Hey all, I joined this forum because I really wanted to talk about an incident I had. I'm quite ashamed of it though so I don't want to openly speak about it at my flight school because it is embarrassing and also an odd question.

I am currently an 80 hour Private Pilot and made a mistake on a recent flight. I took a longer cross country flight than usual (around 150 miles) a few weeks ago and about 3/4 into my flight home I ran into ceilings at around 2,800 ft. (I was cruising originally at 4,500 but had to keep requesting dropping alt with flight following because it kept coming down). Eventually I was handed off to the next station, but because I had to keep dropping altitude, I was unable to reach the station. So anyways, then I made the mistake. I kept lowering beneath the ceiling until I got to about 2,800 ft when I knew that I had to turn around. There was high terrain that I remembered from the way there so I knew it wasn't a good idea to keep going. So i got into IMC and made my 180. Problem was that when I made the 180, even at the same altitude I was at before below the clouds, I wasn't anymore, i was still in IMC. So what I ended up doing was putting in full throttle, and went above the clouds and was finally able to reach the station which gracefully worked with me and gave me some vectors around the weather as well as a nice pocket to drop through.

anyways that's the story but the real question I guess I have is, did I suffer a panic attack during all of this? When I started my turn with 0 vis I was pretty freaked out, heart was thumping, i felt kind of dizzy, and my head kept following the AI banking to the left. So I guess I am just trying to figure out whether it was just spacial disorientation, or I actually had a panic attack. I've never had one before, and once I got above the clouds again I was fine. I really just wanted to vent this for 2 reasons, #1 because I know I should have diverted sooner and the whole incident really freaked me out even though no graveyard spin or anything was entered, and #2 If it actually was a panic attack or something, it would discourage me from doing more training because I don't want to be putting myself or a passenger in danger if that were to happen again. I was completely calm over the radio, etc. but I've never had my heart thump that hard before.

I don't really want to fly again until I get more instrument training.

 

You did fine, you gained experience the hard way. Everybody's had a moment like that, just learn from it and move on. BTW, I've been flying professionally for 30 years.

 

Every time you fly make it a point to use your attitude indicator there is no better practice then VMC.

 

James,

Glad to hear that your feet are safely on the ground. The accident record is littered with VFR flight into IMC events, it is quite a sticky situation. I suspect your body and mind knew this and the elevated heart rate was simply a result of the stressful situation. Let's talk about the good takeaways.

1. You flew the plane first. Kept control. Good job.

2. You turned around and got out of there when you saw it wasn't working out.

3. Situation still wasn't improving so you climbed out and got away from terrain.

4. You called and fessed up and got help.

5. You landed safely and can now reflect on what you would do differently.

Sometimes aviation teaches lessons in a very intense way. I'm sure you won't forget this one. I would absolutely recommend speaking to your instructors about it. We've all made mistakes and can help you get back on the horse and learn from it. Also someone else may learn from you instead of it happening to them. Work on that instrument rating, it will push you and make you a much better pilot even if you always stay VFR. You'll also learn to recognize your own disorientation and how to fight it. And yes, my heart still beats faster when I do an approach in the soup.

 

A panic attack is a sudden episode of intense fear that triggers severe physical reactions when there is no real danger or apparent cause (from the Mayo Clinic website). You were panicked, but the danger was real. So, by that definition, you did not have a panic attack. Other definitions include that the individual is debilitating. You, while scared (rightfully so), were able to ask for help and get out of the situation... so not debilitated.

Learn your lesson, move on, and fly safe.*

 

Concur all. Inexperience led to bad judgement, which lead to a bad situation but you did what was needed to get out of it.

The lesson to be learned is in the chain of events that led you to this point.

All that said, don't take this lightly...in addition to the obvious danger to yourself there could have been IFR traffic in those clouds.

Do a NASA form if you haven't already.

 

There is nothing to be ashamed about - experience is what you get when you're looking for something else.


The good:
Had the situational awareness about the rising terrain
Aviate, Navigate, Communicate
Knew you had to get above the deck - I've lost friends scud running


The not so good
Weather Planning (did the TAF/Area forecast call for the ceilings?)
Having an out - was there a VFR divert field closer than home, or clear skies behind you? Did you have "get-home-itis"?

I don't think you had a panic attack - perhaps some vertigo. My first solo flight in IMC after getting my IR scared the crap out of me.

Get some more instrument instruction (under the hood and in actual IMC) and you'll be fine. X-Plane and a simple yoke/throttle set up and you can fly from the safety of your man cave.

 

I'd echo what these other guys said. Its scary, but you did the right things and survived. That's what aviation is all about...not only surviving YOUR experiences but learning from other people's mistakes.

Read, talk shop, compare notes, network. Commit to learning about flying every day, even when you're the Captain of an international 777.

 

I appreciate all responses guys. To answer your two questions N937, to the first: I got a standard briefing from Lockheed Martin which did give me some airmet Ts for the route, but said that the route was VFR conditions. I checked the ceilings at my take-off airport as well as destination. I however did not check ceilings around airports inbetween my route. The weirdest part was when I finally got ahold of ATC, they said they did not see any of the weather/ceilings that I was reporting to them.

As far as the get-homeitis goes, yeah I guess I did have some of that. I knew I did not want to turn back all the way to my original airport because of fuel, and I know this may not make sense but my thinking at the time was I had about a 20 mile radius on the garmen i was using. All I saw on the GPS were uncontrolled airports near-by, and being so windy/mixed with the limited visibility I didn't feel comfortable with the workload to divert to an uncontrolled. So I made the decision to climb and followed my GPS to my home airport which has a tower and I felt comfortable with. Flawed logic I know, but at the time it made sense to me.

 

Agree with all the above. Fill out a NASA form. Asrs.arc.nasa.gov