A pilot’s worst nightmare-come-true was captured on camera after their canopy opened and shattered mid-flight.
Narine Melkumjan was on her second training flight when the incident happened, which she referred to as a ‘distressing experience’.
Taking off in the Extra 330LX, which is a two-seat, tandem arrangement, low-wing aerobatic monoplane, everything seemed to be going smoothly at first.
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Melkumjan appears calm in the video as she takes off but just a few minutes into her flight, the canopy above her flies open and shatters, leaving her exposed to the elements in the air.
Uploading footage of the ordeal onto YouTube, in the description Melkumjan wrote: “As you can see from the video, it was a challenging experience that could have been avoided if I had made a proper visual check before taking off.”
She went on to add: “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.”
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Struggling to hear what her voice was saying to her on the radio, Melkumjan recalled hearing loud and clear, ‘just keep flying’.
The issue arose because the canopy locking pin was not in the locked position, which Melkumjan admitted she had failed to notice before her flight.
She said: “The flight was a distressing experience, filled with noise, breathing difficulties, and impaired visibility. It took me nearly 28 hours to fully recover my vision.
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“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.”
Watching the plane safely land, shocked viewers of the video took to Reddit to share their thoughts, with one user posting: “That wind burn is going to be fierce.”
Another replied: “I bet her eyes were on fire trying to keep them open.”
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Others expressed how impressed they were by Melkumjan’s handling of the terrifying siutation.
One user commented: “Zero panic. I’d gladly trust my life in this woman’s hands.”
A second said: “True badass.. really above and beyond nerves.. Refocused and safely maneuvered the plane back to the runway.. Impressive indeed.”
And a third added: “Hope she pilots all my United flights for the rest of my life. She has my utmost respect and confidence.”
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Melkumjan felt it was important to share the video to be ‘transparent’ about shortcomings and lessons learnt while training but her handling of the scary moment was certainly awe-inspiring.