Page 21 - Volume 17 Number 11

Returnfailure that call for putting the airplane on the ground right now, and in a multiengine airplane even most engine-outs provide time to make a safe return or divert to a better runway nearby.This story has a happy ending. I met Joe nearly a decade after the crash, as he had begun reconciliation with his children and was just beginning to enjoy being a grandfather. I checked him out in a new-ish Bonanza A36 and he did quite well, despite some vision issues that required a waiver of demonstrated ability on his FAA medical and the loss of several fingers on both hands as a result of the fire. After completing his Bonanza transition and with about a year of flying around the Southeast, Joe fulfilled a dream he and his wife hadshared. He flew his Beechcraft to Alaska. After returning from the trip, he sold the Bonanza and retired from flying, feeling complete.Had Joe only continued his climb, leveled at pattern altitude, and flown a normal pattern bac•k to Runway 17 to land into, and not across, the howling wind, he and his wife might have enjoyed Alaska together. T&TThomas P. Turner is an ATP/CFII/MEI, holds a Masters Degree in Aviation Safety, and was the 2010 National FAA Safety Team Representative of the Year. Subscribe to Tom’s free FLYING LESSONS Weekly e-newsletter at www.mastery-flight-training.com.NOVEMBER 2013TWIN & TURBINE • 19