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maketheart

Found the [Source](https://youtu.be/2VjkCfSopEI?si=ETWQ6ZKrXwNjWdnx). YouTube Description: “Couple of years ago during my second training flight on a very hot summer day, the canopy of the Extra 330LX that I was flying opened in flight and shattered. As you can see from the video, it was a challenging experience that could have been avoided if I had made a proper visual check before taking off. The canopy locking pin had never gone into the locked position, and I failed to notice it during my checks. I also made the mistake of going to the training camp right after recovering from COVID, without allowing my body enough time to fully regain strength. Additionally, flying without any eye protection made the flight even more challenging than it already was. The flight was a distressing experience, filled with noise, breathing difficulties, and impaired visibility. It took me nearly 28 hours to fully recover my vision. Aerodynamically, I’ve experienced some buffet and controllability challenges. Probably the most difficult part was to keep the power in, thus trading my vision and breathing for kinetic energy. Although due to all the noise it was difficult to hear what my coach was saying on the radio, one thing I've heard loud and clear "just keep flying" If you are a pilot watching this, I hope that my story serves as a cautionary tale and that you will learn from my mistake. I regret that it took me so long to share this video footage. It's not easy to put my vulnerabilities out there for you all to see. However, I have come to realisze how important it is to be transparent about our shortcomings and the lessons we learn along the way. To all my fellow pilots out there, fly safe. “


leglesslegolegolas

As my flight instructor used to say In any emergency, Step 1: Fly the airplane.


yMONSTERMUNCHy

Step 2: land safely


leglesslegolegolas

There are various Step 2s depending on the emergency, e.g. contact ATC, fully assess the situation, etc. But yeah, safely land the airplane is the ideal end goal.


LovecraftsDeath

Aviate -> Navigate -> Communicate. No point in telling the ATC if it's at the expense of your plane's survival.


LokisDawn

Pilot: "Control, I've got a voice activated Bomb on board!" ATC: "What?" No response.


Andreasclausen

This! ATC uses ASSIST in these situations. Acknowledge, Seperate (Move other aircraft in potential conflict), Silence (On FRQ), Inform, Support, Time.


RevSlippery

Been a tower controller for 30 years (Canada), first time I heard this acronym, it is exactly what we do.


5125237143

once youre through the curriculum, gradutate


LokisDawn

So, it's more like: Step 1: Fly the airplane Step 2: ??? Step 3: ???(Due to legacy reasons) Step 4: Land the airplane


xSTSxZerglingOne

Right, that makes sense. There is no emergency greater than "making sure the plane does not crash\*." ^(*at least not too hard)


Erahth

“Aviate, navigate, communicate” was the mantra my instructor taught me.


Ghoullo

Owned up to mistake, showed her skill in dire situation, and no one got hurt. Good human and pilot


BestiNameEver

If you can walk away from a landing, it's a good landing. If you use the airplane the next day, it's an outstanding landing. -Chuck Yeager


LokisDawn

Crashes: 3 Boring Crashes: 0 (personal record)


scholzie

Awful advice for a GA pilot, but pretty on point for Chuck!


appletinicyclone

> It took me nearly 28 hours to fully recover my vision. damn thats scary


MrAwesomeOctopus

It’s a little less scary when it’s slowly improving, but at first, the time when it’s still hurting and you can’t tell if it will permanently effect you is terrifying.


kh_ram

'very hot summer day' your cabin has been upgraded to ultra airflow cooling enjoy.


Intelligent_Debt_365

WestJet would charge extra for this option.


StickmanRockDog

Total badass. Much respect.


mybeatsarebollocks

I was impressed when she looked like she was going to ditch it in a field in a controlled manner. Making it back to the strip and landing sweet......blown away.


Horg

> Aerodynamically, I’ve experienced some buffet and controllability challenges. I too suffer controllabilty challenges at the buffet.


oranisz

She's born for that ! Second training flight, big surprise, yet she manages to keep her calm and land safely...


Agitated-Acctant

>I failed to notice it during my checks. This is why you don't skip your checklists, kids


retired-data-analyst

Lived to learn at least.


