I realized something wasn’t right when I saw the Southwest Boeing 737 flying low and slow over my neighborhood. It was much lower than it should have been. Plus it was coming from the wrong direction, completely outside the normal approach and departure patterns.
Being the dedicated (OK, obsessed might be a better word) avgeek that I am, I quickly looked up my airport on FlightAware. I could see from the flight tracker data that the airplane in question had taken off from the south runway and immediately circled back around. It proceeded to do two low approaches, first over one runway and then the other. Then it turned sharply to the northwest, which is what had brought it over my house.
Hoping to pick up some information from ATC communications, I listened intently to LiveATC while my brain went over a list of potential scenarios. Bird strike? Flap issue? Gear or tire problem? Then I heard one of the Southwest pilots come on the radio and use a word that caught my immediate attention: emergency. I have listened to a lot of ATC communications over the years, but this was the first time I have ever heard that word used concerning a flight from my airport.
Over the course of the next few minutes I learned that the plane had apparently blown one of the nose gear tires on take-off. They needed to hold for awhile, so ATC directed them into a holding pattern to the east of me. A friend who is a captain on the 737 explained that the pilots needed to burn off fuel to get the plane as light as possible to lessen the load on the remaining tire for landing.
At this point I had a decision to make. Should I drive the 15 miles to the airport to watch the flight come back in? I was tempted. But I was afraid that while I was driving I might miss out on important communications or other developments. I consoled myself with the fact that when the plane made the western arc of its holding pattern I could see it from my back yard. Granted, I had to stand on the patio table. On my tiptoes. Doesn’t everyone watch airplanes that way? Actually… don’t answer that.
Anyway, it’s just as well I decided to stay put because right at this time I heard the pilot of a Cirrus call up ATC. He announced that they were losing oil pressure and needed to land right away. Suddenly the controllers were handling not one, but two emergency aircraft. Emergencies happen – ATC and airports are well trained to deal with them. But two emergencies at once? Definitely less common, especially for an airport the size of mine.
During the time that the Southwest flight was holding, ATC had allowed other planes to take off and land. However, when the pilot of the Cirrus called in, the Southwest flight had just left the hold and was preparing to do a final low approach before landing. As a result, ATC had stopped departures and was clearing traffic from the area around the airport. This presented something of a problem for the emergency Cirrus, who had requested immediate clearance to land.
Fortunately, we have a large cargo airport located just a few miles to the south of the passenger airport. ATC recommended landing there and the Cirrus pilot agreed. ATC then proceeded to give him vectors to the airport. The Cirrus landed without incident. Shortly afterwards, the Southwest flight completed its final low approach and circled around to a safe landing. They were even able to taxi to the gate with no issues.
I’ll admit – following along while these two events unfolded was quite riveting, but not for the reasons you might think. You may have noticed that my account does not contain any of the following words: panic, terrified, frantic, dire. These are words often used by the media to describe emergency situations in aviation. And occasionally they might be warranted, but not in this case. In fact, not in the majority of cases. More appropriate words would be: calm, professional, efficient, collaborative. It was an excellent example of the training and hard work by pilots, ATC, ARFF and Operations that goes on every day at airports around the world.
Note: The planes featured in the photos on this post are not the planes that were involved in the incidents described.
Tales from the Terminal 
Wow that’s quite a day! What do you use to listen to the ATC chatter? I often ride around with LiveATC streaming through my iPhone to my car speakers. Yeah, I’m a nerd. Scares the heck out of me after a long period of silence when I forget I’m listening to anything and then somebody calls on the mic!
-Clayviation
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Hi there and thanks so much for reading! If I’m at work I use my scanner but if I’m home I use LiveATC. They finally got my airport back on again. Hooray!
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You really paint a picture with your words. I can’t wait to read more of your posts. In my blog I focus on the cultural side of aviation but In am learning so much from you! If there’s a term I don’t know I look it up on Google (my best friend) I want to learn everything about everything Aviation. Silly but that’s the way I feel.
I hope you will drop by and read my blog and learn about the fabulous women in aviation. There are more than Amelia.
vintageaviation.wordpress.com
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It is amazing how underwhelming most emergencies are, which is a great thing. I have shut down numerous engines in flight, which is admittedly less of a big deal when you have four, but in every instance it was just as you described it, calm and professional.
I have friends that have been in much more serious incidents and they all relayed the same story. After the initial excitement everyone just called down and did their job.
It is a testament to the training we receive and the level of safety we strive for.
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Thanks for reading, David! I completely agree! Being able to observe the training and professionalism in action was really impressive – a nice counterpoint to the hysterical tone that is often used to report about such events.
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Once again AWESOME writing.
Simple and clear, everybody doing their jobs with no fuss, no panic, and everyone landed safely.
“Do your job” Yup !
Obviously NOT the kind of adrenaline laced hyperbole that the MSM would prefer, but a much better read this way.
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Thanks JR! I wanted to make it clear that the events were fascinating to follow, but not because anyone was in mortal peril. I love hearing professionalism and training in action.
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I wish the “professional” writers who pen for newspapers, television, magazines, and other media wrote about incidents of this ilk as well as you do. I imagine them as children trying to outdo one another with embellished tales and adjectives they don’t understand.
Nah, that’s obviously not accurate. I’m probably being too generous…
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Thanks so much, Ron! Sadly in the case of many of the “journalists” out there today you probably are being too generous. Thankfully there are still a few good ones around!
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The crazy thing is that this was entertaining to read while still informing on the events which is what the news is supposed to do. It is possible to attract attention and share facts without being sensationalized.
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Thanks David! For me, part of what makes these events so fascinating is the calm and efficient way in which they are handled, especially considering they don’t happen every day and therefore aren’t routine.
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It’s too easy to write-down, to pander to the salacious and trivial instead of focusing on what matters; How emergencies are handled professionally, and the resulting outcomes. A click-bait headline of “Hundreds of passengers in life or death situation” with a color glossy photograph showing sparks beneath a nose wheel will generate thousands of clicks and ad revenue. A calm and well written story that lacks the screaming headlines gets… ignored basically. Maybe not all media, but certainly most.
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Very nicely written I have agree with Ron and JR that the aviation world needs more of this kind of reporting than the hysterical stuff we often get. Especially when they talk to the passengers some haven’t flown much and prone to embellishment.
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Thanks so much, Glen! To be fair, pax often have no idea what kind of training their pilots have had, the role ATC plays, etc. As a result, incidents probably seem a lot more scary than they really are.
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wow, excellent read thanks for sharing such interesting article.
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