"There I was..." An Aviation Podcast

"There I was..." An Aviation 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

Episode 99: Trapped in the Wreckage

September 15, 2026 • 39 mins
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.
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Episode 98: Prop Separation

August 19, 2026 • 47 mins
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.
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Episode 97: Avionics Failure in Heavy Rain

July 14, 2026 • 32 mins
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.
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Episode 96: Whiteout in a Helicopter

June 16, 2026 • 39 mins
Coast Guard helicopter pilot Rick Kenin recalls a Christmas Eve rescue flight that nearly became an emergency of its own.
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Episode 95: Lake Amphibian

May 12, 2026 • 43 mins
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.
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Episode 94: Engine-Out at Night

April 21, 2026 • 34 mins
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.
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Episode 93: Windscreen Blowout

March 17, 2026 • 45 mins
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
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Episode 92: Icing in a Sling

February 18, 2026 • 41 mins
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.
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Episode 91: Unexpected Spin

January 8, 2026 • 28 mins
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.
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Episode 90: Exhaust Valve

December 16, 2025 • 45 mins
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.
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Episode 89: Gear-Up Landing

November 18, 2025 • 46 mins
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.
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Episode 88: Bouncing on Empty

October 14, 2025 • 32 mins
During a mountain flying trip in a Cessna 172, Doug Tilghman and two companions become dangerously close to fuel exhaustion.
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Episode 87: Safety Pilot

September 16, 2025 • 35 mins
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.
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Episode 86: Engine Failure Over New Mexico

August 12, 2025 • 41 mins
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.
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Episode 85: Three Greens

July 15, 2025 • 42 mins
Mark Sellers shares the story of a nighttime overwater flight in his Bellanca Viking where a landing gear issue arose during approach.
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Episode 84: Missing Prop

June 17, 2025 • 37 mins
Mel Rushton recounts a harrowing nighttime IFR flight when the propeller of his Piper Comanche separated mid-flight over Florida.
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Episode 83: Stuck Controls

May 13, 2025 • 56 mins
While departing Tampa Executive Airport in his Thorp S-18, Mujahid Abdulrahim finds himself dealing with severely limited motion in his control stick.
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Episode 82: Icing in a Baron

April 15, 2025 • 34 mins
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.
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Episode 81: Hard Landing

March 18, 2025 • 37 mins
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.
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Episode 80: A Clever Workaround

February 18, 2025 • 26 mins
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.
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