What's the scariest flight you've ever been on?

Aphex

I really enjoy reading about scary flight experiences for some weird reason (as long as it's a good outcome).
As a nervous flyer, I have been blessed that all of my flights so far have been non eventful, and hopefully it stays that way
So, have any of you aviation enthusiasts, pilots or random posters got any good stories to share?

Boskowski

Some January morning 6am, takeoff to Frankfurt from Dublin. High winds was in my opinion an understatement. The thing rattled and shook standing at the gate. Down the runway she was veering left and right and once we were airborne the whole plane shrieked and creaked for the next 25 minutes. Probably pretty standard stuff for the crew but I didn't hear single word being spoken on the plane for that length of time. Including myself.

Thank god that's my scariest experience which was probably not so scary after all.

Probably far more dangerous was me going to a meeting with my boss who was an amateur pilot with a visual license who took the meeting as an opportunity to register some hours. So we took off on a grass strip (Bienenfarm) and went to Braunschweig in a single engine Cessna 172 with low clouds and rain. We had to stay under the clouds of course (visual) and the whole flight felt like sitting in a Fiat 500, hearing the rain, shaking around, windscreen wipers and whatnot. When we arrived in Braunschweig we found out no comms were working so we had to do the flyover thing before we came in with no verbal clearance. Probably a 100 times more dangerous than the AerLingus flight above but I actually loved it. Go figure.

Aphex

Boskowski wrote: »

Probably a 100 times more dangerous than the AerLingus flight above but I actually loved it. Go figure.

For me, it's the size of the aircraft which gets the anxiety going, so maybe it was the same for you? Good stories, thanks

ComeraghBlue

Flying in a RAF Chinook Army transport helicopter from Basrah airbase to Umm Quasr port (Southern Iraq) in 2007. Flying relatively low with sudden drops and ascents and swerving about to avoid being targeted by any RPGs. Back ramp was open with a heavy machine gunner keeping watch below.

Scariest 30-40mins of my life.

Aphex

ComeraghBlue wrote: »

Flying in a RAF Chinook Army transport helicopter from Basrah airbase to Umm Quasr port (Southern Iraq) in 2007. Flying relatively low with sudden drops and ascents and swerving about to avoid being targeted by any RPGs. Back ramp was open with a heavy machine gunner keeping watch below.

Scariest 30-40mins of my life.

And there's me worried about turbulence :eek:

Boskowski

ComeraghBlue wrote: »

Flying in a RAF Chinook Army transport helicopter from Basrah airbase to Umm Quasr port (Southern Iraq) in 2007. Flying relatively low with sudden drops and ascents and swerving about to avoid being targeted by any RPGs. Back ramp was open with a heavy machine gunner keeping watch below.

Scariest 30-40mins of my life.

Thats more like it. Not like my chicken sh1t story.

Aphex

Boskowski wrote: »

Thats more like it. Not like my chicken sh1t story.

Try getting me on that Frankfurt flight

spurious

Was on an internal Polish flight in 1984. Thundered down the runway at Warsaw airport then started slowing and went back to do it again. I was never on a take off as quiet as that second go.

Boskowski

Aphex wrote: »

For me, it's the size of the aircraft which gets the anxiety going, so maybe it was the same for you? Good stories, thanks

For me its the fact of not being in control and I read this in other places too that a lot of people feel like that.
Totally irrational of course since what would I be doing with an Airbus anyway? In the Cessna it was like if something happened at least I could be in control. Which is as silly as the Airbus scenario of course (although I do have some sim hours in a Cessna )

Strumms

Back in January a few of us went on a lads trip over to London... A few beers were consumed before we boarded and a couple up in the air too.. We were having a bit of craic with the cabin crew and I can't remember what was said but one of them made a remark in reply "sure that's if we even get into Gatwick". Anyway the flight was as smooth as until about 5 minutes before touchdown. Then really bad turbulence... We managed to land and as the wheels touched the tarmac my mate shouts " we made it". I knew better and another bounce, some sideways movement a long glide and then it's power on and back up we go.... Que lots of screaming and expletives... There was a rowdy skanger hens party on board also and it was quite funny to see them loose their bravado and the colour from their faces.... 2nd attempt to land was even worse turbulence I was convinced they wouldn't get it down but fair play they did.... I was glad of the few beers let's put it that way...

Aphex

spurious wrote: »

Was on an internal Polish flight in 1984. Thundered down the runway at Warsaw airport then started slowing and went back to do it again. I was never on a take off as quiet as that second go.