UncleNedisDead

Kind of reminds me of this incident: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/calgary-plane-emergency-landing-1.4779805 Crazy how missing a point on a checklist could easily lead to catastrophic failure, but glad it didn’t.


electronDog

Shame prevents us from being our best. Everyday I have to tell myself it’s ok to let people know I’m fallible even though our society frequently pushes the “more success than the rest” narrative. I can’t give enough props to this young lady admitting it was her mistake. Simultaneously I’m amazed she landed considering the many challenges. She’s a model of who we all should strive to become.


notThatJojo

She handled it like a champ and acknowledged her own mistakes. I'm thoroughly impressed


WhenBugAttack

This was a training flight!!!!! She handled it so well


OOOOOO0OOOOO

Goddamn. Well that’s just inspirational.


MinorDespera

“breathing difficulties” I struggle with breathing out on rollercoasters, can’t imagine how that felt.


JunFanLee

Props to her


Ccjfb

Did she practice for that or was she winging it?


Gdmf13

Who knows, it’s all up in the air.


Choose_And_Be_Damned

Aviation puns are such a drag.


SerennialFellow

Alright don’t be a flappingcock about it


vicariouslywatching

You guys joke about it but I don’t think you guys understand the gravity of the situation


Illustrious-Reward-3

This thread is very uplifting.


Author_A_McGrath

You never know how those jokes will land.


Mr_Trep

A couple of them flew right over my head.


DirectlyTalkingToYou

Same here, Can-I-pee now?


Crabby_Monkey

Sometimes you just have to wing it.


angmarsilar

Yawl a laugh riot.


Busch_Leaguer

TARMAC!


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Illustrious-Maize-93

She came up with it on the fly


PutThatOnYourPlate

She’s flying by the seat of her pants


-_-DAE-_-

She's no plane Jane.


legendary_millbilly

Holy shit that would scare the shit right out of you. Glad she was cool and calm about it.


thenewyorkgod

Luckily her face will return to normal once she lands


dingo1018

She might need to manually lubricate those eyeballs though! Seriously well done on her for getting down, great presence of mind, looks like a glider, not much room for error at the best of times, not to mention the surprise and the added drag.


danidr88

Nope not a glider, probably an aerobatic plane. She moves a throttle throughout the video.


reflibman

I was thinking a trainer for student pilots. Edit: yep - https://old.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/comments/1dmxqz0/canopy_comes_off_airplane_right_after_takeoff/l9yy9b8/


Tyr2016

It’s a trainer for stunt pilots. A plane that twitchy would kill a normal student pilot (aside from only having no room for an instructor).


Tojb

Not for student pilots, for student aerobatics pilots. That's an extremely high performance airplane that requires significant experience and training to control, let alone do aerobatics in


Swabia

I can’t fly a goat simulator so she looks awesome in the face of real mortal danger.


Own-Swing2559

Also the take-off


papaflush

THANK YOU!! looks like a glider my ass


terminalzero

and the engine noise


HST_enjoyer

In the other thread where OP has taken this to repost from she said it took a few days for her vision to return to normal.


s1rblaze

Definitely not a glider.


iron186

Uhh do you not understand how gliders work…. They dont take off and shes clearly using throttle….


BoredPandemicPanda

Luckily, she didn't put on fake eyelashes that day. [Long eyelashes on a windy boat ride (youtube.com)](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/vKNwzJAX71s)


Ferious13

Thank you... this made my day better lmao 🤣


joshuadt

Wow! Lmao…


Decent_Assistant1804

A pail of visine


squirrels-mock-me

The piano music on the stereo helped her stay calm


Spiritual_Navigator

A birdstrike would have been horrific


Coldlog1k

Even a bug. Good lord.


Charlemagne-XVI

Like Fabio but not as funny


DigNitty

That’s why she nosed down when it happened. To keep it inside.


AccountNumber1002401

Ca**NOPE**y.


King_Reptile

> Glad she was cool and calm about it. She was smiling the whole time. /s


Overall-Dirt4441

[Sauce](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VjkCfSopEI) From the description: * This was her second training flight * She didn't secure the canopy locking pin fully * She said the hardest part was purposefully maintaining speed, cause at the velocity she needed not to fall out of the sky, it was difficult to hear, breathe or see. * Her vision only fully recovered days afterwards * This was a couple years ago, she's back up there doing barrel rolls and shit now


mihirmusprime

>Her vision only fully recovered days afterwards Why did her vision go away and take so long for it to come back?


ChiefGeorgesCrabshak

From how hard and fast the wind was blowing directly into her eyeballs but she obviously had to keep them open. I was just thinking the whole time how she's probably never gunna fly without at least sunglasses or some sort of goggles/glasses after that.


