engine outs in a well-maintained single do happen, but they are fairly rare, on the order of 1 in over 10,000 hours (I don't know the exact figure, that's very rough).

You take all the precautions you can, choose to fly only well-maintained airplanes (or better, own one yourself and make sure it is well-maintained) and your chances of having a major emergency are a lot less. Not zero, never zero, but much less. I changed flight schools halfway through my primary training, in large part because of concerns over maintenance.
Click to expand...

Thanks for this. All of the things you listed sound like they would be big deals. Perhaps/likely the component I am missing is that flight training will help me feel confident in addressing these so that I eventually concur with you that they were "not that big a deal". Whereas, if I am only reading about them now-- they seem scarier than they are in real life.
 
For me part of what I find alluring about flying is the challenges.

It seems to me there is always more to lean about flying and ways to mitigate the inherent risk.

I feel a part of becoming a good pilot is learning to plan for and deal with things that didn’t work out as planned so you don’t have an emergency.

I find joy in that.

I enjoy teaching a client like you about how to mitigate risk because they pay attention.

The risk takers are more of a challenge as I try to teach them the culture of aviation.

Many feel because something unwise worked out that it was ok and they do it until it doesn’t work out.

I wish you all the best on your aviation adventure.
 
The most common emergency for me has been the need to pee.......

I once dropped trou on a runway but it was almost dark and the airport was empty.
 
wdewg88 said:
Thanks for this. All of the things you listed sound like they would be big deals. Perhaps/likely the component I am missing is that flight training will help me feel confident in addressing these so that I eventually concur with you that they were "not that big a deal". Whereas, if I am only reading about them now-- they seem scarier than they are in real life.
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Well, you won't be flying IFR for a while (if ever), so the biggest deal for you would probably be the bird strike. Losing an attitude indicator is a non-event in visual conditions, and unless you're flying a retract with electrically-activated gear extension, losing an alternator during the day usually means no more than limited ability to use the radios. At night, it's more significant, but still not a dangerous emergency (though it's a good idea in any case to shut off everything electrical in case something shorted out creating a fire hazard). The fuel gauge glitch was just that: the gauge was working again as soon as I was wheels down on the runway.

A bird strike can be a big deal, definitely, just as hitting a deer in your car can ruin your day. But unless it's a large bird and comes at you through the windshield, the worst it is likely to do is cause expensive damage to the plane. Your CFI will drill in you ways to avoid hitting birds if they're common around your airport. My bird strike was at 3500 feet in cruise, unavoidable, out of the blue, and quite unusual. It was also harmless; as it turned out, it didn't so much as scratch the paint, just left a huge mess.

I think you've hit the nail on the head: with training, you will learn how to handle equipment failures safely and confidently. Every one of those problems happened to me when I was north of 500 hours and had had plenty of training. As a student pilot the best thing you can do is a thorough pre-flight every time, call out maintenance squawks to the FBO as soon as they come up, and refuse to fly anything you have serious doubts about (but check with your CFI or a mechanic you trust first, as some things that a beginner might think are red flags really aren't). And when you solo, fly within the envelope, know the airplane's operating limitations and don't push past them, and treat the airplane as if it was your very own.
 
Fly simple airplanes there is less to go wrong. The plane I fly most of the time has an engine, tachometer, altimeter, compass, airspeed indicator, oil pressure, oil temperature, fuel gauges are glass window type and a real luxury item a turn indicator. :)
 
Ron Wattanja, a frequent and valuable contributor to these pages, analyses the accident database every year for the FAA. Per my recall, the chief causes of accidents are still VFR into IMC and running out of gas. I think buzz jobs still come in third. Our engines are amazing in their reliability, and most aircraft systems are incredibly robust. Crashes caused by mechanical failure are still not that common. Moreover, crashes that result in injury or fatality are rarely due to mechanical issues alone. We're all trained to deal with emergencies. If we take that training seriously we can often cause a happy ending to a bad situation.

No doubt about it, GA is dangerous. But if you adopt the correct behaviors you can reduce that risk considerably. Heck, even I'm still around after all these years.
 
azure said:
and unless you're flying a retract with electrically-activated gear extension, losing an alternator during the day usually means no more than limited ability to use the radios.
Click to expand...

Even with the electric gear it wasn't a big deal. After I lost the alternator I slowed to Vlo and put the gear down before the battery ran out of zots. Yes, the emergency lawn mower gear extension should work, but I felt much better getting them down with good annunciator indication ASAP.