Did you find out why the take off was aborted?

henryporter

Just about to land in Frankfurt airport - literally the wheels about to touch the ground, next thing the engines roar and the plane launches skywards again at a rate of knots and then veers sharp left (or was that right - at that stage I didn't care as life episodes were flashing past my eyes). Finally the plane levels off and resumes some form of normality. Pilot gets on the comm to tell us that a fox ran across the runway as he was ready to touch down and rather than have the guy sucked in the engine he did an evasive manoeuvre - a bit like the one I had done in my stomach

Aphex

Boskowski wrote: »

For me its the fact of not being in control and I read this in other places too that a lot of people feel like that.
Totally irrational of course since what would I be doing with an Airbus anyway? In the Cessna it was like if something happened at least I could be in control. Which is as silly as the Airbus scenario of course (although I do have some sim hours in a Cessna )

Makes sense as I'd be a lot more calm piloting a plane, rather than be a passenger, not that I know how, but at least I'm doing it myself. Thanks for making me jealous about the sim btw

spurious

Aphex wrote: »

Did you find out why the take off was aborted?

No - and to make matters worse things were a bit crazy in Poland at the time and there was a guy with what looked to me like a machine gun guarding the cockpit in case anyone tried to get us to fly to Sweden as had happened a couple of months before.

At security, they found a madeira cake my friend's mother had made for me to bring to her. It was in a silver carton like you get Chinese takeaway in. This drove the security lads mad and they were all shouting in Polish about it, as, I suppose you could tear it and make a weapon out of it. Anyway, the main guy shouted for my passport, which I handed over (all lovely and green as they were then) and he said 'Ireland?.......Thin Lizzy!!!!' and off I went with my life-threatening cake onto the plane. Quite bizarre.

bodhi085

Few years back flying into birmingham airport and the fog was very heavy and thick. First attempt at the landing was aborted so on the second try I presume the pilot thought sod it..the wheels of the plane slammed with such a thud on the runway that the whole plane just shook and creaked. Many people screamed and then the applause for the pilots. Have to admit it was terrifying.

Aphex

spurious wrote: »

No - and to make matters worse things were a bit crazy in Poland at the time and there was a guy with what looked to me like a machine gun guarding the cockpit in case anyone tried to get us to fly to Sweden as had happened a couple of months before.

At security, they found a madeira cake my friend's mother had made for me to bring to her. It was in a silver carton like you get Chinese takeaway in. This drove the security lads mad and they were all shouting in Polish about it, as, I suppose you could tear it and make a weapon out of it. Anyway, the main guy shouted for my passport, which I handed over (all lovely and green as they were then) and he said 'Ireland?.......Thin Lizzy!!!!' and off I went with my life-threatening cake onto the plane. Quite bizarre.

Thin Lizzy saved your ass!

Peregrine

I've never had any scary flight experiences to be honest, had a few bumpy landings sure but they're not really scary. No severe turbulence, emergency landings, not even a go around

folbotcar

Never been scared on an airliner. One advantage of being a pilot is that you know what's going on so minor events like go arounds and turbulence that scare people are merely irritating. But as I said to my wife. If she ever sees me scared then it's time to panic!

On the other hand I frightened myself more than once while flying. Climbing into cloud that got a whole lot darker and bumpier and seeing the building ice obscure the windscreen. Add to that a touch of vertigo and it all gets very 'interesting' very quickly. Curiously when l had an engine problem that necessitated a swift landing. I wasn't scared at all.

No memories of those cloud moments still wake up the butterflies in my stomach.

fr336

When I landed back in Luton of course, Aphex

fr336

Aphex wrote: »

For me, it's the size of the aircraft which gets the anxiety going, so maybe it was the same for you?