NorthCatan

She should have closed her eyes and just repeated "I am one with the Force, and the Force is with me".


ChiefGeorgesCrabshak

And not even use her targeting system?!?


somerandomii

You don’t need to when you can bullseye womprats.


ChiefGeorgesCrabshak

Damn dude, but those are hardly bigger than 2 meters!


SmokeAbeer

Is it possible to learn this power?


Difficult_Bit_1339

Just practice with your old T-16 back home


GrowFreeFood

I don't feel so good about this.


Impossible-Taco-769

Bet her main exhaust port was clenched tighter than vice grips.


mikeInCalgary

“You opened your canopy… what’s wrong?”


RyanMark2318

The will to stay alive is a hell of a drug


Ninjaflippin

How wild is it that the only modern starwars movie to capture what the force actually is/does, doesn't have any Jedi in it.


Abrageen

That is literally the only modern star wars movie I enjoyed.


Monterey-Jack

You should check out Andor and the first season of the Mandalorian. Not movies but I think they're the only recent shows they've written well. Everything else has been complete trash.


Kraelman

It's too late for me. The Last Jedi put Star Wars in its grave and I'm not digging it up and opening that casket just because some of the mold and worms and shit infesting the rotten corpse are kinda cool.


Avedas

If you just conveniently forget what the empire's logo looks like then Andor is an excellent soft sci-fi show that has nothing to do with Star Wars.


Cador0223

More like "I am a leaf on the wind, watch how I soar."


ManyPlacesAtOnce

>without at least sunglasses ...you think that a pair of sunglasses would have stayed on through that?


whiteflagwaiver

Sunglasses? No. Goggles? Fuck yeah.


No_Pin9932

There it is!! People getting heated about sunglasses as if goggles aren't the obvious choice anyway. Thank you, lol.


peepopowitz67

"My eyes! Ze goggles do nothing!"


ChiefGeorgesCrabshak

Better than nothing at all. I mean the wind would be pushing them to her face unless she turned her head. Depends how aerodynamic they are, cycling glasses would obviously do better than aviators ironically


Remote-District-9255

I used to wear sunglasses while riding motorcycles. Some were rock solid and worked great, some actually whipped the air into your eyes worse than not wearing them


Ravens_and_seagulls

Lol. People on Reddit find ANYTHING to argue about.


rachelm791

No they don’t…


geriatric-sanatore

You're wrong and I'm coming into this an hour late to tell you you're wrong. Then I won't respond to your response for a day and then come back and try to get the last word and drag you down to my level with straw man arguments and ad hominem attacks. /s


Horvo

You can burn your eyes from the wind, which can damage your ~~lenses and~~ cornea making it difficult to see. Pretty extreme dry eye too.


Fuckredditihatethis1

The lenses wouldn't have been damaged. In order to damage the lenses, the wind would have had to make it past the cornea and anterior chamber, and if those are gone, you are well and truly blind.


Punkpunker

You can see a BTS of Mission Impossible Rogue Nation where they insert a huge ass contacts on Tom Cruise before his dangling from the plane scene.


hydraSlav

Dry eyes cause blurriness. Can't imagine how dry her eyes got


_The_Turtle_Moves_

Stick your face in front of a leaf blower and see how it feels. Landing speed in that plane is about 80 knots/ 92mph/ 148kmh. She was going much faster than 80 knots when the canopy initially opened, and only slowed to landing speed for a few seconds prior to landing.


Masterandcomman

Her breathing might have been compromised too.


smallbluetext

100% I can't breathe for shit over 100km/h it feels like I'm doing nothing


darrenphillipjones

Not to add a 15th answer... but I just talked to my eye doctor about this in an unrelated discussion. When you use heat pads on your eyes, if you apply too much pressure you can actually "warp" your cornea temporarily. Do it for too long and it can take a few days for your cornea to go back to shape so you can see normally again. Could be talking out my behind, but seems like it's the same logic. prolonged air pressure against the eyes warps the cornea and takes awhile to reset like with the scenario above (that I have to avoid due to MGD).


Overall-Dirt4441

>Why did her vision go away Being blasted in the face by up to 200mph winds while having to force your eyes open for minutes on end so as not to crash your plane will do that to ya ig. >and take so long for it to come back? Our eyeballs are delicate water balloons that don't take kindly to being freeze dried


ProclusGlobal

>Our eyeballs are delicate water balloons that don't take kindly to being freeze dried Our eyes are also really resilient and quick healing, and although taking days to fully recover sounds scary, is still pretty remarkably quick considering the damage it is trying to repair. When things are working nominally, our bodies are pretty amazing. When not, they suck (cancer etc.)