EDIT: Oh, and I've been on this board for ~10 years, and I know of no one who has met his/her demise in an aircraft.
 
wdewg88,

Turn off your left brain for a bit :)

Go and by a log book (cheap). Go and book a 1hr flight with a instructor (probably $200). Pick a nice calm day. Have him demonstrate pulling the power and show you how long you have to deal with the problem. You'll have your first hour logged. Then come back and get advice regarding your medical if you decide to go for it....and you will!
 
I had a Comm failure in NYC Class B in my first plane, a Cherokee. I could receive but couldn't transmit, so I squawked 7600, and ATC knew my predicament. My handheld didn't have the range to get to ATC, but an airliner relayed my message. Non event. I had two total electrical failures in my Tiger due to an intermittent short in the battery which had been bench tested twice, and worked fine. Again non-event as the plane flies fine with no electricity, and I just used my handheld when approaching the airport. So stuff happens, but you can mitigate it.......most of the time.
 
OP: Every lesson your CFI will pull the throttle to idle simulating an engine out. Trust me, things will be second nature if they occur and you'll do fine ... UNLESS, you're the type that freaks out over small incidents.

I've never lost the engine completely, but had a few issues in rentals (flat tire landing, lost mag in flight) and my own Tiger. You'll actually SWEAR you hear your CFI's voice giving instruction if/when it occurs.
 
I'm somewhere above 250 hours now I've never had anything I'd call an emergency. A couple of minor instrument failures, one stranding at a remote airport for several days due to being unable to start the airplane(mag failure), a couple of unplanned overnight stops due to weather, and many delayed departures(or return flights) due to weather. Oh and a landing light burning out at night.

VFR flight into IFR weather is the number one thing that gets people killed in light aircraft by a wide margin and has been forever. IIRC, #2 is running out of fuel. These are the big ones and are sadly also the easiest to avoid. Minor mechanical problems like a burnt out lightbulb, an instrument failing, radios dying, etc are relatively common but are also relatively boring events. Most of the really important stuff is redundant or robust enough that it's not a big deal. Major problems of the kind that require an emergency off-field landing like an engine failure do happen and that's why we train for it but it's pretty rare... you see most people here either never having had it happen or had it once in a long lifetime of flying. You really need to be worrying about your decision making as far as weather, fuel, and personal skill/ability. The statistics are very clear about this- you as the human pilot are the weakest component in the airplane.

On my 2nd solo cross country flight, my attitude indicator failed. It wasn't a big deal, I was VFR, I had a window to look out of. I landed, called my CFI about it, and flew the airplane home. A radio failure to me is not an emergency, unless I was having to cross particularly busy airspace I would fly home with a busted radio.... even if I lost both of them. Some people carry a handheld backup in case of such a problem. While it's good to use flight following and be talking to other aircraft in the pattern, it's completely legal to fly without a radio and if you carefully fly the pattern with eyes open and looking everywhere it shouldn't be a problem. As I mentioned before I once had a landing light burn out on me during a night landing. I could still tell where the runway was approximately from the edge lighting on the ground. The wheels told me precisely where it was. This was more of an annoyance as I'd been doing stop and go landings to renew my night currency and was only on landing #2. I didn't make another pass... but was quite tempted to. It was more amusing and annoying than frightening.
 
cowman said:
VFR flight into IFR weather is the number one thing that gets people killed in light aircraft by a wide margin and has been forever. IIRC, #2 is running out of fuel.
Click to expand...

And I'll add #3, operating over gross and/or ignoring the effects of DA. All of these are on the pilot! Make good decisions, and you eliminate a very large area of risk.[
 
Agreed with the general sentiment. Been flying since '91 and no major in flight emergencies.

A couple of weather related "heightened awareness" moments that ended fine because of training, and a whole lot of simulated engine failures by instructors. ;)

The engine "quits" in my airplane every time I let a CFI or DPE ride in the right seat. :)

Personally I know a couple people who have died in aircraft. Two were doing low altitude aerobatics for no good reason and hit Terra Firma. Dumb. They paid for it with their lives.

Non-personally I've seen a number of others die, all of those I was searching for in the mountains. They flew their airplanes up there beyond their training and skill level and beyond the airplane's capabilities to save them performance-wise. Don't do that and you'll never be that statistic.

