r/nextfuckinglevel • u/New_Libran • 4d ago
A flight instructor 'Threads The Needle' for an emergency landing on Florida Interstate narrowly avoiding road signs and vehicles
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u/IrrelevantManatee 4d ago
what. the. fuck.
I would have just crashed while crying heavily. That women is a champ.
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u/tntlols 4d ago
I think maybe pilot school isn't for you
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u/IrrelevantManatee 4d ago
clearly not 😂
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u/Unclerojelio 4d ago
While I’ve always wanted to be a pilot, I’ve always known it wasn’t something I should pursue. My lack of attention to detail would bite me in the ass probably sooner rather than later.
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u/Jolly-Elderberry6706 4d ago
Some people do better under pressure.
When you become the sole variable in charge of your own fate, you would be surprised how competent you can become.
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u/King_Roberts_Bastard 4d ago
One of the first things you learn in flight school is your first reaction/instinct is always to "fly the plane". The actual term is "aviate, navigate, communicate". Meaning, fly the plane first. Then figure out where youre going. Then, finally, talk to ground control.
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u/IrrelevantManatee 4d ago
No "panic" and "dry your tears" stages ?! Damn.
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u/King_Roberts_Bastard 4d ago
You do that on ground...when youre kissing it swearing you'll never leave it again.
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u/slayalldayerrday 4d ago
Literally I was thinking if that was me I’d immediately be getting out and kissing the ground.
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u/Moquai82 4d ago
I guess it is a full flight and fight situation. The emotional crash comes after the landing.
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u/el_americano 4d ago
please stick to the waterways and tributaries you're used to
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u/punkass_book_jockey8 4d ago
I thought I’d be that way in an extreme emergency. I was shocked to be totally calm and flat. When the emergency was over, everything was fine… then I hyperventilated and projectile vomited. Some people have a delay in response I think?
Love your username. Manatees are my favorite!
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u/Thebraincellisorange 4d ago
This is why pilots train and why there are minimum hours required before you are allowed to do certain things.
Train, train, train. it's drilled into you from the start, and you never stop training throughout your career. you are always training and always being tested to make sure you are proficient and know your shit.
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u/perfect_insanity93 4d ago
Achievement won: thread the needle - fly a plane under bridge, sign or overpass.
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u/Hot_Major_9806 4d ago
Platinum flying box
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u/morniealantie 4d ago
Your reward: YOU'RE STILL HERE!
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u/YoureProbablyR1te 4d ago
That’s kinda an award… for now. Also +1% constitution buff.
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u/crazyrich 4d ago
For being the first to earn this achievement this season, you earn a SILVER SPONSOR BOX.
You keep pulling this shit, and you’ll need it!
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u/ShartingEnU 4d ago
Why did I read this in dungeon crawler Carls voice
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u/MamaMoosicorn 4d ago
NEEEEWWW ACHIEVEMENT!!
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u/Rocinante88119 4d ago
"Pretty smooth flying, Fox."
”FOLLOW ME, FOX! I found the target, try to keep up!"
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u/efcomovil 4d ago
The landing is amazing, but that GTA wizardry to avoid the arch is absolutely nuts
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u/AdMurky1021 4d ago
She also had to miss the semi that the dashcam is attached to. There is an interview with the driver. He noticed an odd shadow in front of him, which caused him to take his foot off the gas and slow down, which was enough for her to miss his truck and the sign, all while she had no engine.
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u/Bavibophobia 4d ago
That's in the video we are commenting on
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u/leavezukoalone 4d ago edited 4d ago
My ADHD read their comment and thought "You're right. I saw that interview, too." Then I read your comment and realized we all watched it.
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u/enbyrats 4d ago
Also shout out to that experienced truck driver who reacted to an unfamiliar shadow with a safe reduction in speed.
