As the Captain nonchalantly taxied to position on runway 24R, he received his take-off clearance. He added thrust to the engines on the giant airplane before it came to a stop. The airplane lumbered slowly at first, but then gathered steam as the airspeed increased. As the aircraft approached 135 knots, the First Officer glanced forward noticing some seagulls rising off the runway ahead of them. The impact was heard and felt. The airplane lurched to one side a bit, as the left engine surged then quit with a shudder. “V1” was annunciated, which meant it was too late to abort the take-off. “Rotate” was called so the Captain gently pulled back on the control column. He didn’t pitch up as much due to the engine failure. Just as they were getting airborne, the fire indication illuminated on the failed engine.
“Oh great” said the Captain; “Ok. Autopilot on.” He waited till 400 feet above ground and called “Fire Drill.” The First Officer responded, “Roger,” “Confirm A/Disarm”…“Disarm,” “Confirm Left Thrust Lever Idle”…”Idle,” and continued until the fire drill was complete. When the right altitude was attained, the crew proceeded to clean up the aircraft by increasing airspeed and then retracted the flaps. The Engine Fire checklist was completed, and then they communicated with ATC to declare an emergency.
“Ok, guys, that was great. I’m going to reset you on the ground at the bottom of the runway,” their Simulator Instructor said. “According to the script, you get to try that scenario again. I would have talked to ATC a little sooner, though, maybe while you were waiting for the speed to increase to retract the flaps.” The Instructor continued, “Remember: Aviate…Navigate…Communicate.”
Important Life Lessons
That’s the great thing about simulators, we can practice until we get procedures near perfect. There are some important life lessons we can learn from this kind of training. We have a motto, “Train as You Fly, Fly as You Train.” This presupposes that what you do in practice will most likely reflect what you will do in real life, especially in an emergency. Just about everything we do well has been attained by practice, which has been directed by some manual and/or instructor. The training always starts in the mind through study and thinking.
Healthy Minds and Hearts Are Crucial
The mind, and for that matter the heart, can be kind of like a simulator. What you practice in your heart and your mind, you may eventually end up doing. That is why in Romans 12 we are instructed to be transformed by the renewing of our mind.
The instruction is to transform our life by meditating on, and obeying, God’s Word. The body doesn’t function well if it is not healthy. In the same way, the mind does not function well if it is not healthy. As a man thinks in his heart, so is he. What we allow in our mind or heart is crucial to our relationship with God. There are things we should not allow in our hearts and minds. When we allow the Word of God to flow freely in us, we start to change within. It gives us freedom and peace, and that is something we all desire and need to experience!
From experience in training we observe that when accidents occur usually it is because of simple basic things not done well. In the spiritual life, it is often the same. We train our heart and mind with God’s Word so when adverse things occur, we have a good and right base upon which to stand. Spend some time meditating and memorizing God’s Word.
Let the Word dwell richly within you… Colossians 3:16
(This article was written by Danny Servos. Danny is a retired Captain with Air Canada, based in Toronto, Canada. He and his wife, Gabi, currently serve as chaplains at the Toronto Pearson International Airport. In addition, Danny served for a number of years on our FCAP Board of Directors.)
