“There I was…” An Aviation Podcast
- Episodes
- 102
- Released
- monthly
- Latest episode
- Nov 3, 2026
About the podcast
There I was…, presented by the AOPA Air Safety Institute, invites you into the cockpit with pilots across the aviation community. We fly with them as they encounter unpredictable scenarios and we learn from the knowledge and skills they utilize to fly safely out of them. This podcast honors the tradition and heritage in aviation to leverage “hangar flying” as an avenue to pass along knowledge and experience. Subscribe to Safety Insider, the Air Safety Institute's monthly newsletter - https://www.aopa.org/newsletters
Episodes 102
Episode 101: Dinner Date
On what was supposed to be a simple dinner date flight, John Whalen was cruising north along the Hudson River on a dark night when his Beech Musketeer’s engine suddenly erupted into violent shaking with no warning.
Episode 100: Air Race Classic
Flight instructor and airline flight attendant Travasha Runyon recounts a harrowing engine failure that struck during the final leg of the all-women’s Air Race Classic. Just 100 miles from the finish line …
Show notes
Flight instructor and airline flight attendant Travasha Runyon recounts a harrowing engine failure that struck during the final leg of the all-women’s Air Race Classic. Just 100 miles from the finish line, Runyon and her crew members suddenly lost all engine power, turning a celebratory flight into a real-world test of their training, preparation, and teamwork.
Episode 99: Trapped in the Wreckage
On the first flight home in a newly purchased airplane, pilot Dennis Steinbock experienced a total engine failure over remote forest. What followed was a dramatic crash landing and 54 hours trapped in the …
Show notes
On the first flight home in a newly purchased airplane, pilot Dennis Steinbock experienced a total engine failure over remote forest. What followed was a dramatic crash landing and 54 hours trapped in the wreckage before ultimately being rescued by the Civil Air Patrol.
Episode 98: Prop Separation
Sport pilot Ken Luna and his former instructor Toto Marchand discuss an emergency Ken experienced while flying home from a short lunch trip with his son. At about 2,000 feet, his light sport aircraft suddenly …
Show notes
Sport pilot Ken Luna and his former instructor Toto Marchand discuss an emergency Ken experienced while flying home from a short lunch trip with his son. At about 2,000 feet, his light sport aircraft suddenly experienced violent vibrations when a propeller blade separated, causing the engine to fail and the canopy to pop open.
Episode 97: Avionics Failure in Heavy Rain
Father-and-son pilots Michael and Ethan Russo recount an IFR flight that turned critical when their aircraft suffered a complete avionics failure at 8,000 feet in heavy rain.
Episode 96: Whiteout in a Helicopter
Coast Guard helicopter pilot Rick Kenin recalls a Christmas Eve rescue flight that nearly became an emergency of its own.
Episode 95: Lake Amphibian
During a trip to Dry Tortugas National Park with his wife and two friends, Brandon Reissiger faces a challenging and nerve-wracking water takeoff in his Lake Amphibian.
Episode 94: Engine-Out at Night
Kansas City-based flight instructor Lennon Carlson recounts a night engine-out scare in a borrowed Cessna Cardinal RG while flying home after a Fourth of July weekend.
Episode 93: Windscreen Blowout
Arkansas pilot Greg Robbins is flying to lunch with his wife when the front windscreen and side doors of his Aeroprakt A22LS suddenly blow out. To see the video of the incident, click here …
Show notes
Arkansas pilot Greg Robbins is flying to lunch with his wife when the front windscreen and side doors of his Aeroprakt A22LS suddenly blow out.
To see the video of the incident, click here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lu23j1DsPOU
Episode 92: Icing in a Sling
Newly minted instrument pilot Chris Yalanis launches on a long IFR trip in his Sling TSi. ATC issues a clearance that doesn’t match his plan, and a routine climb turns tense when he begins to pick up ice.
Episode 91: Unexpected Spin
Brad Cohen test flies his homebuilt Zenith Zodiac 601 XL. About 20 hours into testing, while working on departure and accelerated stalls, Brad enters an unexpected spin.
Episode 90: Exhaust Valve
Flight test engineer Joey Brown recounts a New Year’s Eve flight in his Cessna 150 with his wife, when their trip is interrupted by violent engine vibration and power loss.
Episode 89: Gear-Up Landing
Tony Williams and Ben Taylor prepare to ferry a Cessna 401 that’s been resurrected after almost 25 years in storage. Despite meticulous planning, high-speed taxi tests, and pattern work, a loud bang on downwind …
Show notes
Tony Williams and Ben Taylor prepare to ferry a Cessna 401 that’s been resurrected after almost 25 years in storage. Despite meticulous planning, high-speed taxi tests, and pattern work, a loud bang on downwind reveals a left-gear failure. With support from ATC, the pilots plan a deliberate gear-up landing on a foamed runway.