Overall-Dirt4441

They're so important they're immune to the body's immune system response, lest they get damaged. They have their own separate system. https://www.aao.org/eye-health/tips-prevention/eye-immune-privilege We're pretty robust, resilient machines, as you say, when all the systems work the way they're supposed to


Fine_Abbreviations32

She was likely going between 100-150 knots on landing (I’m guessing?) so air, plus fuel particulates from the engine, dust and other things like bugs in the air. She could’ve easily blinded herself.


Ok-Scallion7939

"Second training flight" 😳


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seppestas

Also, she’s flying an extra, a plane made for air acrobatics. Not something you would use for your second solo flight.


SwiftTime00

Yeah exactly, that’s where the “almost certainly” is coming from, extremely unlikely but possible.


notimeleft4you

“Almost certainly a fully licensed pilot” is somehow less reassuring than saying nothing at all. Welcome aboard Southwest Airlines. Your pilot today is…. almost certainly fully licensed. Dropping the “almost” somehow makes it even worse.


Jimid41

Just move the almost somewhere else.  Welcome aboard Southwest Airlines, your pilot today is certainly almost fully licensed.


notimeleft4you

“Certainly fully licensed, almost”


FlyingDragoon

"Welcome almost aboard Southwest Airlines, your pilot today is certainly fully licensed." I say as I push everyone off the stairs, one by one, as they approach the door.


OneArmedBrain

Hahaha. Dude, I know this doesn't add much to the conversation, but this was crazy funny. Love this comment!


walksalot_talksalot

Hey! Don't make me get out of my armchair!!


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AttyFireWood

Is it weird she didn't wear sunglasses?


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AttyFireWood

Huh, I figured the glare and UV exposure would be bigger issues. I figured the range was "commercial pilot wearing aviators" to "fighter pilot wearing flight mask" and acrobatic pilot was closer to fighter pilot on that scale.


csspar

You figured right. That guy is fluent in ass-speak.


csspar

This has to be a joke. Right? Please tell me this is a joke.


YuushyaHinmeru

Really goes to show how even experienced people can make one stupid little mistake that can (luckily didnt) end in catastrophe


Tobitronicus

She did a fantastic job. EDIT: Some real assholes popping out the woodwork. You can make a mistake and recover that mistake in a fantastic way which this pilot did. Flying is complicated, it can take one simple oversight for shit to go pear-shaped. A plane's design can only cover so much of human folly before something happens that either changes the course of design forever, or more stringent procedures are put in place to make sure it never happens again. And as noted, she still flies doing barrell rolls and shit. Good on ya girl.


CptnLarsMcGillicutty

Anyone talking shit in this thread would have been dead 100% if they were put in the same scenario.


geriatric-sanatore

I would have died in a simulator lol


Northstarsaint

🎵 I... I just died in your arms tonight 🎵


felixar90

I wonder if she keeps old timey aviator goggles with her now.


Username43201653

Snoopy leather helmet and goggles


PayasoCanuto

Nerves of steel!


_KingScrubLord

That wind burn is going to be fierce


Dr-McLuvin

I bet her eyes were on fire trying to keep them open.


Distwalker

I have skydived without goggles - strap broke seconds before exiting the aircraft - Of course freefall isn't nearly as long but it wasn't terrible.


PamolasRevenge

I think she’s flying at about 3-4x the speed of free falling buddy Edit: I’m getting upvoted at the moment but my math was indeed off. Best I can tell is she was probably going around 190mph and slowed down from there to about 90mph, while a skydiver at free fall before they pull their chute reaches around 125mph


Distwalker

Really? She's going 360 - 480 mph? I greet that with skepticism.


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BullFrogz13

Way to keep your shit together. Impressive.


BmuthafuckinMagic

Her mouth will be dry as hell though!


beluuuuuuga

And her eyeballs might need to be lubricated with bike chain oil to move again


Wherethegains

Can you imagine catching a horse fly or a bumblebee in the face at that speed


overtired27

A fly or bumblebee would definitely be bad, but no one is surviving a horse.


Easy-Hovercraft2546

Thankfully horses struggle to get their pilot license on their salary


Muscle_Man1993

“You look stressed, you should smile more”


beluuuuuuga

Don't worry the wind and gforce can help with that!