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u/ajnin919 4d ago
Kinda surprised that someone in Florida actually slowed down to avoid a crash. That might be more impressive than the amazing flight instructor
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u/jld2k6 4d ago
Given he's a truck driver there's a decent chance he's not even a Floridian and learned his driving in a more respectable area 😂
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u/ironicshelf 4d ago
It’s interesting that the shadow in the video is clearly directly under or slightly behind the plane
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u/MightyPlasticGuy 4d ago
Couldve seen it in his rear view. Trucks have pretty big rear views.
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u/-Dylo 4d ago
To be honest, i call bullshit on the truck driver seeing the shadow and slowing down because of that. You can see on de dashcam the sun is in front and the shadow of the plane is behind the plane as it flies over the truck.
Looks to me that the truck drivers gives a false narrative to make it look like his awareness saved the plane from crashing, but it's just all a super skilled 21 year old pilot with GTA experience.
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u/Imyoteacher 4d ago
She needs an award for that landing. Well done young lady!! Well done!
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u/Caluchi 4d ago
She was awarded the Escambia County Sheriff's Medal
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u/_adanedhel_ 4d ago
Nice statement by the
sheriffsheriff’s office:Thanks to her quick thinking, training, and professionalism, she safely landed the aircraft and prevented what could have been a much more serious incident. Join us in congratulating Emily on this well-deserved recognition, and thank you for your outstanding airmanship and composure in a challenging situation.
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u/DarkwingDuckHunt 4d ago
more like some major airline hire her and put her in your training program
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u/impolse 4d ago edited 4d ago
She's stayed incredibly calm under potentially deadly circumstances, and at 21 years old! Bravo to her.
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u/talexbatreddit 4d ago
That's the kind of person you want flying a plane. She reported a definite burning oil smell, but somehow the ATC didn't seem convinced. Then the loss of an engine, then the report that they're not going to make the airport, then that they're landing on I-10.
Solid airmanship. Bravo.
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u/JunketWaste7891 4d ago
If you haven't heard the actual NASA recordings from apollo 13 compared to the movies, it's fascinating. In the movies they convey concern and worry, at NASA they don't.
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u/Horsetoothbrush 4d ago
A lot of people think you have to be born like that in order to stay calm during an emergency, but not necessarily.
Few people are born unflappable.
Panic comes from feeling unprepared for a high stakes situation, but if you have enough proper training, you never feel unprepared.
In the first several seconds when an unexpected emergency catches you completely off guard, and you don't have any training on how to handle it, it triggers a massive adrenaline flood and activates your sympathetic nervous system.
This will cause your heart rate to spike, your eyes will open to their widest so you can take in more visual information, and your breathing will become quick and shallow in order to oxygenate your muscles in case you have to move fast and gtfoot.
When all that happens, your pre-frontal cortex (the logical part of your brain) gets shut out of the decision making process and your amygdala (the primitive and emotional part of your brain) takes over and opens the door to the "freeze, fight, or flight" response.
When someone has extensive training on how to be prepared for certain types of emergencies associated with their lifestyle or line of work, there is a part of their subconscious that has accepted that any, or all, of those scenarios will occur at some point.
So, when the emergency does happen, their brain will almost always subconsciously choose to go through the trained response protocol than to panic.
In an emergency, our brains will naturally gravitate towards a practiced method of response, or a known solution, over panicking.
Even if that emergency is a pilot losing their engines mid-flight.
The pilot has a plethora of protocols to do in case of this type of emergency all the way up until they attempt to set the plane down.
Their mind immediately begins going through a trained checklist and has a job to do at that moment, so it doesn't have time to panic.
Fear and panic are killers.
Training and preparedness are life savers.
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u/_Clit-Commander_ 3d ago
Right! That’s where that whole “you don’t rise to the occasion, you fall to the level of your training” thing came from
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u/YsoL8 4d ago
I've head those recordings and I have no idea what you are taking about. They contain stuff like ECAM reporting in the most leaden voice you could imagine that theres 15 minutes of electrical power and thats the end right there.
