Pilot's tip of the week

Engine Failure: #1 Rule

Featuring

Subscriber question:

"Simple question: What's the most important thing for surviving total engine failure? A simple answer would be appreciated." — Peter A.

Bob:

“You absolutely have to be sure that you don’t stall the airplane!

I’ve been to many aircraft accident scenes, I’ve evaluated hundreds and hundreds of accidents and pilots are NOT killed when they fly their airplane to the ground under control. They ARE killed when they stall an airplane into the ground.

So maintaining an airspeed safely above stall speed right on down to the ground is so very, very important.”

Have you ever had to make an off-airport landing?

(If so, what's the #1 thing that made it a success?)

(NEW) VFR Mastery scenario #93 “Orphan of the Magenta Line” is now available. Skirting the DC SFRA and Philadelphia Bravo with your iPad seemed simple, until that iPad displayed a low battery warning. You realize your charger has been dead the entire flight. You stop the music on your phone and check its battery … 2%. So much for redundancy. You’re just southeast of the SFRA, threading between restricted areas. You’ve flown this route before, so maybe you can make a plan to navigate with the limited juice you have left along with ATC assistance. Or is it smarter to land and recharge? Watch the Intro video.

Get the Pilot’s Tip of the Week

Sign up here to receive tips like this every week along with videos, quizzes and more.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.