Short Final: What To Fail

Image: KGG1951 - CC BY-SA 3.0/Wikimedia Commons
Gemini Sparkle

Key Takeaways:

  • A flight student practicing partial-panel single-engine operations with their CFI in a busy practice area prompted the instructor to ask for suggestions on what to "fail."
  • Other pilots monitoring the frequency responded with a series of increasingly humorous and extreme suggestions for simulated failures.
  • The suggestions escalated from instruments (airspeed, attitude) to critical systems (engine) and humorously, even the aircraft's wing.
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One sunny afternoon in late Fall, several flight school Skyhawks and a Piper Seminole trainer were making the most of the beautiful VFR day by practicing maneuvers in the “Northeast Practice Area.” All these aircraft were self‑reporting their position and intentions on 122.75 MHz. Heard on frequency:

Seminole (Student): “Northeast Practice, Seminole 123 over Carnation, 3500, partial‑panel single‑engine operations, Northeast.”

Seminole (CFI): “What should I fail?”

Unknown #1: “The Airspeed Indicator.”

Unknown #2: “The Attitude Indicator.”

Unknown #3: “The Left Engine!”

Unknown #4: “The Wing!”

I don’t think I’d want to be that student that afternoon!

Joelle Erickson

Seattle, Washington

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