MAYDAY, MAYDAY, MAYDAY

What Went Wrong


The universal signal for a plane in distress is relayed over the radio as a Mayday message. The mayday message relayed in this case went as follows: "Mayday, Mayday, Mayday, this is N9KF reporting an engine failure, my location is..." This message is generally repeated until an acknowledgement is received by an air traffic control agency. Once a mayday message has been received, all non-emergency traffic is held on that frequency until the problem no longer exists. (JEPPESEN 2-75)

Pilots are continually practicing for the moment when things don't go as planned so that they will be prepared to handle an emergency situation when it arises. Stalls are practiced. Simulated engine out situations are practiced. These, and many other maneuvers, are practiced until the actions become second nature. As it turns out, we were practicing these very maneuvers when trouble struck.

The first incident involved the ROTAX-582 engine. During flight, a "throttle cable had frayed and broken." (NASDAC) This caused the engine to loose power and drop to an idle. In the second incident, a total engine failure occurred. This time it was due to a "broken electrical jumper wire" which caused the fuel pump to fail.(NTSB)

Recall that a loss of power means an increase in the drag force. This will cause the plane to slow down. Without power, the Kitfox became a very large glider. This is where the glide ratio comes in to play. So, in addition to attempting to restart the engine, find a place to land, call out for help, and perform a number of other emergency operation procedures, David also calculated the best glide ratio for the aircraft at that time. The ultimate exercise in multitasking was on display right before my eyes.

On August 17, 1995, N9KF was to make its first forced landing in Palmer, Alaska. The flight started out like any other flight I have been on with my dad. It was a nice fall day, and We were practicing stalls and engine out procedures when I heard the engine change pitch. Flying in the Kitfox, or any small plane, you become accustomed to how everything feels and sounds. This just did not sound right. I turned to my dad and asked him, "What was that?" I will always remember his calm, collected response,"Time to find a place to land." Ok, that is simple enough. So I pointed out a private runway that we had just passed only seconds before. The response that shut me up for the rest of the flight was, "We can't make it that far." I checked my harness, told my dad that I loved him, and let him do what he had been trained to do. At that point, there was nothing more I could do but watch and wait.

I can imagine that my father's response to the events leading up to the second forced landing two years later on March 22, 1997 was very similar to the first one...calm, cool, and collected. The only differences this time was that it was a new engine, and I was not with him.

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Heather Christian
fnhlc@uaf.edu
Phys 211x-SF01 - General Physics I
Last update 11/22/2004