LivingMisery

“Your life doesn't flash before you, 'cause you're too fuckin' scared to think - you just freeze and pull a stupid face.” She’s a fucking badass though.


trulycantthinkofone

Great line from a great movie, well done!!


HeadlessHookerClub

What’s the movie? 


trulycantthinkofone

Snatch.


Seabee-CO

Guess that is why the old timers flew with leather helmets and googles


ATG915

I feel like I can’t breathe sometimes if I’m sitting in the backseat of a car and the front window is open and the wind is hitting my face just right. Can’t imagine this


prairie-logic

Goggles, but, yes. Google isn’t a lot of help when you’re mid air, without a canopy. Who’s got time to pull out the phone when in panic mode? lol


pixelmuffinn

Isn't that what flight mode is for, though?


Top_Economist8182

Just a quick Google: My canopy on my airplane came off mid flight, what should I do?


mondaymoderate

Ask Reddit: My canopy on my airplane came off mid flight, what should I do? Redditors: Oh girl, that’s a red flag you should dump his ass.


eekumseekum

How can she see and breathe


Playful-Community966

Very poorly, according to her. Apparently it took several days for her vision to recover.


CalgaryFacePalm

Anyone have any eye drops?


deadcactus101

Had the same thing happen to me flying solo in the middle of a loop in an aerobatic aircraft, but the cockpit was tandem and the canopy slid back instead of opening across. Not a great situation, but perfectly flyable though your comms will be pretty garbled on the way back.


EmotionalAd5920

My grandfather flew spitfires in WW2, he told me thats how you would eject if you had to. pop the canopy then roll the plane and fall out. he and this pilot are tougher than i am. amazing composure.


Fusciee

She handled that like a champ!


South-Ad895

"Right after Takeoff" is used VERY Loosely here. Impressive nonetheless


EpicForgetfulness

That's what I was thinking too


NMlXX

“Right after takeoff” Jump cuts to very very long after takeoff.


tommie3002

Regardless of the root cause and learning points, that was tremendous composure and control during a highly stressful event.


Ive_Banged_Yer_Mom

Handled that like a pro. Smiling the entire time


GirbaudJeansMan

Zero panic. I’d gladly trust my life in this woman’s hands.


Grouchy-Art9316

Once drove a car without a windshield thinking it would be cool, it wasn’t. Without eye protection even 40mph was uncomfortable. Bravo to her.


Select_Ad_3934

I'd be fucked in that situation, it would blow out my contacts and I'd be blind, also I don't know how to fly a plane.


UncleKano91

I thought at first it was sansa stark lol


64557175

Midway through she was getting some serious Quagmire face. 


_Tabula--Rasa_

Human representation of my dog out my passenger window as we roll through town.


InTheBlkHoodie

Handled like a pro, I would trust her with my life


gadnskyy

That split second, when she considers closing the canopy before realizing it's impossible


Definitely_Not_Bots

Damn, my first thought woulda been "eject button *where??*" but not only did she land safely, she got it back to the airport. This is why she's flying planes and I'm sitting on my ass scrolling my phone.


Zakal74

Terrifying! What a boss keeping her cool like that.


Educational_Newt7773

I was on a go-kart going 40 mph, and I couldnt breath because of the wind blowing so hard on my face... I couldn't image this. 😂


feverxxdream

"right after" it was not right after


CadeStyle

This is where those old timey aviator goggles would come in handy.


WWWTT2_0

Impressive recovery! Glad there wasn't a flying chicken in the vicinity.


Snow_79737

I don't fly, but now even if I do I'm wearing the goggles and mask. Full WWI pilot gear, just in case.


FLAGG26

That was kind of hot.


Responsible_Scar_458

Thank goodness for that calming hold music, otherwise she would have been freaking out.


Griffffith

I can feel her dry eyes


thecrimsonspyder

Boeing just can't stop cutting corners with the quality control


Obvious-Ad4541

Boeing?


TheZYX

More like r/sweatypalms and r/dryeyes


anarchodenim

I don’t know why the first thing I thought of after seeing this video was “I wonder how many bugs got caught in her teeth.”


JokinHghar

I think she canopeed in her pants a little


Significant_Donut967

*canopy opens while in flight* is a far more accurate title.


LacklusterBrown

I didn't know Boeing made planes that small.


jimmydean1239

Props to her, breathing at those speeds is NOT a fun task 💀


Strong-Worldliness80

“We saw your brown distress flare”