Apologies if stating the obvious, but you'd be a bit safer in the large jet than the tiny plane which would probably kill you off immediately :P Doubt I'd ever travel in a small aircraft - well maybe once if it was really good.

fr336

Tbh I'm always a bit fearful when taking off and landing even though I'm almost certain I've only ever been involved in 100% normal flights. For some reason I feel like in this day and age on board you shouldn't really feel a thing - no rumbling, roar of the plane etc. Yet this is exactly the same thing I get a kick out of Worst bit if there is any is when the runway's near a motorway and I'm watching us speed past all the cars..and keep speeding and thinking..take off will you!! :eek:

gugleguy

January 1997. JFK was previously fog bound for a couple of hours.
Flight per se was uneventful. The plane needed a second attempt to land.
When we did land, it was the fastest deceleration I've ever been in.
My only trip in a Boeing 727.

whomitconcerns

landing in atlanta 6/7 years ago, tried to land and aborted, were made circle for an hour and worst turbulence ever. lady beside me needed my sickbag as well as hers...The smell on the plane from the amount of people that got sick was unbelievable...

me...meh...just like a big roller coaster after the inital shock :DD::D

MuffinsDa

C-130H flight on an Military aircraft loaned to replace a last minute Falcon Jet that had gone technical.

It was really really rough!

A320

B737-300 Test Flight,it was class,especially the go arounds as they were a lot better than a standard with pax onboard with a steeper climb and early turn)

Setun

On the whole I've been quite lucky I think. One incident that was probably more life-threatening than I realised was a flight into Agadir from Schipol. We hit a thunderstorm right above Agadir airport, and the pilot made a few attempts at landing but he had to abort as it was too risky. I remember being fairly relaxed at the time about the whole thing, although when I looked around many of the passengers were visibly upset and quite shaken. After a while circling in some heavy turbulence, the pilot rerouted to Marrakesh. On departing the plane we were told we would be taken to Agadir via bus over the mountains. That's a whole other post though, maybe for a 'scariest bus journey you've ever been on' thread.

murphaph

spurious wrote: »

No - and to make matters worse things were a bit crazy in Poland at the time and there was a guy with what looked to me like a machine gun guarding the cockpit in case anyone tried to get us to fly to Sweden as had happened a couple of months before

There was also the legendary case of LOT Flight 165.

My worst flight was without doubt an internal US flight from JFK to Dulles (Washington). I had an aisle seat on the left of the plane. The flight was rough most of the way with poor weather but the landing was so ropey that a deadheading pilot (or a guy in a very convincing pilot's uniform) sitting a couple of rows fore on the right braced as if he expected the aircraft to crash. It really was rocking quite violently from side to side and it somehow bounced onto the runway and all was well.

On the next flight from Dulles up to Burlington VT (don't ask me why my employer routed us that way...ridiculous trek that was) I encountered a sensation I had never before felt on an aeroplane and never since...

The entire cabin would go repeatedly silent and at the same moment we were all thrown forwards (not violently so but like if someone applies the brakes in a car, you feel it) and then the engine noise would return and we'd be pushed back into our backrests (again, not violently but noticable).

It was a redeye flight so most passengers were asleep but I and a colleague were very much awake and it was sort of surreal. We didn't say anything to each other, just stared at each other's eyes as if to say "is this plane about to fall out of the sky?" Perhaps what we experienced that night was somehow normal but I fly a good bit and never had it before or since like I said. I was genuinely concerned that night. No explanation was ever given...perhaps it's a characteristic of that aircraft (Bombardier something or other it was).

valerossi

To name but a few

Heading to Brent Alfa platform on a super puma when the pilot announced that they were having issues, i started to prep my gear and trying to remember my huet training. I cant explain what happens when you hear something like that hovering over the bitter North Sea. long story short we got back to the Shetlands but still too close. Issue was cooling fans for gauges?
Another was a landing on a vessel called Saipem 7000 it took 4 attempts all very rough.

Ryanair any landing:(

St. Leibowitz

murphaph wrote: »

On the next flight from Dulles up to Burlington VT (don't ask me why my employer routed us that way...ridiculous trek that was) I encountered a sensation I had never before felt on an aeroplane and never since...

The entire cabin would go repeatedly silent and at the same moment we were all thrown forwards (not violently so but like if someone applies the brakes in a car, you feel it) and then the engine noise would return and we'd be pushed back into our backrests (again, not violently but noticable).

You were hitting clouds !!!

I had something similar on a Jetstream 31 from Pittsburgh to Chicago. The joys of flying in a turboprop over the US in summer.

We were at about 18k feet. It was a real roller coaster ride. Constant banking and heading changes are we routed around storms. Lots of buffeting. The seatbelt signs were on for the whole flight, but when we had to fly through a cloud, the pilot dinged the seatbelt sign three or four times. We all braced and got pitched forward as the plane hit the cloud. Never realised just how much denser a cloud can be to clear air. The speed change probably wasn't that dramatic, but it felt like hitting the brakes hard for half a second on the motorway.