And again non-personally, know a number who've had loss of control on the runway incidents. Again, flying in conditions beyond their skill set. Nothing wrong with their airplanes. Until they broke them.

I know two instructors who've both had multiple real engine outs. One flies ferry flights and maintenance is questionable. The other has been flying since the 70s and one was an engine that quit on final, no big deal, just land, the other was a known problem child engine type in a Cessna 175. He made it back to a runway at night when it happened shooting approaches with an instrument student. Not bad for almost 50 years flying.

Speaking of 50 years, my co-owner is also at that number or close and he's never had a serious in flight emergency either. He's never flown anything but well maintained piston singles.
 
I had one complete engine failure that put me in a field in over 1000 hours and 35 years of flying. Despite Bill's assertion, stuff happens no matter what. My airplane was well maintained and had just hours earlier come out of annual (not determined to be part of the problem). The engine had only 900 hours SFNEW. Crappy Continental design.

The good training allowed me to manage the emergency and put it down in an 800' field without injury.
 
Bill Jennings said:
Even with the electric gear it wasn't a big deal. After I lost the alternator I slowed to Vlo and put the gear down before the battery ran out of zots. Yes, the emergency lawn mower gear extension should work, but I felt much better getting them down with good annunciator indication ASAP.

EDIT: Oh, and I've been on this board for ~10 years, and I know of no one who has met his/her demise in an aircraft.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I didn't want to overexplain that point since he probably won't be flying a retract for a while (and maybe never). What you did is also what I did, and would do again, but the manual extension is very good to have too. The only time it won't help you is if you've lost all your hydraulic fluid - which is what ALMOST happened to me in a rental 182RG I was getting checked out in. But again - a gear up is much more expensive (for the owner) than it is dangerous. Pretty much worst case is you do a belly landing and the plane is totaled.
 
The only case I know of personally where someone had a fatal accident in an airplane was a poster on the Red Board about 4 years ago. I vaguely recall that the cause was fuel exhaustion, but I could be misremembering the circumstances. The pilot's screen name was DBVZ as I recall.

I also know of someone in the flying club I used to belong to that had an engine failure in a newly purchased 182. The engine had been only rarely flown for several years before that. It threw a piston rod in the pattern and seized. This was a checkout flight and the CFI took the controls and brought the plane safely down in a cornfield. The plane was down for months while a new engine was installed and the club took quite a financial hit, but the occupants walked away completely unscathed.

So yes, it happens, and sometimes the results are very bad. Other times, probably more often, the result is a totaled plane but the pilot walks away if he doesn't panic.
 
steingar said:
Ron Wattanja, a frequent and valuable contributor to these pages, analyses the accident database every year for the FAA. Per my recall, the chief causes of accidents are still VFR into IMC and running out of gas. I think buzz jobs still come in third. Our engines are amazing in their reliability, and most aircraft systems are incredibly robust. Crashes caused by mechanical failure are still not that common. Moreover, crashes that result in injury or fatality are rarely due to mechanical issues alone. We're all trained to deal with emergencies. If we take that training seriously we can often cause a happy ending to a bad situation.

No doubt about it, GA is dangerous. But if you adopt the correct behaviors you can reduce that risk considerably. Heck, even I'm still around after all these years.
Click to expand...
About 85% of accidents are traced to human error. About 8% are what you might consider sudden catastrophic mechanical failures. The rest are miscellaneous -- pilot incapacitation, bird strikes, Wile E. Coyote creating havoc.

The pilot error part is important. People think that with training and diligence they are immune, but of course no one is perfect. When you start THINKING you have it nailed, you start down the road toward complacency, and that gets people into trouble.

A slight correction to the above. Flying is HAZARDOUS, not dangerous. For a hazard to turn into a danger, there needs to be a realistic probability and a harmful outcome. This creates what in aviation is considered an accident chain. There are many opportunities to break the links from hazard to risk, so that you never experience the harmful outcome. Your training will help you understand them, but it will be on your shoulders to make it a lifelong learning process.
 
cowman said:
I'm somewhere above 250 hours now I've never had anything I'd call an emergency. A couple of minor instrument failures, one stranding at a remote airport for several days due to being unable to start the airplane(mag failure), a couple of unplanned overnight stops due to weather, and many delayed departures(or return flights) due to weather. Oh and a landing light burning out at night.

