In a shocking yet miraclous incident, a female Dutch pilot somehow managed to land safely after the canapoy of her small plane burst open and shattered midflight. The terrifying video of the entire incident was shared by the pilot on social media, where she also requested her fellow pilots to exeercise due caution while flying and stay safe.
Narine Melkumjan, the Dutch pilot involved in the incident, shared the video of the airbrone drama while she was flying her Extra 330LX aircraft.
The incident occurred a few years ago on her second ever aerobatic training flight. In the nail-biting video she can be seen frantically trying to hold the grip on her controls after the protective barrier ruptured, leaving her exposed to high air-pressure above.
As she struggled to even keep her eyes open due to the high wind speed, she can be seen veering the two-seater aircraft towards the runway without losing her calm.
The canopy burst open because the locking pin did not get into the locked position, which the pilot failed to notice during her checks before taking off.
Here's the video of the ordeal.
'Took Me 48 Hours To Recover My Vision'
Along with the video she also stated how challenging the experience was, adding that it could have been avoided if she had carefully checked everything before taking off.
"The canopy locking pin had never gone into the locked position, and I failed to notice it during my checks. I also made the mistake of going to the training camp right after recovering from COVID, without allowing my body enough time to fully regain strength. Additionally, flying without any eye protection made the flight even more challenging than it already was," she wrote on X.
Recounting the "distressing" experience, Melumjan said that the flight was filled with noise and breathing difficulties, and impaired visibility. "It took me nearly 28 hours to fully recover my vision," she added.
"Aerodynamically, I’ve experienced some buffet and controllability challenges. Probably the most difficult part was to keep the power in, thus trading my vision and breathing for kinetic energy," the pilot further said.
Melkumjan recalled that she could not hear anything her coach was saying on the radio due to all the noise, but "one thing I heard loud and clear was just keep flying".
Asking fellow pilots to learn from her mistakes, she wrote: "If you are a pilot watching this, I hope that my story serves as a cautionary tale and that you will learn from my mistakes. I regret that it took me so long to share this video footage. It's not easy to put my vulnerabilities out there for you all to see. However, I have come to realise how important it is to be transparent about our shortcomings and the lessons we learn along the way."