Really enjoyed the flight.

murphaph

St. Leibowitz wrote: »

You were hitting clouds !!!

Ah, well thanks for the explanation! I always wondered what that was. It was quite unnerving. You'd think hitting cloud would happen so often that the sensation would not be anything extraordinary.

Aphex

fr336 wrote: »

Apologies if stating the obvious, but you'd be a bit safer in the large jet than the tiny plane which would probably kill you off immediately :P Doubt I'd ever travel in a small aircraft - well maybe once if it was really good.

I know, it's crazy, but that's me:P

Aphex

Cool stories so far. Keep them coming:)

St. Leibowitz

murphaph wrote: »

Ah, well thanks for the explanation! I always wondered what that was. It was quite unnerving. You'd think hitting cloud would happen so often that the sensation would not be anything extraordinary.

Yeah. I just figured it out from looking out the window and actually seeing the cloud looming, the pilots dinging the seatbelt sign and then slamming (dramatic word I know,but that's what it felt like from the back) into the cloud. The constant turbulence ratcheted up a good bit once inside the cloud.

This was at the top of tornado alley across Ohio and Indiana on a day that numerous tornado warnings were being issued further south, so there was some major weather happening (as I said earlier, the joys of flying in the US during the summer). I presume that the clouds were denser than what we're used to. The flight was about an hour longer than normal, because we were flying north/south along cloudbanks and then darting through to the west at weak points. I'd hate to experience flying through some of the thunderstorms we avoided.

folbotcar

I really need to correct your impressions guys. It's nothing to do with cloud density. The cloud itself has no effect whatsoever. However you are right certain types of clouds are a clear indication of the turbulence within. Which is exactly what happens. Not all clouds harbour turbulence but as I mentioned in my previous post some do, notably cumulous. Not to mention icing. But turbulence does vary in it's intensity and can happen in clear air. I've had a wing drop suddenly as if a giant grabbed the wing. Sometimes the turbulence is light but leaves you feeling as if the aircraft is teetering on the edge of lift and is about to stall even though you've plenty of speed.

Very disconcerting. :eek:

owenc

Not really been on a scary flight.

dilallio

spurious wrote: »

Was on an internal Polish flight in 1984. Thundered down the runway at Warsaw airport then started slowing and went back to do it again. I was never on a take off as quiet as that second go.

Aphex wrote: »

Did you find out why the take off was aborted?

spurious wrote: »

No - and to make matters worse things were a bit crazy in Poland at the time and there was a guy with what looked to me like a machine gun guarding the cockpit in case anyone tried to get us to fly to Sweden as had happened a couple of months before.

At security, they found a madeira cake my friend's mother had made for me to bring to her. It was in a silver carton like you get Chinese takeaway in. This drove the security lads mad and they were all shouting in Polish about it, as, I suppose you could tear it and make a weapon out of it. Anyway, the main guy shouted for my passport, which I handed over (all lovely and green as they were then) and he said 'Ireland?.......Thin Lizzy!!!!' and off I went with my life-threatening cake onto the plane. Quite bizarre.

On older planes, sometimes they get invalid fault warnings such as luggage compartment doors not closed properly.
Accelerating hard down the runway followed by sudden braking often clears the warning. :eek:

Edit: I was told this before by an air traffic controller and I assumed he was joking!

Boom_Bap

Flying from South Africa to Botswana. The airplane was one of those small (maybe 20/30 passanger) ones with a propeller on each wing.
The pilot sounded like the banker from Fonejacker.
The on board snack was a bag of something.
It was the first time the passanger beside me was on a plane. He gave me his passport and jacket when he got on. He was giddy and nervous throughout the flight, constantly grabbing my arm/hand when he got a fright.
The turbulence, my oh my, the gosh darn turbulence was insane.
The wind, the aircraft was not flying in a straight line.
The landing, the aircraft was not flying in a straight line. I'm not sure which wheel hit the ground first. But it landed in one piece.

The return flight was much the same without the excited guy beside me.

When we landed in Jo'Burg, engine is switched off, doors are not opened, air-con turned off. We sat there for about 40 minutes, sweating in the confined space with no air. Then the plane was surrounded by cops.
Another 20 minutes go by and we disembark onto the waiting shuttle buses. Glorious glorious fresh air. We are then put onto the buses, doors closed, engines off, no air con, no open windows for another 20 minutes. The sweating resumed.
Eventually start to move to the terminal surounded by cops. Arrive at terminal, start to get off the bus. Cops come rushing at me. Me!!!???
And then grab the guy beside me and pin him.
The next 10/12 hour flight that I boarded about 1 hour later only had one event, my tv monitor thing didnt work. But I reeked from all the earlier sweating. Thankfully I was able to musk up with the complimentary bottle of aftershave I got from the airline for my monitor not working.
I sat beside a South African model that flight chatting the whole way. Shame he was a dude though.

