AOPA Never Again

Never Again: Scud Runner (Dec. 2015)

A newly-minted instrument pilot falls into the impending clearance trap. Cinch up that harness and expect some turbulence!

Never Again: A Thump on Final (July. 2015)

An unsuspecting cross-country pilot gets "thumped" by an F-16.

Never Again: Speaking Up (Aug. 2015)

Poor decisions are made to satisfy an impatient right-seater.

Never Again: The Long and Winding River (Sept. 2015)

A 172 pilot on a family outing encounters the perils of flying IFR - standing for "I Follow Rivers."

Never Again: You Can't Use that Flying IFR (Nov. 2015)

It's nice having a deep-voiced controller to save your bacon when you're icing up in hard IMC in the mountains.

Never Again: Almost Home (Oct. 2015)

Interesting things happens when a Maule pilot attempts a night landing with no runway lights.

Never Again: IFR or VFR (June 2015)

An Archer pilot considers his options in the fuzzy area inbetween IFR and VFR.

Never Again: A Real Eye-Opener (May 2015)

Assuming he's all alone at a remote strip, a back-country pilot neglects to use the radio to self-announce ... as does the other pilot in the pattern.

Never Again: Lagubang Lessons

Flying in and out of tiny airstrips in the jungles of the Philipines creates unique challenges, and a podcaster tries to pronounce Philipino names in "Lagubang Lessons."

Never Again: Tumble on the Ridge (Mar. 2015)

Turbulence, wind shear, and the necessity of tightening your seat belt to avoid continually banging your head on the airframe all contribute to a memorably uncomfortable flight.

Never Again: The Problem with Moonshine (Feb. 2015)

A 172 pilot learns that not everyone loves airplanes as much as pilots do.

Never Again: Two In One Airplane

If it weren’t for the roar of the 230-horsepower Continental engine, you could have heard a pin drop. We would have preferred to hear the gear drop.

Never Again: Two-in-One Airplane (Jan. 2015)

A 182 pilot gets two post-maintenance surprises.

Never Again: Cold in the Cockpit (Dec. 2014)

A Bonanza pilot discovers that there is normal "Chicago winter cold" and then there is "popped-door winter cold."

Never Again: Digi on PAR at Shaw (Nov. 2014)

An electrical failure in IMC requires instruments to be read by matchlight. (Originally published in the Feb. 1997 issue of 'AOPA Pilot' magazine.)

Never Again: Uphill Battle (Sept. 2014)

A Champ pilot underestimates his passenger's weight with nearly disastrous consequences.

Never Again: Flying the Beam (Aug. 2014)

Two military aircraft arrive at the same beacon simultaneously, with one going twice as fast as the other.

Never Again: Push Comes to Shove (June 2014)

A checkout flight of a home-built causes a pilot to appreciate stall awareness training.

Never Again: Snakes Alive (May 2014)

As a celebration of AOPA's 75th Anniversary this month, Never Again podcast offers this special vintage episode "Snakes Alive!" by Max Karant, originally published in the 1959 issue of "AOPA Pilot" magazine.

Never Again: Wall Street Journey

A Beech 18 freighter pilot hauling newspapers deals with an in-flight engine fire.

Never Again: Missed Signals (March 2014)

Preoccupation with a newly-installed engine monitor diverts a Bonanza pilot's attention from a far greater problem.

Never Again: Scud Running (Jan. 2014)

An Air Force cadet in jet fighter training learns the dangers of scud running.

Never Again: Unwelcome Guests (Dec. 2013)

A game warden gets closer than he expected to a flock of ducks. Find out what happens...

Never Again: Night Helicopter Rescue (Nov. 2013)

Never Again: The No-Nose Landing (Oct. 2013)

An air ambulance pilot uses an unusual and improvised landing technique to compensate for an inoperative nose gear.

Never Again: One of Those Nights

In this episode, a cross-country pilot learns the disastrous results of losing a propeller tip. Find out what happens in "One of Those Nights," by Beverly Howard.

Never Again: Tumble in the Desert

A student pilot on a spectacular cross-country through the Arizona desert learns the consequences of disregarding wake turbulence on final approach.

A date with his girl

Listen to the June 2013 “Never Again” story: A date with his girl.

A slap in the face

Listen to the May 2013 "Never Again" story: A slap in the face.

Big sky mission

Listen to the April 2013 "Never Again" story: Big Sky mission.

To sleep, perchance to dream

Listen to the March 2013 "Never Again" story: To sleep, perchance to dream.

Never Again: To Sleep Perchance to Dream

A Centurion pilot on a dull cross-country flight learns how easy it is to fall asleep at the yoke.

