Yooper Rocketman Posted December 10, 2015 Report Posted December 10, 2015 I was headed down to Augusta GA yesterday to see my dad on life support, not expected to make it through the night and in an instantaneous moment manifold pressure dropped from 30" to 11". Called Chicago Center declaring an emergency and asked for lower and closest airport. Kalamazoo was 20 miles ahead so chose it; good size airport with emergency services. After going through normal emergency procedures we tried assessing the problem. Nothing would raise the manifold pressure and I then noticed fluctuations in oil pressure, between 30 psi to 10 psi. Since my first thought was a failure of the intake hose from the turbo to the intake and we would get manifold pressure back when we got lower, this oil pressure issue pointed at something much more serious . AZO Approach initially gave me a heading which eventually had me heading parallel and away from the airport. He asked if I wanted continued headings and I said NO, I want to circle over the airport until I could determine when I would be ready for my final approach. I was concerned my idling and rough running engine would quit, although I probably had more drag from the idling engine than I would have had with it stopped. Once we determined oil pressure was declining I had throttle pulled to just above gear horn point. Winds were 9 knots out of 270 and the only runways open were 17 & 35 which was good because I could take either one based on my descent. On downwind for 35 and still 2500' to lose, I heard approach giving a hold to incoming traffic. I decided I could dump the altitude and make runway 35 so popped the speed brakes and lowered the gear. Once the gear was down I pulled throttle to idle but on short final got nervous and tried to get some power. There was none to be had but we made the runway with 1000' to spare. On taxi to the only FBO with mechanical services, oil pressure still at 10 lbs, we could feel a shudder like backfiring into the intake. After shutdown and some paperwork with the airport emergency services crew we started looking over the engine. No obvious issues externally so we pulled the dipstick; no oil. I had added a quart an hour ago, bringing the level up to 11 quarts. Looking at the belly, exhaust and breather, nothing looked like that much oil had come out of the engine. The FBO owner cut the oil filter apart and it was clean. He pulled the prop through 2 full turns and all 6 cylinders have decent compression. ...maybe I saved the engine. We're thinking now maybe it's turbo or waste gate related. Sitting in KGRB airport for the 5:25 AM flight to ATLANTA and should make Augusta by noon. Hope dad holds on until I get there. Tom 1 Quote
Hank Posted December 10, 2015 Report Posted December 10, 2015 Prayers for you, Tom! Glad everything worked well getting on the ground. 1 Quote
Marauder Posted December 10, 2015 Report Posted December 10, 2015 Tom - sorry to hear about your Dad and the airplane troubles. Trying times and you're in my thoughts. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Quote
rbuck Posted December 10, 2015 Report Posted December 10, 2015 Glad you're safe. Praying for you and your family. Quote
Pictreed Posted December 10, 2015 Report Posted December 10, 2015 Sorry to hear about your dad. Glad your ok Keep us informed on the issue. Quote
MyNameIsNobody Posted December 10, 2015 Report Posted December 10, 2015 Thinking of you, your dad and your family. All benefitted from your skill aviating and sound decision-making. Go enjoy your dad. Nice job! Thank you for sharing. Quote
aviatoreb Posted December 10, 2015 Report Posted December 10, 2015 Wow what a sequence of events. Thoughts with you and your dad. Quote
Yooper Rocketman Posted December 10, 2015 Author Report Posted December 10, 2015 Sitting in ATL now waiting on hop over to Augusta. The real kick is the only FBO that does mechanical work told me, with clear and serious comments, he can not even look at it for 2 months! And, because AZO is an air carrier airport, it's unlikely the airport will allow Steve (my hangar partner, best friend, and A&P) and me to work on it ourselves. So essentially it could sit for 2 months out in the Michigan weather. I am close with both my local FBO and our airport manager so am already working that angle so maybe we can go down there next week to trouble shoot. Tom Quote
mike_elliott Posted December 10, 2015 Report Posted December 10, 2015 4 minutes ago, Yooper Rocketman said: Sitting in ATL now waiting on hop over to Augusta. The real kick is the only FBO that does mechanical work told me, with clear and serious comments, he can not even look at it for 2 months! And, because AZO is an air carrier airport, it's unlikely the airport will allow Steve (my hangar partner, best friend, and A&P) and me to work on it ourselves. So essentially it could sit for 2 months out in the Michigan weather. I am close with both my local FBO and our airport manager so am already working that angle so maybe we can go down there next week to trouble shoot. Tom Glad your OK, Tom. Hoping for the best for your father. Quote
bonal Posted December 10, 2015 Report Posted December 10, 2015 Very sorry about your father I remember when mine passed its a tough thing to go through. so glad you made a safe landing and hope the problem is a simple one. Our thoughts and prayers to you and your family. Quote
jlunseth Posted December 10, 2015 Report Posted December 10, 2015 Went through something similar a few years ago, leaking quick drain allowed most of the oil to blow out of the engine. My result was the same as yours, safe landing, none of the people nor the aircraft were injured. Just a little excitement. I just have two things to say. One, you did a very good job getting the aircraft and yourself down safely. You made all of the right decisions. If it was like my experience, you have no time to get nervous, you just evaluate, decide, execute, and if what you did is not working you do something else. I am very glad to have the training to conduct a power off 180, I hope I never need it in real life. Second, isn't the safety factor of the turbo great? If something like that is going to happen, I would rather it happen at 19k (which is also the altitude we were at) than at 1,900. TIme to make a plan and get to the airport. We also went through the aftermath problems. In our case the engine was good, the problem was getting back into the country - our event happened over Canada and we did not have passports or eAPIS codes with us. But we definitely lived to tell the tale, that is the good part. Best wishes with your father. 2 Quote
