AOPA Pilot Magazine - June 2013 - 95

1%
remained behind us offering reassuring
comments. As we were rolling out, Boyce
announced over the radio, “We have no
brakes.” There seemed to be no solution.
We were going to plow into a ditch if we
did not stop in time. I felt my girl begin
jerking from side to side. One of the firemen decided to run over the cable. That
decision was the only thing that kept us
from traveling through the fence.
Later, an FAA investigator told us we
should have died several times that day
and it was a miracle we hadn’t. We should
have died when our aircraft made contact
with the three-strand steel cable because
we should have flipped over, and crashed
inverted. There was no reasonable explanation for why the power line had broken
as it did.
As for Spike, the investigator told us it
was also a good thing that we had a friend
who was as skilled as Spike. Why? We had
not been able to see it, but Spike had used
his expertise—and the left wing tip of his
airplane—to keep the trailing cable above
the high-tension lines until we cleared
them. The investigator did not approve
of Spike’s action because had he encountered turbulence, power loss, or any other
problem, his aircraft’s propeller could have
become entangled in the cable, causing
both airplanes to crash.
What had I learned? Before doing
this kind of maneuver, know the airport,
the final approach course, and the movement area. I also learned something more
important. No one could identify why the
cable had broken the way it had. Boyce
reminded me that sometimes the quality
of the impossibilities in life are the best
lessons. “This happened for a reason,” he
said. “Live your life with a purpose.” He
never liked to complicate things. His contribution to my perception of flying and the
example of how to live a balanced life has
continued with me all these years.
A A
OP
KEITH GUNNELL holds a private pilot cer-

tificate with multiengine rating and has
logged more than 500 hours. He is a retired
air traffic controller.
JAY SCENARIO How would you fly

this flight? This scenario is available
on the AOPA Jay from Redbird.

www.aopa.org/pilot AOPA PILOT | 95

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AOPA Pilot Magazine - June 2013

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