That is only one of my scary flight tales. There are many more.

folbotcar

Very good story boom bap. The irony is that the pilots probably considered both flights to be rather routine if uncomfortable followed by a crosswind landing. In hot countries the turbulence at lower levels can be intense. But the really scary moment in that story is when the police came running at you. There wouldn't just be a sweaty smell if that was me!

Blue Punto

Was on a brand new A319 flying YEG-MSP Northwest Orient.

At cruise we lost all power which forgive the pun was a horrible sinking feeling

This remains the only time I was on a glider
Power was restored and we were met by lots of rescue vehicles which followed us to the gate
The crew then advised passengers travelling onto Chicago that there would now be a change of aircraft

Alun

Flying into Charleroi on a Ryanair flight, we started descending and as we got down to a level where I thought "We're about to land very soon" I looked out of the window on the right hand side and could see the single runway as clear as day. We carried on descending until we were just past the end of the runway and did the scariest 180 degree turn I've ever experienced, the wings were nearly vertical. Also as I was close to the front I could hear a very loud beep-beep-beep noise coming from the cockpit, sounded like a stall alarm or something. Once he got the plane facing the right direction ... SLAM!!! The whole plane went very quiet.

the only thing I can imagine was that we were approaching from the east where it's fairly empty, but west of the airport it's fairly built up with houses etc., so maybe the natives had been complaining about noise, necessitating such a scary approach.

Aphex

Alun wrote: »

Flying into Charleroi on a Ryanair flight, we started descending and as we got down to a level where I thought "We're about to land very soon" I looked out of the window on the right hand side and could see the single runway as clear as day. We carried on descending until we were just past the end of the runway and did the scariest 180 degree turn I've ever experienced, the wings were nearly vertical. Also as I was close to the front I could hear a very loud beep-beep-beep noise coming from the cockpit, sounded like a stall alarm or something. Once he got the plane facing the right direction ... SLAM!!! The whole plane went very quiet.

the only thing I can imagine was that we were approaching from the east where it's fairly empty, but west of the airport it's fairly built up with houses etc., so maybe the natives had been complaining about noise, necessitating such a scary approach.

Auto pilot disengage? Sounds like an interesting approach all the same!

eire-kp

Engine out and auto rotation while cattle mustering in Australia. It was a smooth enough landing considering :eek:
I wouldn't mind but a few minutes earlier the pilot was really giving it socks around, up and over trees..thats what you get when you ask for a memorable trip and the owner told him not to go easy on the new employee:pac:

quinta

October 2011 flying to JFK from DUB with Delta. My first transatlantic flight in years, always had a fear of flying but I got some tablets from the doctor to take the edge off. About 4 hours into the flight I woke to the feeling that the plane was swaying from side to side and up and down like a roller-coaster. Everyone was screaming, my friend who is not afraid of flying, had his head in his hands. It was insane the turbulence. The captain came on to explain that "It would take a lot more than this to take down a plane", that went down really well. He then updated us to say "4 planes had made it through and they can't really take a safer, sorry, alternative route due to the Oceanic currents" o.O

It was horrific. We landed safely after about 7 1/2 hours total. I went up to the Captain afterwards and explained how scared I was and he gave me a hug and said 'that was nothing' and laughed. I am a grown man in my mid 30s!

Return leg home from Vegas to JFK to DUB. JFK experienced a freak snow storm so the vast majority of flights were cancelled or diverted, but not these Delta guys. We were warned by the Captain sitting on the runway in Vegas that after about 4 hours it was going to get very hairy and that we would be 'operating within the maximum limits of the aircraft' when we hit the JFK area.