VFR flight into IFR weather is the number one thing that gets people killed in light aircraft by a wide margin and has been forever. IIRC, #2 is running out of fuel. These are the big ones and are sadly also the easiest to avoid. Minor mechanical problems like a burnt out lightbulb, an instrument failing, radios dying, etc are relatively common but are also relatively boring events. Most of the really important stuff is redundant or robust enough that it's not a big deal. Major problems of the kind that require an emergency off-field landing like an engine failure do happen and that's why we train for it but it's pretty rare... you see most people here either never having had it happen or had it once in a long lifetime of flying. You really need to be worrying about your decision making as far as weather, fuel, and personal skill/ability. The statistics are very clear about this- you as the human pilot are the weakest component in the airplane.

On my 2nd solo cross country flight, my attitude indicator failed. It wasn't a big deal, I was VFR, I had a window to look out of. I landed, called my CFI about it, and flew the airplane home. A radio failure to me is not an emergency, unless I was having to cross particularly busy airspace I would fly home with a busted radio.... even if I lost both of them. Some people carry a handheld backup in case of such a problem. While it's good to use flight following and be talking to other aircraft in the pattern, it's completely legal to fly without a radio and if you carefully fly the pattern with eyes open and looking everywhere it shouldn't be a problem. As I mentioned before I once had a landing light burn out on me during a night landing. I could still tell where the runway was approximately from the edge lighting on the ground. The wheels told me precisely where it was. This was more of an annoyance as I'd been doing stop and go landings to renew my night currency and was only on landing #2. I didn't make another pass... but was quite tempted to. It was more amusing and annoying than frightening.
Click to expand...

These two were great quotes:
"The statistics are very clear about this- you as the human pilot are the weakest component in the airplane."

"I could still tell where the runway was approximately from the edge lighting on the ground. The wheels told me precisely where it was." LOL

Thanks!
 
wdewg88 said:
I am still evaluating whether to commit the time and money to obtain my PPL. I'm by nature a pretty risk-averse fellow, but I am fascinated by flying- always have been. I'm not scared of it per se, but in reading tons of threads on this forum, it seems that having engine issues (whether they be technically emergencies or not), as well as electronic or other mechanical failures are fairly common.
Click to expand...

The redundancy in today's modern aircraft engines is pretty good. If you're really worried about an engine failure, find a flight school with newer airplanes.
 
flyingron said:
I had one complete engine failure that put me in a field in over 1000 hours and 35 years of flying. Despite Bill's assertion, stuff happens no matter what. My airplane was well maintained and had just hours earlier come out of annual (not determined to be part of the problem). The engine had only 900 hours SFNEW. Crappy Continental design.

The good training allowed me to manage the emergency and put it down in an 800' field without injury.
Click to expand...

Wow! Glad you made it. I'm picking up the vibe that it comes down to training, and making good decisions. I can control the good decisions, and I can pick a CFI who stresses handling emergencies safely.
 
wdewg88 said:
Wow! Glad you made it. I'm picking up the vibe that it comes down to training, and making good decisions. I can control the good decisions, and I can pick a CFI who stresses handling emergencies safely.
Click to expand...

That, and remembering that it is proficiency, not hours in the logbook, that determines outcomes.

Bob
 
In roughly 1500 hours of GA flying I've only encountered 3 issues worth noting. Engine failure on approach in a Senaca, exhaust leak into the cabin of a Lance and the mechanical fuel pump failing in the same Lance.

As already mentioned, training will overcome your apprehension.

Of the people I've known that died, it was pilot error. Way easier to justify than wing spar's failing or other catastrophic failures that are beyond a pilots control.
 
Sinistar said:
wdewg88,

Turn off your left brain for a bit :)

Go and by a log book (cheap). Go and book a 1hr flight with a instructor (probably $200). Pick a nice calm day. Have him demonstrate pulling the power and show you how long you have to deal with the problem. You'll have your first hour logged. Then come back and get advice regarding your medical if you decide to go for it....and you will!
Click to expand...

This is great advice.

I was shocked the first time my CFI pulled the power out and how long I flew at idle. It was easily nearly 10 minutes or so and we still had over 1,000 feet AGL left. You have LOTS of time in an engine out if you fly the plane properly. Planes, especially trainers like a Cessna, LOVE to be in the air.
 
