A rescue team was sent to the Everglades after a small plane carrying a student and an instructor went down in the middle of alligator country on Oct 7. The two crash-landed near Shark Valley at 2:44 PM, and both were seemingly unharmed. The maneuver of crash landing is one of the most vital lessons a student could ever get. It’s literally the difference between life and death at certain points.
The goal is to ensure that whenever a pilot loses control of the plane, the only solution is to get on the ground while saving the lives on board, regardless of whatever happens to the plane. The insurance companies can handle that. It’s not quite Denzel Washington-on-Flight level, but it’s a heroic act.
According to the Miami Herald, the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue flew a helicopter about 20 miles off Miami’s Executive Airport, only to find the student and instructor standing outside a flipped-over Cessna 172M plane. The two’s apparent crash landing became even more impressive when the rescue team couldn’t land their helicopter there themselves.
The terrain was so rough that the only option available for the rescue team was hoisting the two people up to the helicopter to save them. MDFR Flight Medic Enrique Gonzalez said, “Knowing 20 miles west of this airport [Miami Executive], there is nothing but Everglades. Because of the environment that is out there, being that it is mud, and the depth of the mud is unknown to us, with the aircraft not able to sit well on that, the best way to extract those people is to lift them out.”
The procedure involves a helicopter lowering a rescuer who ties a harness around the people in the crash, and then they are slowly lifted up. In a video that has since been released, the two can be seen being returned to the Miami Executive Airport.
The aircraft is understood to be the property of Pilot Training Center LLC, which operates from Miami Executive Airport. Flight training usually includes classes and a circuit above an airport to help a student fully learn the craft of landing and taking off. But eventually, the student would need to learn how to carry out long-distance flights further away from the airport. Usually, more advanced students — at least ones who have solo experience and maybe a private license — get to fly long distances alone. But it’s hard to say that was the case here because it’s not exactly a hard rule. The crash in Washington DC involved a licensed pilot, but the instructor was still there.
The student is still getting used to flying, and this could be discouraging, but if he’s okay, he can get right back and build his confidence back up. After all, at this point in time, the thing the world needs most is airport workers who can handle a little misfortune.
The story is still developing, and the FAA is still investigating what exactly happened, so if anything changes, expect periodic updates.