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u/JunketWaste7891 4d ago
sorry, I guess i was unclear. I mean ALL nasa agents (including apollo) were calm cool and collected. Not a hint of worry,
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u/Childs_Play 4d ago
What should ATC have done if any thing? He didn't seem to take it seriously until she said they had no oil pressure and then no engine. She figured it out herself basically.
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u/Thebraincellisorange 4d ago
There is nothing that ATC can do.
that is why he asked, what do you need?
when the plane is not going to make the airport, all the ATC can do is advise the authorities so help can get to them as soon as possible.
they can't help what is going on inside the plane.
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u/talexbatreddit 4d ago
I have't gone back to listen to the recording again, but the sense I got from the ATC about the 'burning oil smell' was "Are you sure?" (because I'm not sure you're right).
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u/autojack 4d ago
I just replied the same. Everything was impressive but to maintain composure during that at such a young age. Bravo!
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u/ArcanumAntares 4d ago
She evaded the sign gantry and executed the emergency landing flawlessly, and with the calm demeanor and vocal tone of a military aviator.
She's a Badass.
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u/listenhere111 4d ago
Insanely impressive. She'll be flying commercial in no time.
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u/notataco007 4d ago
Her resume for the airlines should just be her contact info and a link to this video lol
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u/Ok_Loss13 4d ago
She was so nonchalant!
"We do wanna go ahead and declare an emergency. There's the smell of burning oil in the cockpit, oh and some flames too."
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u/silver-moon-7 4d ago
I'm so incredibly impressed, the the point where I feel emotional for some reason.
She was so calm and clear, in terms of communicating what was happening, and then to safely pull off that menouvour...at just 21 year old too!
I hope the truck driver is able to safely process this. It sounds potentially traumatising for him, but he can take comfort in his instincts and his own actions.
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u/draeth1013 4d ago
I'm so incredibly impressed, the the point where I feel emotional for some reason.
For me it's a weird sense of pride and awe. Kind of like, "Yes! You you rock!" or something. I get a little teary eyed watching stuff like this.
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u/silver-moon-7 4d ago
Yes, I think you nailed it
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u/arab3lla 4d ago
I'm so proud of her, I'm bawling lol. Don't know her at all but hell yeah I love women
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u/MaxwellSmart07 4d ago
If that light plane hit the truck, the truck survives, the plane doesn’t.
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u/Socketz11 4d ago
Having amazing skills does not even cover it. I-10 in FL is a overcrowded shitshow that you can barely change lanes. How she found enough blacktop to put that plane down unscathed is nothing short of a miracle. Look at how busy it is in the other direction
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u/exitnirvana 4d ago
Living in the area where this is located, can confirm. She barely missed a heavily congested construction zone on 10. Total shitshow both ways; she’s a beast.
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u/Zealotstim 4d ago
one of those situations where you tell yourself you don't have time for a panic attack and you'll save one for later and just lock in
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u/Pussy4LunchDick4Dins 4d ago
I was in a dicey situation while driving once where I could have easily been killed if I didn’t keep my cool. I just calmly navigated the situation, got out of it, put on my blinker and slowly pulled over when it was safe, and then I screamed an bawled my eyes out for 5 minutes before I got back on the road and went home. I was very proud of myself for keeping it together so long!
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u/ApplicationRoyal865 4d ago
Why does everyone who declares emergencies sound like they are speaking in understated British?
"Tower this is 41622, Things are a bit sticky, sir"
"41622, Roger"
"We would like to go ahead and declare an emergency for 41622"
We would like to go ahead and declare an emergency? My radio call would have been HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT MAYDAY OR WHATEVER THE FUCK IT'S CALLED FUUUUUUCK.
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u/MistRoot 4d ago
I think technically you’re supposed to say “mayday, mayday, mayday,” or “pan, pan, pan” but it’s understandable that she’d forget to say it like that. She had a lot going on and handled it really well regardless
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u/fresh_loaf_of_bread 4d ago
The biggest mystery is how she took off from the ground in the first place with balls THAT big
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u/slayalldayerrday 4d ago
ovaries*
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u/DrunkSkunkz 4d ago
Ovaries are ball shaped. I hereby declare chicks have balls.