Bang on 4 hours it happened. I'm convinced the plane went sideways, I've never experienced anything like it, worse than DUB to JFK on the way over. Again loads of screaming and shouting, nothing from the Captain as I assumed he was a little busy. Looking out the window into the snow storm it felt like we were landing underwater. We were apparently one of the very few to land there that day; we also miraculously made it out of there on the return to DUB after 2 hours of de-icing. Very very scary flights.

marc96

valerossi wrote: »

To name but a few

Heading to Brent Alfa platform on a super puma when the pilot announced that they were having issues, i started to prep my gear and trying to remember my huet training. I cant explain what happens when you hear something like that hovering over the bitter North Sea. long story short we got back to the Shetlands but still too close. Issue was cooling fans for gauges?
Another was a landing on a vessel called Saipem 7000 it took 4 attempts all very rough.

Ryanair any landing:(

Hate the super pumas,flying to the west franklin platform when all other flights cancelled,felt like we dropped 20-30metres then sounds of the engine kicking in before the pilot says he can't see the helipad so he is going to come inn fast and low and if that doesn't work it's back to aberdeen.not nice at all

Growler!!!

Aphex wrote: »

Auto pilot disengage? Sounds like an interesting approach all the same!

It's called a circle to land procedure. Unusual enough to do one, must have been a bit worrying for passengers though:D

Aphex

quinta wrote: »

October 2011 flying to JFK from DUB with Delta. My first transatlantic flight in years, always had a fear of flying but I got some tablets from the doctor to take the edge off. About 4 hours into the flight I woke to the feeling that the plane was swaying from side to side and up and down like a roller-coaster. Everyone was screaming, my friend who is not afraid of flying, had his head in his hands. It was insane the turbulence. The captain came on to explain that "It would take a lot more than this to take down a plane", that went down really well. He then updated us to say "4 planes had made it through and they can't really take a safer, sorry, alternative route due to the Oceanic currents" o.O

It was horrific. We landed safely after about 7 1/2 hours total. I went up to the Captain afterwards and explained how scared I was and he gave me a hug and said 'that was nothing' and laughed. I am a grown man in my mid 30s!

Return leg home from Vegas to JFK to DUB. JFK experienced a freak snow storm so the vast majority of flights were cancelled or diverted, but not these Delta guys. We were warned by the Captain sitting on the runway in Vegas that after about 4 hours it was going to get very hairy and that we would be 'operating within the maximum limits of the aircraft' when we hit the JFK area.

Bang on 4 hours it happened. I'm convinced the plane went sideways, I've never experienced anything like it, worse than DUB to JFK on the way over. Again loads of screaming and shouting, nothing from the Captain as I assumed he was a little busy. Looking out the window into the snow storm it felt like we were landing underwater. We were apparently one of the very few to land there that day; we also miraculously made it out of there on the return to DUB after 2 hours of de-icing. Very very scary flights.

That part about operating to the aircraft limits would have had me praying! Great story, thanks

Aphex

Growler!!! wrote: »

It's called a circle to land procedure. Unusual enough to do one, must have been a bit worrying for passengers though:D

Would that be the same as a dme arc?

Growler!!!

Aphex wrote: »

Would that be the same as a dme arc?

No, a DME arc can be done at any distance from the airport and at any altitude and is based off the instruments inside the cockpit.

The circle to land procedure is a purely visual approach once level at the minimum decent height and the pilot must remain visual at all times with the runway.

Mint Sauce

ComeraghBlue wrote: »

Flying in a RAF Chinook Army transport helicopter from Basrah airbase to Umm Quasr port (Southern Iraq) in 2007. Flying relatively low with sudden drops and ascents and swerving about to avoid being targeted by any RPGs. Back ramp was open with a heavy machine gunner keeping watch below.

Scariest 30-40mins of my life.

I was going make a post about having to circle, and cross winds, and thinking the pilot was going to have a second go, and even swerving once on the ground, but dont think I'll bother after reading that.

:eek:

catchup

Back seat in a South African airforce Cessna caravan flown by 2 youngsters who looked like they had just started shaving. I hitched a lift from Luanda, Angola, to Waterkloof airforce base outside Pretoria. 2400km which included several African thunderstorms bouncing us around the sky like a kite and an overnight stay in a UNITA rebel army base where the commander took way too much interest in my passport and I thought I wouldn't be let back on the flight. Ended up drinking way too much in the Officer's Mess in Waterkloof out of sheer relief that we survived!

Aphex

Growler!!! wrote: »

No, a DME arc can be done at any distance from the airport and at any altitude and is based off the instruments inside the cockpit.

The circle to land procedure is a purely visual approach once level at the minimum decent height and the pilot must remain visual at all times with the runway.

Thanks Growler. Slightly off topic, but, what is the point of a DME arc?