A very close brush with death as a student pilot in my early 30s has greatly changed my outlook on life. I have shared the story many times and many people have told me that they were inspired. This has motivated me to share the experience with a broader audience.
Imagine a typical Southern California summer day in June of 1990. The hills around Simi Valley look golden brown in the desert sun. Just a few minutes ago I took off from Van Nuys Airport on my third solo flight with a two-seater Cessna 150.
It is over Simi Valley where I am going to practice one of the most dangerous flight maneuvers – an approach to landing stall. This maneuver is practiced at an altitude high above ground to make sure there is room for recovery if anything goes wrong.
I call the tower at Burbank: “Burbank Approach, this is Cessna One Five Zero Golf Sierra, I am a student pilot and will practice approach to landing stalls over Simi Valley at 2500 feet, please advise of any approaching air-craft.”
Now I am ready. I have practiced this maneuver many times with my flight instructor Paul and I know what I was supposed to do. But this time is different. There is no flight instructor. I am all by myself. I cannot make any mistakes. With sweaty palms, I prepare the maneuver. I rock the plane to make sure there are no other aircraft under me or near me. I pull the control wheel to reduce the air speed. To maintain altitude, I push in the throttle a little. Then I take out the flaps, first 15 degrees, then 30 degrees, and finally 45 degrees. I maintain a straight and level flight, pulling the wheel closer and closer towards myself. The air speed is getting down towards the stall speed of 45 knots and the stall warning horn goes off. Now the plane feels very unstable. In order to practice a quick recovery, I stall the plane by pulling the wheel even closer, thereby reducing the air speed.
I expect the nose to drop, but what is this…? The left wing drops before the right wing. I have a sinking feeling and become instantly aware that I got myself into an inadvertent downward spiral. They also call it the grave- yard spiral. The thought enters my mind that these are going to be the last few seconds of my life. The ground is turning in front of me like a disk. The hand on the altimeter keeps turning, showing the rapid descent. The air-speed indicator has gone quickly from 45 knots to 120 knots.
After my first thought that I am going to die, I am thinking maybe I can do something. I pull the throttle immediately to avoid additional downward acceleration by the engine. Then I pull in the flaps to protect them from bending or breaking at this high air speed. But whatever I try to do with the controls shows no affect. I realize that there is no way I can get myself out of this downward spiral. A thought to call the tower to ask for help is quickly dismissed as I realize there is no time for anybody’s advice.
This is a matter of life and death which has to be resolved within the next few seconds. I realize that I cannot get myself out of this situation and that I now depend on a miracle. I take my hands off the wheel and my feet off the pedals, letting go of all the controls and I cry out: “God take this plane!!”
In an instant the plane gets out of the downward spiral and into a straight and level flight. Looking at the altimeter, I went from 2500 feet down to 1500 feet. I dropped 1000 feet. I know, had I held on to the controls any more I would have run myself right into the ground. I had to let go of the controls completely and let God take over. He was the only one who could get me out of this life-threatening situation.
This is a drastic (yet real) example of letting go, but I believe, no matter the severity of the situation, this lesson can apply. We hold on to things, we try to control situations and make it worse, instead of letting God take over. He needs to be our Captain, not our co-pilot, whom we call upon, when we are in trouble.
Remember what the Psalmist has written:
[Psa 50:15] Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.
[Psa 55:16] As for me, I will call upon God, And the LORD shall save me.
In the coming weeks, I will write about different areas in our lives, where we may be stuck due to not letting go.
In the meantime, what is there in your life which you need to let go of? And if you are not letting go, why not?