The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) Air Safety Institute (ASI) recently released a new episode in its Real Pilot Story video series about a transatlantic ferry flight from Wichita, Kansas, to Paris, France.
In “Real Pilot Story: Pressure Over the Atlantic,” the Air Safety Institute talks with international ferry pilot Kerry McCauley about his harrowing experience during a 1994 single-pilot night flight in a Bonanza over the North Atlantic.
McCauley, who now has more than 30 years of experience with more than 100 ocean crossings logged, recounts what went wrong as he discovered a serious problem transferring fuel from the ferry tank and how he overcame the odds of making it to his destination safely.
“In ASI’s Real Pilot Story series, pilots share their encounter with a dilemma so others can benefit — while comfortably on the ground — from lessons learned the hard way in flight,” said AOPA Air Safety Institute Senior Director Paul Deres. “We applaud Kerry McCauley for keeping a cool head in the face of a life-threatening situation and enduring a grueling eight-hour ordeal, and we thank him for sharing his story with the general aviation community to help make us all safer pilots.”
Could pressurizing the tank with the O2 system if it has it work? Really he wouldn’t have needed more than ambient and the O2 cylinder is way above the atmosphere outside the thank. He just needed some head pressure. The only thing i could see being a problem is the O2 rich environment in the tank which would really be ok as there was no spark source. Or the window would have been my first choice too as others said. Also he had his roll of duct tape to secure it.
A bellows might have been good backup solution to provide the necessary air pressure that could have been manually operated if needed.
How about sticking the end of that hose out the window and facing into the airstream. Seems like it should have been at least as effective as the position on the belly of the aircraft. Just wondering.
Regards, Richard Chabot
If the hose was long enough, he could have held it out the side window. Yes his hand woukd have gotten cold but it would have been a break from blowing in the hose and gotten some fresh air into the cockpit…
Haven’t read it yet … But, single pilot at night in single engine piston aircraft? Are you kidding me? I believe there was some risk assessment back then. Hopefully someone won’t try to emulate after reading this. Otherwise my favorable insurance rate is sure to rise even more after the search and rescue (or search and recovery).
Would backup hand pump have worked?