Bob Posted December 10, 2015 Report Posted December 10, 2015 Job well done! Hope all works out for you and your family! I just got over a major failure while stuck away from home and opened a thread to ask for a recommendation for an A&P in that area. Members from this board came forward and helped fast and a tech commuted to my downed location to get the job done. I am based near Chicago and will help where I can, just PM and tell me what you need. I can go see family at KIMT to help you get to or from. 2 Quote
PTK Posted December 10, 2015 Report Posted December 10, 2015 My thoughts and prayers are with you and your dad Tom. Great job getting it down safe. Quote
MB65E Posted December 10, 2015 Report Posted December 10, 2015 Best wishes for you and your family. Kind of puts things into perspective. -Matt Quote
aviatoreb Posted December 10, 2015 Report Posted December 10, 2015 1 hour ago, Yooper Rocketman said: Sitting in ATL now waiting on hop over to Augusta. The real kick is the only FBO that does mechanical work told me, with clear and serious comments, he can not even look at it for 2 months! And, because AZO is an air carrier airport, it's unlikely the airport will allow Steve (my hangar partner, best friend, and A&P) and me to work on it ourselves. So essentially it could sit for 2 months out in the Michigan weather. I am close with both my local FBO and our airport manager so am already working that angle so maybe we can go down there next week to trouble shoot. Tom I am sure you have more serious family matters on your mind today. Thank goodness you are feet on the ground safely. But I should think that somehow a mechanic representing your interest should be able to see your airplane before 2 months. Perhaps if it comes to it FISDO can help, or even the suggestion to the FBO that you will be calling to FISDO for ideas and help. Quote
Shadrach Posted December 10, 2015 Report Posted December 10, 2015 Well done getting it down. I hope you get to your father quickly. Be well. Quote
gsengle Posted December 10, 2015 Report Posted December 10, 2015 Don't let a jet repair station work on it unless you have very deep pockets... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 3 Quote
carqwik Posted December 10, 2015 Report Posted December 10, 2015 Could it be as simple as induction icing? Not sure about the oil though but I do recall if you look at the dipstick right after flying it isn't correct as to quantity. Hopefully it's nothing major with the plane...and you get to see your Dad while he's with the world. Quote
wishboneash Posted December 10, 2015 Report Posted December 10, 2015 Congrats on making it safely to the ground and best wishes to you and your dad. Former MTU student Quote
Bennett Posted December 10, 2015 Report Posted December 10, 2015 I hope you were able to reach your dad in time. Congratulations on a successful landing. Getting the airplane back should be of secondary importance. Good to live to fly another day A suggestion about the problem. I once had a failure of my engine driven fuel pump at FL 230 in winter in IMC over Big Bear in California. I lost virtually all power, and mistakingly assumed it was a turbocharger failure. I was concerned that hot gases might be hitting the firewall. In retrospect that would not have been consistent with the loss of power. In trying to regain some power I tried the high position of the auxiliary fuel pump, but that just caused the engine to burble worse. I called LA Center and declared an emergency as I could not maintain altitude. They gave me vectors to Palm Springs, which from FL230 was no problem, and I had already set up my avionics to go there. I was still concerned about flames from a supposed turbocharger failure, and so I used the Commercial Spiral (gear and flaps down, speed brakes out, 50 degrees of bank, and an indicated airspeed of 110 knots) and the ASI hit its max reading of -2,000'/minute. I later calculated the real rate of decent was closer to 3,000'/minute. I broke out at about 3,500 AGL, and seeing that I was right over the field, and having experience dead sticking aircraft from that altitude, I made no attempt to increase what little power I had, if any. I did try the low boost position of the auxiliary fuel pump, but it didn't help. Tower wanted to know what runway I wanted, and that "the field was mine", and did I want the equipment rolled. I said that I would let them know the runway after my last turn. Just rolled level, and made an uneventful landing. I was totally calm during the whole ordeal - remembering my old flight instructor's admonition to just fly the airplane. As luck would have it, as I rolled off the runway, I saw a gentleman rushing out of a hangar to guide me in. Turned out he was the designer of the Continental engine driven fuel pump (this was my old 261 conversion) and in listening to my transmissions to ATC, knew exactly what the problem was. He repaired the pump, and I was back in the air two days later. While I was clearly mistaken in the cause of the engine problem, had I understood that the symptoms I was seeing was most likely an engine driven fuel pump failure, I doubt if I would have done much differently. I tried all the usual things: switch gas tanks, check throttle, mixture, prop positions and check to see if any circuit breakers had popped, but after that it was pretty much where to go, and to talk to LA Center to avoid other aircraft. Quote
larryb Posted December 10, 2015 Report Posted December 10, 2015 Great job on a safe landing. Perhaps you can find a T-hanger to rent for a month where you and your mechanic can work on it. Larry 1 Quote
kmyfm20s Posted December 10, 2015 Report Posted December 10, 2015 Glad you landed safely!! Prayers for your father. Quote
Danb Posted December 10, 2015 Report Posted December 10, 2015 Tom thank god your safe and the airplane is the least of your worries I'm praying for your pop as all our Mooney friends are doing. I sincerely hope you made it there on time, about 10 yrs ago I rushed to see my dad in similar circumstances and I didn't make it on time I pray your more successful Quote
ryoder Posted December 11, 2015 Report Posted December 11, 2015 Wow, what a story. Good luck with the airplane and getting to your dad. Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.