Story of self - opened and shattered canopy mid-flight

Couple of years ago during my second training flight of that day, on a very hot summer day, the canopy of the Extra 330LX that I was flying opened in flight and shattered. As you can see from the video, it was a challenging experience that could have been avoided if I had made a proper visual check before taking off. The canopy locking pin had never gone into the locked position, and I failed to notice it during my checks.

I also made the mistake of going to the training camp right after recovering from COVID, without allowing my body enough time to fully regain strength. Additionally, flying without any eye protection made the flight even more challenging than it already was.

The flight was a distressing experience, filled with noise, breathing difficulties, and impaired visibility. It took me nearly 28 hours to fully recover my vision. Aerodynamically, I’ve experienced some buffet and controllability challenges. Probably the most difficult part was to keep the power in, thus trading my vision and breathing for kinetic energy.

Although due to all the noise it was difficult to hear what my coach was saying on the radio, one thing I've heard loud and clear "just keep flying"

If you are a pilot watching this, I hope that my story serves as a cautionary tale and that you will learn from my mistake.

I regret that it took me so long to share this video footage. It's not easy to put my vulnerabilities out there for you all to see. However, I have come to realisze how important it is to be transparent about our shortcomings and the lessons we learn along the way.

To all my fellow pilots out there, fly safe.

#aviationsafety #learnfrommistakes #pilotlife #flysafe #pilottraining

[timgadler]

I'm a pilot. You made a mistake. You owned it. You've learned from it. You did exactly what you should have done, demonstrating outstanding airmanship in the process. You got the plane back on the ground, no blood, no broken bones, no bent metal. Kudos to you for keeping your cool under extraordinary pressure. And high kudos to you for coming forward and sharing so others may learn from this incident.

[chrish]

As an Army Aviation guy, this excellent video really emphasizes the need for head and eye protection in a canopy-style airplane. Very well done - Bravo Zulu!

[outcry]

"In case of emergency, fly the airplane!" Safe landing + self awareness and excellent attitude, 10/10 no notes.

[inspectordesigns]

It’s refreshing to see an aviation video where no one dies when something goes seriously wrong. Thanks for sharing and helping others to learn from your mistake.

[dsmj]

Whoever was playing the piano just kept on going like nothing happened! Amazing

[ericdziura]

I am an aviator. First, so glad you suffered no serious injury. Second, you demonstrated outstanding airmanship. ALL pilot should aspire to this. Third, so grateful that you shared this. Incredibly helpful.

[scottschneider]

I don’t think most people realize how impaired her vision was, anything over 40 mph without eye protection is brutal, props to you for staying calm and landing the plane safely 🙏

[jjde]

Bravery, determination and humility to admit an error, she gets my vote. Excellent flying.

[onerimeuse]

Jesus. Opening my visor on my bike at 80 to scratch my nose is rough. This must have sucked the big suck. And you still got your bird to ground. Bravo, fantastic piloting.

[slayeractual]

During my flight training my instructor always told me over and over again, especially during our simulated emergency training, "Fly the plane first." He would induce an emergency by shutting down the engine to an idle and tell me to take it to the ground. If I tried to get the emergency checklist before I put it in a glide slope and searched for a place to land, I was wrong. Fly the plane first and then troubleshoot the issues on the way down but do not get tunnel vision on the problem. Too many pilots have troubleshot their aircraft right into the terrain because they forgot their first rule of piloting - pilot the plane.
I noticed that right after the canopy came off, you instinctively went to grab it but immediately went back to flying the plane. That was perfect. You stayed calm, and slowed the plane down to help maintain control and get your vision situated. Once again, you did the absolute correct things.

I had two inflight emergencies during my flight career and both times I remembered all those simulated emergencies, some of which I actually did take the aircraft all the way to the ground and landed in fields, dirt roads and once on an empty stretch of highway. (things were different back in the 1980s) One emergency was at night and I had to take it to the ground without lights or any electrical power. Luckily, someone on the plane had a small pen flashlight that we used to illuminate the instrument panel so I could see my airspeed, altitude, attitude and heading and was able to find a gravel runway in the dark. The landing was a bit rough as I bounced it in, but we all walked away unharmed and with no damage to the aircraft. But the lesson I learned from that time was that I never lost control of the plane or spent too much time searching for a problem. I just knew we had a problem and I had to land right away. So we did.

I'm glad everything went safely for you, and I am very impressed by your calmness, professionalism, and focus on getting the aircraft back to the airport. Well done.

[ValidityJ]

My gosh....not only did you land, you landed back at the air strip. Well done. I'm so glad you walked away from that. Thank you for sharing your experience.

[PicoIsOcip]

You handled that like a boss, illustrating such bravery in times of unknown circumstances and showing your skills in uncomfortable situations. Glad you’re okay and can hopefully just keep improving, as I hope we can all do.

[livergen]

Thank You for sharing this, , , much was learned, leather headgear w/goggles were the norm in the old days.... Fly the plane is #1, took you 1-3 sec. to sort it out & then solid focus to the ground, That was beautiful, I'm glad you walked away from this, Guts of Steel....!
70 yr old USAF vet F4E Phatoms ..

[pneudmatic]

I'd fly with you. In YouTube social-media land, you could have avoided responsibility and told your audience that the pin failed, but you acknowledged your own actions. Respect to you.

[papasmurf]

Her first instincts were to grab the canopy and then the microphone until she got her bearings and calmed down enough to realize I’m ok and just get it back to the runway. Great video ! Never seen anything like that so up close before in a Plane. I slowed it way down and played it many times. She did a great job. Congrats !

[EricSorenson-qt]

Wow girl. You kept your wits about you, and remembered the number two rule in life: no matter what happens, don’t panic. Good for you. Nerves of steel.

[FreedomEagles]

She was exposed to three main dangers after the canopy opened;
1st, any bird hit in the face at this speed could have easily knocked her out .
second; breathing at this speed is freakin hard.
And finally; her sight reduced by the crazy wind.

And yet, she still kept her composure and landed safely.
Not many people would reacted the same way.
What a Champ.😎

[texastyrannyresponseteam]

10/10... Rule #1.. fly the airplane... She did... No panic... Just got her back on the ground... No jacking with the canopy frame or anything.. Handled perfect... Bravo...

[brenreidy]

You showing accountability here is the real winner. This is incredibly humble of you and I admire your vulnerability. Although your ego may take a hit, the positives that come from this far outweigh the negatives. Thank you for sharing. I'm sure EVERY pilot that watches this will never miss checking the latches/pins again.

[Oracle-hg]

I hope this girl realises how skilled she is, she didn't panic, just got on with it and landed it like a pro.

Well done.