During a training flight from Camarillo to John Wayne Airport in southern California, CFI Trevor Peterson and his student found themselves dealing with a rough running engine and loss of oil pressure in their 172.

As part of the AOPA Air Safety Institute’s 2022 campaign to eliminate VFR into IMC accidents, this episode features a discussion with helicopter pilot Andrew Edgerton, who inadvertently found himself in instrument conditions while flying an R44 Raven II from Quebec City to Baie-Comeau in Canada.

GA pilot Drew Ryan, along with brothers Eric and David Lomascolo (both air traffic controllers from Potomac TRACON), join us to recount the story of Drew’s flight in a snowstorm while flying from Albany, NY, to Manassas, VA, and the brothers’ help to bring him to safety.

Having purchased a Cirrus SR22 just a couple of days prior, pilot Brian Lenzmeier departed on a flight from Addison to Waco, TX with an instructor pilot on board. What followed was an engine and avionics failure that resulted in a CAPS (Cirrus Airframe Parachute System) pull over the busy Dallas area.

Living with the consequences of an aircraft accident is hard. Living with the loss of a son is excruciating. In this episode we take a sobering look at one pilot's personal tragedy, the devastation it wrought, and the lessons all of us can take from it. Warning: This episode involves a fatality. Listener discretion is advised. You can find a video version of this story on the Air Safety Institute's YouTube channel.

In this episode, we talk to pilots Lynn McNorton and Genesah Duffy, who had a chance encounter in Tampa Bay just south of Peter O. Knight Airport. After experiencing engine trouble in his Mooney M20M, McNorton was forced to ditch the airplane in the bay just short of Runway 4. Duffy was nearby in an Icon A5 and was able to land in the water to render assistance.

In this special edition of “There I was…”, host Richard McSpadden and AOPA’s Cayla McLeod interview Red Bull Air Race competitor Dario Costa, who debriefs his 44-second flight inside two Turkish highway tunnels, and the painstaking planning and preparation that got him safely through.

On a November afternoon a few days before Thanksgiving, GA pilot Henry Coffeen was practicing aerobatic maneuvers when he experienced a fire in the cockpit of his Edge 540.

David Bradley joins us to talk about ferrying a flight of UH-1 “Huey” helicopters from Jefferson City, Missouri down to Ellington Air Force Base during Operation Desert Storm.

While flying his experimental Zenith 701 out of his grass airstrip in Tennessee, pilot Jon Humberd has a close call with a quickly approaching storm. To see Jon’s YouTube video of the incident, click here.

In the summer of 2017, aviator Brian Lloyd began a solo round-the-world flight in his Mooney to commemorate Amelia Earhart’s famous equatorial route 80 years prior. While on a flight leg from New Zealand to American Samoa, Brian experienced an engine failure over the Pacific Ocean.

While flying out of a backcountry airstrip near Johannesburg in South Africa, pilot and YouTube personality Thomas Marrow experienced a prop strike in his Safari Kitplane.

Former Washington Post reporter John Lancaster shares the story of flying across the U.S. in his Flight Design CTLSi light-sport aircraft, for a book he is writing about the 1919 Transcontinental Air Race. While tracing the route flown by pilots in the Air Race 100 years ago, John faced challenges with weather, congested airspace, mountainous terrain, and more. Look for the release of John's book in the next year or two! Note: This interview was recorded in August 2019.

On an IFR flight from Bend, Oregon to Vashon Island, WA, Craig Beles and his friend and CFI Truman O’Brien experienced an engine failure in their PA-28 Cherokee 140. Over vast wilderness with no ideal landing options, the pair are forced to put the aircraft down in the treetops near Mt. St. Helens.

Warbird pilot and former aircraft racer John “Pappy” Mazza shares an engine failure experience while flying a Grumman FM-2 Wildcat.

Longtime GA pilot, warbird trainer and DPE Doug Rozendaal tells us a story about piloting a Beech 18 during his years of flying freight, when he experienced an electrical failure at night in low IMC.

Helicopter pilot Dennis Martin joins us to talk about an incident he had after departing the AOPA Fly-In at Carbondale, IL in 2018. While flying his Enstrom 480B from Carbondale to Chicago Executive Airport, Dennis experienced deteriorating weather conditions and found himself in half-mile visibility.

Master Certified Flight Instructor, DPE and general aviation icon Doug Stewart joins us to talk about an incident he had in a 1974 Cessna Cardinal at a small New Hampshire airport. While departing the 1,900 foot strip, Doug experienced a loss of power following takeoff, with trees at the end of the runway quickly approaching.

In this episode we talk to Todd Clark, a 700-hour pilot based in beautiful Kalispell, MT. Todd experienced a gear-up landing in his Mooney M20J, and he joins us to talk about the day’s events that led up to the incident.

Join us as we talk to Mirek Fatyga, a commercial-rated pilot based in Phoenix, AZ. Mirek tells the story of piloting a Tecnam light sport aircraft at night, when he flew through a tree while on approach to land at an airport near Richmond, VA.

In this episode, we chat with longtime GA pilot Loren Kopseng. Loren experienced an alarming bird strike at night while flying his Aviat Husky out of North Dakota, and he joins us to tell the story. To see photos from Loren's incident, click here.

If you've called AOPA’s Pilot Information Center, you’ll recognize this episode's guest: pilot and AOPA employee Jon Gandy. As an Aviation Technical Specialist from the PIC, Jon brings a wealth of knowledge, and shares a story in which he experienced a partial engine failure in a PA-31 Piper Navajo, which created a distraction and caused an inadvertent gear-up landing.

VFR into IMC continues to be a leading cause of fatal accidents in general aviation. In this episode, we talk to a pilot who was fortunate enough to escape from this highly dangerous scenario. Robert Clark recounts the story of flying his Dyke Delta aircraft through unexpected instrument conditions - at night, during an electrical failure.