I started flying in news helicopters in 1994, at a time when airborne reporting was still raw and analog. No moving maps. No satellite tracking. No instant weather overlays. You trusted your pilot’s instincts, the aircraft, and whatever the sky decided to give you.
Over the years I have experienced multiple in-flight emergencies. Every one of them ended with us on the ground, alive. Each one also left a mark that never fully goes away.
With aviation accidents once again dominating headlines, I want people to understand what it actually feels like when things go wrong in the air.
These aren’t headlines. These are memories.
1995 — Flying blind into Wisconsin clouds
We were flying to breaking news in Wisconsin in a Schweizer 300, a small, two-seat helicopter. It’s light, nimble, and unforgiving of bad weather. The sky that morning was layered — gray over gray — but flyable when we launched.
Then the ceiling began to drop.
At first, the ground blurred. Then it disappeared.
Inside a cloud, there is no horizon. There is no “down.” Everything outside the windshield turns into white and gray motion. Your body feels level, but your eyes are lying to you. That’s spatial disorientation, one of the deadliest conditions in aviation.
My pilot didn’t hesitate. He turned away from the weather and found a place to get us down before we lost all visual reference. We made an emergency landing at a rest stop in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, just as the cloud deck closed in behind us.
The rotors wound down. The world went quiet.
My pilot stayed overnight with the helicopter. My parents drove to pick me up at that same rest stop. I remember how strange it felt to be sitting in a car after minutes earlier being suspended inside a cloud with no idea where the ground was.
That was the first time I truly understood how quickly flying can turn dangerous.
July 1997 — Losing power while live on the air
Two years later, on a hot July day in 1997, I was flying over Milwaukee, Wisconsin with a pilot and a photographer. I was in the middle of a live broadcast when the helicopter suddenly didn’t sound right.
Then it didn’t feel right.
We had lost engine power.
Later we learned that both magnetos had failed, which meant the engine could no longer fire. In a helicopter, that’s one of the most serious failures you can have. Without engine power, the only thing keeping you in the air is the pilot’s ability to transition instantly into autorotation — a maneuver that uses airflow through the rotor blades to slow and control the descent.
My pilot did exactly that.
As we descended, I stayed on the air. I finished my report while we were gliding toward a Milwaukee police department parking lot, the only open space he could safely reach.
The landing was hard. The photographer had forgotten to raise the omni antenna, and when we touched down it bent — a small piece of metal that showed just how narrow the margin had been. Some would call it a hard landing. Others might call it a crash.
We opened the doors and stepped out.
No fire.
No injuries.
Just adrenaline, silence, and the realization of how close we had come.
Texas — When the cockpit went dark
Years later, in Texas, the helicopter suffered a total avionics failure.
The screens went blank.
No navigation.
No altitude.
No attitude indicator.
My pilot was suddenly flying with nothing but what he could see outside the windshield. He diverted and found a place to land before the situation could get worse.
We made an emergency landing — and once again, walked away.
Texas — Hydraulic failure during a chase
Another time, we were launching for a chase when the helicopter lost all hydraulic power.
Without hydraulics, the controls become brutally heavy and unpredictable. Every movement requires raw physical strength and perfect timing.
My pilot fought the aircraft back to the ground and landed safely.
That wasn’t luck.
That was training.
Why these stories matter
When people say they’re afraid to fly, I understand why. In the past year, we’ve all watched heartbreaking, high-profile crashes — including a UPS cargo jet and the tragedy near Reagan National Airport — dominate the news. Those stories make flying feel suddenly fragile.
But here’s what I know from three decades in the air:
Most flights don’t end in headlines.
They end in landings.
I’ve been inside clouds with no horizon.
I’ve descended with no engine.
I’ve flown with no instruments.
I’ve felt a helicopter lose its hydraulics.
And every time, well-trained pilots brought us home.
Flying will never be risk-free — nothing worth doing ever is — but statistically it remains far safer than getting behind the wheel of a car. The difference is that when something goes wrong in the sky, the whole world hears about it.
That’s why I tell these stories. Not to scare people — but to show how much skill, discipline, and professionalism stand between an ordinary flight and disaster.
The sky demands respect.
And the people who fly us through it earn it. ✈️
Want to know what I actually use when I’m flying? I’ve put together my Amazon collection with headsets, travel gear, and in-flight must-haves I rely on in the cockpit and on the road. ⬇️ Click below to explore my Flying Essentials.