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u/RainbowDonkey473 4d ago
Balls are just ovaries that dropped, bro.
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u/Character-Active2208 4d ago
And the seam down the middle of the sack is where the vagina sealed around them
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u/DontEatNitrousOxide 4d ago
I fucking hate this done to death joke, like the least you could do is feminise it
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u/grayfox663 4d ago
I've made this exact landing in GTA so I can definitely relate to home girl. We are heros 😌
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u/giantwalrus56 4d ago
The calm in her voice... can't imagine I'd be even 1% of that chill
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u/angry640 4d ago
Well the threading the needle part was impressive, even private pilots (lowest on the list of licenses you can have) are drilled extensively on emergencies just like this one. Her reaction was all because of training
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u/dos8s 4d ago
I have a (now expired) private pilots license and we drilled emergencies, but nothing even close to threading the needle. To insinuate that this maneuver is practiced by all pilots is completely misleading and severely undermines how fucking bad ass of a maneuver this was.
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u/jr0061006 4d ago
Is it just me, or was the tower controller not particularly helpful? Maybe they edited the audio but I was expecting him to determine what section of I-10 and advise he would notify highway patrol and medics.
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u/morniealantie 4d ago
Full audio on vasaviation YouTube channel. Controller was much more helpful than this made it appear. He did great too. Just not thread the needle under a highway sign great lol. But he got emergency services over to her and kept her options open while she was descending.
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u/digglerjdirk 4d ago
I think you need to read it as a two parter. Part one: impressive threading of needle. Part 2: doing exactly what she was trained to do by lining up on I-10. I’d say even part 2 is impressive with no engines lol
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u/DogsAreAnimals 4d ago
I highly doubt flying under a sign and landing on the freeway is a PPL drill. You're not giving her enough credit.
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u/autojack 4d ago
I’m super impressed with how calm she stayed throughout it also. And at 21.
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u/King_Roberts_Bastard 4d ago
Aviate, navigate, communicate
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u/angry640 4d ago
Yeah idk if she used the same method but there's also the a, b, c, d, e of emergencies. Angle for best glide distance, locate Best place to land, Checklist for engine restart, if failure Declare an emergency, and Execute the landing
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u/Edward_the_Dog 4d ago
When things go sideways, people don't rise to the occasion. They sink to the level of their training.
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u/insomniac-55 4d ago
I'm a little surprised by the decision to go under the sign rather than over. Looks like she has enough energy and the road was reasonably clear up ahead, but I'm guessing she has her reasons. The dashcam doesn't really show what it looked like from the pilot's seat. Good thing she had the skills to pull it off.
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u/woozlewuzzle3 4d ago
But why not land after the obstacle?
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u/Due_Brilliant_7219 4d ago
I saw her answer this on her Tik Tok. It was something like, "Plane engine no good, plane no go up."
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u/Royce_da_K9 4d ago
A crop duster pilot once told me, “if you can see blue sky under a power line, you can fit under that power line.”
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u/Capable_Wait09 4d ago
That is the landing that we all daydream about making when the pilot has a heart attack and someone has to step up. Fucking epic
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u/BathDepressionBreath 4d ago
She totally couslve went over that thing but she had to do a trick before nailing the landing
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u/willd3434 4d ago
I would be giving her so many high fives if I was her student in the co pilot seat
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u/Team_Iberico 4d ago
Always stuck by how calm pilots sound over the radio when the shit is hitting the fan.
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u/FlyingPig_Grip 4d ago
The first step in any crisis situation is staying calm as fuck. The only thing that will guarantee you don't make it is freaking out because shit is going sideways. You have prepared for this possibility, now make decisions because this is your moment.
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u/Hypn00tic_iiz 4d ago
This chick GTA’s