Last Tuesday I got a phone call that started with, "Everyone's okay". That immediately makes me think that it's NOT okay. This time him and his student were out doing an instrument cross country out to Prescott, AZ. On the way there the engine failed. (Turns out that the fuel line broke and starved the engine) Cameron takes over the controls and starts looking for a place to land out in the middle of the nowhere (also known as Wikieup, AZ). He decides on a few places but as he gets closer to the ground he sees that his first two options (that were paved) have power lines. So he goes with his third option which is a dirt road. He lands the aircraft fine (dodging brush and rocks) but comes up on a wash in the road. They were going pretty slow by this point but he took his feet off the brakes and tried to lift the nose over the wash. It started out well but as they came back down the nose wheel hit the edge and tore off.
You can see the wash and the nose wheel in the background. Anyway, some workers were out and saw Cam's plane come down so they were there by the time he stepped out of the plane. They drove him and his student to a diner and not long after they got there people were coming up to him asking him if he was the pilot and if "this" was his aircraft (showing him a picture on there phone that WAS his aircraft. This is a VERY small town). People gave him a round of applause for his landing and compared him to the guy who landed in the Hudson. Crazy!
The FAA has since been out to look at the aircraft and the accident site and they only have good things to say about Cameron's landing. Apparently he picked and nailed the ONLY landing spot that would have worked out there. He talked with one of the guys yesterday and after he got done questioning Cam he told him that they may just send him a letter of recommendation, or something like that, to send in with his resume to other companies. A letter from the FAA telling a future employer what a great pilot he is? Yeah, we'll take it! All in all Cameron did everything right and has received nothing but praise.
On a better note, Sheble Aviation is losing a few instructors. This leaves a couple key positions open like a seaplane instructor. Cameron has already put his name in and with any luck he'll get the opportunity to start working with the current seaplane instructor before he leaves.
Hopefully, this is the last of the emergency landings. If not, I'm going to urge him VERY STRONGLY to consider dentistry again.
2 comments:
That is so crazy! Way to go Cam!!!! You too Nicole, I couldn't handle it. I hope he gets the job he wants from all this.
So funny story. Apparently, Bryson's work sends their Fixed Wing CF-I pilots-in-training to Cam's school because they don't do that.
Cam really is a great pilot!
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