Hey all, I often find myself searching the internet for these types of videos, as for me, the lessons of real-world aviation are so valuable for my own learning and growth as a pilot. I am very grateful for the pilots that are willing to post their flying experiences, good or bad, and allowing the community to grow from the shared experience. Being humble as a pilot, may just save somebody else's life someday, and the past pilots that have shared their experiences, definitely helped me through this approach.
Without prior knowledge, I found myself in the left seat, recording one of these same videos on a ferry flight to Iceland. I wanted to share it, so that others can hopefully gain something from our experience.
Myself and my co-pilot/CFI/Ferry pilot Max, who is very experienced with flying the north Atlantic route, were in the process of ferrying a 1973 Piper Aztec from Liverpool, UK, to Calgary, Canada. En-route to Iceland, we were experiencing some reduced power from the airplane, and I had concerns about fuel consumption. We decided to land at Vagar in the Faroe Islands, and during the beginning of our approach, we lost a large portion of power from the left engine.
The weather was forecast to have 20 kts winds, about 30 degrees off the runway, and a ceiling of 600' in light drizzle. To top it all off, this would be my first ILS approach to such a low ceiling in full IMC conditions. The plane had sat idle for a long period of time, and water collected in the tanks and bowls. If you ever find yourself with a plane sitting for long periods, especially in high humidity areas, make very sure the fuel is clear from water and contaminants. So simple, but it can take your thrust away very quickly!
We determined that contamination in the fuel system, led to partial blockage of the fuel injectors, which caused the RPM to drop to 1500 on the left side. This became very interesting, as the engine didn't completely fail, so it was very difficult to determine what was happening. In the beginning, you can see a drop in airspeed, altitude, and a large yaw to the left, all indicating we had lost an engine, but it was still making noise and spinning, and all the gauges were in the green. Verifying was very difficult to do.
Once we had determined the engine was essentially lost, I configured the airplane to fly as such. Shortly after, we had a surge of power come back, which was almost the same feeling as losing the right engine. About as quick as it returned, the power died off again, and then was very intermittent for the remainder of the approach.
Understanding this was all happening during the high stress of a full IMC/ILS landing to low ceilings, it was very difficult to adapt to and adjust the airplane. I later set the rudder trim to neutral, and just used the pedals.
I will forever be grateful for having Max at my side, calmly coaching and instructing us through the approach. As he said, he went 'full CFI" mode, which is exactly what we needed. His voice was constantly reassuring the situation, and keeping me focused on what the airplane needed to be doing. We stayed calm, and collected, and the focus for me remained 100% aviating the airplane, dealing with whatever power I was given, which thankfully, was more than enough to bring us to the ground safe and sound.
I welcome any constructive comments, as this video is also a huge learning tool for myself. I've already seen things I would do a bit differently, and things that I was quite proud of doing (staying alive!). After 21 years of flying, I've always been curious how I would handle a situation like this, and man was I glad not to have to do it alone! We walked away, with no damage to the airplane, so I'll take the 100% win :)