Never Again: Fuel Interruption

More than 25 years ago I bought a used Beech Baron 58. Within a week of my purchase, a longtime mechanic friend phoned: "I don’t mean to meddle. Be leery of Beech fuel gauges. Know your fuel by time and fuel burn."

Never Again: A Change in the Weather

A Saturday pleasure flight in flawless weather lulls a pilot into meteorological complacency with stress-causing results.

Never Again: Music in the Night

A Skyhawk pilot and musician listens to the music of his engine, and doesn't like what he hears.

Never Again: A Loud Bang

A Cardinal pilot confronts a failed elevator trim and the attitude that pilots with more hours and experience always make better decisions. Find out what happens in "A Loud Bang".

Never Again: Lights in the Night Sky

It's not unusual for a pilot who flies regularly at night to suffer an optical illusion concerning lights. The most common one is seeing Venus low on the horizon and thinking that it is an oncoming landing light. There is an infinite variety of other visual traps. I have had two experiences, one as a pilot, and one as an air traffic controller.

Never Again: Mountain Meandering

My friend glenn co-owned a 1968 Cherokee 180 and wanted to visit a mutual friend who was staying at a cabin in Happy Camp, California. He was slowly taking lessons, so we flew together a lot. The little Cherokee was a basic VFR airplane with questionable VOR reliability, but everything else worked fine. I was confident as a 100-hour-plus pilot and looked forward to the trip from Reid-Hillview Airport in San Jose to Northern California. The weather forecast called for some clouds, but I kne...

Never Again: Crossing Charlie

In 1985 I had purchased a low-time creampuff 1955 Cessna 180. N9370C was based at Camarillo Airport, roughly halfway between Los Angeles and Santa Barbara, California. The 180 Skywagon is slightly bigger than its counterpart, the Cessna 170, but flies as well with no bad habits. The big 225-horsepower Continental up front provides great performance, and I suspect it will lift just about anything you can stuff in its cabin.

Cloud Attack - updated

A Malibu pilot learns to respect a new and different kind of cloud on a bumpy entry into Reno...

Never Again: Ocean View

For months I had been planning a dive trip at Cayman Brac, one of the Cayman Islands. My nonpilot “co-pilot” Lynn and I have gone on many dive trips in my Piper PA–32-260 Cherokee Six. (Please note that Lynn is a male. For some reason, my wife of 25 years won’t let me go on flying/diving trips with single females.)

Never Again: Eastern Morning Disruption

At 10:25 on Easter morning in 2010 I held up my hand to shield the sun as I searched for the traffic at my two o’clock, 1,000 feet above. The air was smooth at 11,500 feet, above solid clouds and the rugged Washington Cascade mountains below. My family—parents, wife, kids, spouses, grandchildren—had gathered for the holiday that weekend, and now I was getting everyone home.

Never Again: A Rather Important Meeting

It was a typical overcast winter morning at Portland International Airport in Oregon, with ceilings running around 1,400 feet agl and reported tops at about 7,000 feet msl. Ground control had just rattled off our clearance to Rogue Valley International in Medford, Oregon, clearing us to 10,000 feet. There had been no pilot reports of icing. The briefing called for conditions to remain overcast with ceilings around 1,200 feet. Deteriorating conditions and possible snow were forecast for later ...

Never Again: The 100-Hour Itch

"I was a freshly minted private pilot, and I was nearing that ego-boosting 100-hour mark. I was itching for a 'real' mission--a long and exciting cross-country flight."

Never Again: Xs, Fences, and Cows

A student pilot on a night cross-country solo, encounters a closed airport and ... cows ...

Never Again: Don't Touch the Radios

Thwack! My friend David smarted as I slapped his hand with the admonishment to never touch "my" radios...

Life and Death at 15000 feet

A sailplane pilot unintentionally transitions to an open cockpit.

Never Again: A Murky Michigan Trip

"A low time VFR pilot on a long cross-country flys into IMC and learns to appreciate thorough training and helpful controllers..."

Never Again: Paper or Plastic?

A mid-air encounter with a plastic grocery bag initiates a chain of maintenance headaches for a 2001 Cessna Skylane 182T pilot. "About 50 feet above the runway a large white plastic bag. The prop immediately shredded the bag with seemingly no ill effects. However, at 400 feet, there was the unmistakable smell of burning plastic..."

Never Again: Just a Few Miles More

I was returning to Frederick, Maryland, from Winter Haven, Florida. My Velocity’s Lycoming IO-360 had been unusually hard to start in Winter Haven, almost causing me to miss my IFR departure window. After a quick break and fuel stop in Waycross, Georgia, the Velocity was again very hard to start. Approximately halfway between Waycross and Lumberton, North Carolina, the engine shuddered, and then returned to normal. Scanning the instruments, I found nothing unusual. The engine then began a vib...