Episode 88: Bouncing on Empty
During a mountain flying trip in a Cessna 172, Doug Tilghman and two companions become dangerously close to fuel exhaustion.
Episode 87: Safety Pilot
Bob Thomason recounts a tense IMC approach as safety pilot for a friend facing a cancer diagnosis. When his friend panics and fights the autopilot, Bob must intervene to stabilize the aircraft.
Episode 86: Engine Failure Over New Mexico
Marine Corps Master Gunnery Sergeant Justin Lillie shares the story of an engine failure in his Mooney during an IFR cross-country flight with his family.
Episode 85: Three Greens
Mark Sellers shares the story of a nighttime overwater flight in his Bellanca Viking where a landing gear issue arose during approach.
Episode 84: Missing Prop
Mel Rushton recounts a harrowing nighttime IFR flight when the propeller of his Piper Comanche separated mid-flight over Florida.
Episode 83: Stuck Controls
While departing Tampa Executive Airport in his Thorp S-18, Mujahid Abdulrahim finds himself dealing with severely limited motion in his control stick.
Episode 82: Icing in a Baron
Scott Wright shares the story of a flight he made as a corporate pilot in a B58 Baron with five passengers, during which he had an encounter with icing.
Episode 81: Hard Landing
Erick Mahle tells the story of a night flight in his flying club’s Bonanza with his family on board that included a memorable landing and some lessons learned.
Episode 80: A Clever Workaround
While flying in his 1966 Cessna 150F over Arizona, Chris Smith and his father must resort to some creative thinking to breathe life into a sputtering engine.
Episode 79: Lost Comms
As a newly minted private pilot, Sara Gagné takes her mother on a sunset flight around the Hawaiian island of Oahu. Not expecting any adverse issues during her very first flight with a passenger, Sara finds …
Show notes
As a newly minted private pilot, Sara Gagné takes her mother on a sunset flight around the Hawaiian island of Oahu. Not expecting any adverse issues during her very first flight with a passenger, Sara finds herself unable to establish radio communication.
NOTE: We realized we omitted a key detail in this episode. When the guest discusses the remedy of shining a phone flashlight against the radio panel to make the display brighter, she is most likely referring to the panel having a faulty light sensor. Some avionics have an auto-dimming feature that uses a light sensor, which adjusts the brightness of the display to coincide with the ambient light level.
We apologize for any confusion this may have caused.
Episode 78: "What's That Sound?"
Peter Danzig hears a disturbing banging sound while flying his Bonanza A36 near Paso Robles, CA, and decides to make a precautionary landing at a small private airport. After landing, he must contend with less …
Show notes
Peter Danzig hears a disturbing banging sound while flying his Bonanza A36 near Paso Robles, CA, and decides to make a precautionary landing at a small private airport. After landing, he must contend with less than ideal conditions in which to depart again.
Episode 77: Cow Pasture Landing
While flying in his Piper Saratoga over the Mark Twain National Forest en route to Northeast Arkansas, Brent Reddick notices a subtle but disturbing drop in RPM, followed by a complete engine failure.
Episode 76: Eerie Encounter
GA pilot Claudia Gibson recalls a flight on a late October night in Indiana, during her student pilot days. While on an extensive night training flight with multiple stops, Claudia and her instructor have an …
Show notes
GA pilot Claudia Gibson recalls a flight on a late October night in Indiana, during her student pilot days. While on an extensive night training flight with multiple stops, Claudia and her instructor have an eerie encounter in the form of an unwanted guest on the runway.
Episode 75: Landing Gear Failure
While shooting an IFR practice approach in his Twin Comanche, retired Air Canada pilot Marc Arsenault loses electrical power to his landing gear system. After realizing that a manual gear extension will not …
Show notes
While shooting an IFR practice approach in his Twin Comanche, retired Air Canada pilot Marc Arsenault loses electrical power to his landing gear system. After realizing that a manual gear extension will not work, Marc must resort to creative thinking – and the help of a Swiss Army knife – to get the gear down.
Episode 74: Losing Altitude
On the final leg of a cross-country flight from Mississippi to California, flight test engineer Joey Brown finds himself unable to maintain altitude in his 1967 Cessna 150G.
Episode 73: Icing in an RV
Climbing through 6,000 feet after departing Burke Lakefront Airport in Cleveland, pilot and aircraft builder Steve Gross encounters severe icing in his RV-9. With his indicated airspeed falling to 60 knots and …
Show notes
Climbing through 6,000 feet after departing Burke Lakefront Airport in Cleveland, pilot and aircraft builder Steve Gross encounters severe icing in his RV-9. With his indicated airspeed falling to 60 knots and his climb rate dropping to zero, Steve must take quick action.
Episode 72: Laser Strike
GA pilot Jonathan Fay experiences a laser strike while in the traffic pattern for a night landing. He tells the story of what happened, and how he was able to track down the perpetrator afterward.
These are the latest 40 of 102 episodes. You’ll find older episodes in the podcast’s feed.
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