Pilot makes emergency landing on Travis flightline

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Madelyn Brown
  • 60th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  Doug Draper was performing commercial flight maneuvers in his Piper PA-24 Comanche single-engine aircraft March 1 in the designated air space when the routine practice suddenly went wrong.

Draper, a pilot instructor for Concord Pacific States Aviation with 30 years of flying experience, uses the air space bound by Highway 12 to the north, the Sacramento River to the east and south, and Grizzly Island to the west.

He was practicing the chandelle maneuver, which is a 180-degree-climbing turn, a move he has taught and executed countless times, he said. The maneuver is used when pilots enter into a blind canyon and need to escape the terrain.

"Approximately halfway up the turn and at 3,500 feet the engine quit," the Colorado native said. "My first reaction was to check the fuel, and it read full. Then, I turned on the fuel pump so the engine came back a bit, but the fuel had evacuated from the line to the engine."

The nose of the airplane began to turn down.

The fuel line of the Camanche had filled with air, leaving the remaining fuel inaccessible. Draper knew he had to make an emergency landing. At this point, he calculated wind direction, the distance he needed to travel and his altitude.

"At this point, my options were Rio Vista Airport, Concord (Buchanan Field Airport) or Travis Air Force Base," Draper said. "If the wind was coming from the west, I would have headed for Rio Vista. If I was higher in altitude, I would have chosen Concord."

But that Saturday morning, the wind was coming from the southeast and he was descending from 2,500 feet, making Travis his only option.

"I've never landed at a military installation and I was a little hesitant to do so," Draper said. "It was intimidating."

The pilot instructor put his hesitations aside and immediately started the procedures to put the aircraft into best glide mode.

"Best glide is a practice I normally teach my students," he said. "It takes into account the wind and altitude to achieve the maximum distance forward."

Draper got on frequency with the radar approach control Airmen of Travis and declared an emergency landing. The RAPCON Airmen in turn notified the air traffic control tower, said Tech. Sgt. Kristen Wilson, 60th Operations Support Squadron air traffic watch supervisor.

"He handled it perfectly," Wilson said. "We got the call from RAPCON that there was an aircraft with an engine out and our airfield was the closest to him."

From there, Wilson was able to inform the descending aircraft of the clear areas on the flightline for landing and where to taxi.

Draper was greeted by the 60th Security Forces Squadron, the 60th Civil Engineer Squadron fire department hazardous materials team, airfield management and Col. David Mott, 60th Operations Group commander.

Following the standard protocol, response teams proceeded to inspect the Travis flightline for damage, while security forces ensured Draper didn't pose a threat to base security.

Although Draper had to leave his aircraft on the flightline for the next two days before his fuel pump was fixed and he could fly back to Concord, the procedures he executed during his landing created a safe and ideal emergency situation for everyone involved.

"It's my job to exhibit pilot skill behavior," Draper said. "I do that every day and my immediate responses have to be from memory."

For Travis personnel, the emergency communication measures Draper implemented kept the situation calm.

"Had he not made contact with RAPCON, security forces would have to respond as if the aircraft was hostile," Wilson said. "His proper communication allowed us to clear the area for him and notify the appropriate agencies."