IFR pilots may feel differently, but for me a radio or instrument failure is an inconvenience, nothing more. Radios don't keep a plane in the air, after all, and most of the planes I've owned didn't even have a radio or even an electrical system. I have had a few engine failures, none of which resulted in any injury or even aircraft damage, but then I fly mostly experimental, antique, or ultralight aircraft where the reliability expectations are different.

I have lost a number of friends to airplane crashes. Most were caused by "young man's immortality syndrome", one was an older pilot flying a new (to him) type of ultralight, and one was a factory test pilot. None were mature pilots flying around in an ordinary manner.
 
I've unfortunately lost several friends in GA accidents. Alas in each case they were extremely high time pilots that should have known better. Both involved mountain flying accidents by pilots who had mountain experience. I've also had several friends who have ended up in off-airport landings and oddly enough, I know of four that have struck power lines. I also have one friend who was a flight engineer on a 727 crash. You know enough pilots, sooner or later you're going to run into people.
 
wdewg88 said:
Wow! Glad you made it. I'm picking up the vibe that it comes down to training, and making good decisions. I can control the good decisions, and I can pick a CFI who stresses handling emergencies safely.
Click to expand...

I'd like to say I was adequately trained by CFIs over the years but I did have one who did my tail dragger conversion that did rather controversial things like pulling the mixture on me on downwind. But a lot of it was going regularly in and out of my home grass strip. When you learn proper power management, you can handle proper no-power management pretty easily.
 
wdewg88 said:
Said another way- it is fairly routine as a general aviation pilot after a few years of flying to have more than a handful of engine outs and/or radio failures causing you to get clearance via lights from the tower/etc. etc. where you walk away, but it was pretty scary there for a bit?
Click to expand...

I hear about car wrecks every day, often several, plenty of blood, gore and fire. Have been involved in one minor accident with no injuries.

I've been driving almost forty years. Took up flying eleven years ago. Since then, I've had one problem, an electrical failure. I just flew the plane back to my home airport and landed, then called my mechanic. Unlike your car, airplanes don't need anything electrical to fly. Ignition comes from magnetos, which are driven by the engine and creates their own spark; there are even two of them, just in case one quits working (had that happen once, don't consider it an emergency or even an Urgency situation).

Hown many car accidents, breakdowns, emergencies, etc., have you had? I'm guessing you still drive anyway. Airplanes are required to have a lot more maintenance than cars, too, which explains a lot about both. 1) wheel sheared bolts and fell off on the interstate [tire shop error]; 2) fouled carburetor several times; 3) clutch failed while driving [two different cars]; 4) muffler fell off while driving; 5) hit black ice and caromed off of two other cars; 6) rear-ended in stop and go traffic; 7) almost overheated a other vehicle in summer stop and go traffic; 8) pulled onto highway, something electronic died, car wouldn't accelerate beyond 15 mph; 9) blew hole in radiator hose, noticed at gas station on Sunday afternoon, 200 miles through the mountains from home; etc., etc. We've all had these things with our various cars.

My plane has had two minor problems in a decade . . .
 
Flocker said:
The redundancy in today's modern aircraft engines is pretty good. If you're really worried about an engine failure, find a flight school with newer airplanes.
Click to expand...

I have to disagree on this one. Neither statement is true.

The engine in my 1970s designed and built airplane is a 1930's air cooled tractor engine. On brand new model, it's also a 1930s engine with mechanical fuel injection.

All it has for redundancy over my lawn mower is a second spark plug in each cylinder hole and a second magneto.

It's a known quantity and fits the bill real well for what the airplane is designed to do, but redundancy? Nah. It doesn't have it. It's a piston single.

The usual path to engine redundancy is hanging a second one on it, one on each wing. :) That has performance issues and training requirements plus higher operating costs.

"Newer airplanes", with how the fleet is maintained and inspected is also nearly meaningless. Engine time outweighs airframe time. They are meant to be replaced. Even the cylinders unscrew and come off. For a reason. Same reason they did on the tractor in the 1930s.

All sorts of old engines that are nearly timed out on newer airframes, and also the opposite, old airframes with brand spanking new engines. Any busy flight school has to maintain them all the same way.

If you told me I could fly a 2016 that was flown until ten hours from TBO and then parked and sat until today in 2017, sitting in a coastal state outdoors, or mine with 1000 hours on the engine, flown regularly, always hangared, and in a dry state... and I had to go over inhospitable terrain... I'd be reaching for my keys for mine. Not even a moment of hesitation.
 
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