I'm a believer

Interesting experience this morning. Was flying into Santa Monica airport, SMO. [To tape a book-promo interview for NPR’s Fresh Air, my favorite radio show. Will air next Mon or Tues, I think.]

Coming from San Bernardino airport, SBD, in inland SoCal, where I’d been visiting my parents. Perfectly clear day, so was going VFR and enjoying the spectacular view. The LAX class B was very busy, so I couldn’t get a transition through it. Instead took the low altitude (sub 2000 ft) route across LA, wonderful to see. Contacted Santa Monica Tower, cleared for landing.

When WHAMMMMO! It was as if the plane had hit a brick wall. Or as if a land vehicle had hit a 20-foot-deep pothole in the road. I was strapped in but hit my head hard on the ceiling. So did one friend in the back seat – like me, he’s 6’2." His 5’6" wife in the co-pilot’s seat didn’t hit her head. Charts all hit the ceiling, compartment between the front seats flew open and ejected its contents.

So this is the world of wake turbulence! Maybe a thousand feet above us, airliners were turning downwind-to-base for their approach to LAX. This was the drifting-down residue of such a turn. I had flown below airline approach paths many, many times at Boeing Field in Seattle (beneath SeaTac’s south-flow approach.) But I had never seen anything like this.

Re-gathered charts, landed without problem a minute later. But two “I’m a believer” thoughts. First – will be all the more vigilant about being in harm’s way from a 757 ever again. Second - the parachute! The rear-seat passenger said his immediate thought was: what if Jim is knocked out? And he said it was very reassuring to him to think there was an option. Drifting by parachute onto greater LA is not ideal, but it beats the alternatives.

Glad to hear everything turned out okay. A successful parachute deployment in downtown would have created a great deal of publicity for CD, particularly if you landed on the 5 or 101, but you may have been accused of doing it to sell more books !

If you donÂ’t mind, let us know when youÂ’ll be on with Terry Gross. The website doesnÂ’t show when you’ll appear. DonÂ’t want to miss it.

Be careful, you are a national asset.

ken

Interesting experience this morning. Was flying into Santa Monica airport, SMO. [To tape a book-promo interview for NPR’s Fresh Air, my favorite radio show. Will air next Mon or Tues, I think.]

Coming from San Bernardino airport, SBD, in inland SoCal, where I’d been visiting my parents. Perfectly clear day, so was going VFR and enjoying the spectacular view. The LAX class B was very busy, so I couldn’t get a transition through it. Instead took the low altitude (sub 2000 ft) route across LA, wonderful to see. Contacted Santa Monica Tower, cleared for landing.

When WHAMMMMO! It was as if the plane had hit a brick wall. Or as if a land vehicle had hit a 20-foot-deep pothole in the road. I was strapped in but hit my head hard on the ceiling. So did one friend in the back seat – like me, he’s 6’2." His 5’6" wife in the co-pilot’s seat didn’t hit her head. Charts all hit the ceiling, compartment between the front seats flew open and ejected its contents.

So this is the world of wake turbulence! Maybe a thousand feet above us, airliners were turning downwind-to-base for their approach to LAX. This was the drifting-down residue of such a turn. I had flown below airline approach paths many, many times at Boeing Field in Seattle (beneath SeaTac’s south-flow approach.) But I had never seen anything like this.

Re-gathered charts, landed without problem a minute later. But two “I’m a believer” thoughts. First – will be all the more vigilant about being in harm’s way from a 757 ever again. Second - the parachute! The rear-seat passenger said his immediate thought was: what if Jim is knocked out? And he said it was very reassuring to him to think there was an option. Drifting by parachute onto greater LA is not ideal, but it beats the alternatives.

I am based out of SMO and have made hundreds of landings there and have never experienced what you are explaining and i fly in from Palm Springs all the time which is the same area you were. The Class B airspace on approach from where you were coming does not get lower then 5000’. SMO gets quite a few Gulfstreams and Challengers which throw off a lot of wake turbulence, were you behind one of those maybe. Otherwise I can only imagine it was a very calm day with no ocean breezes to allow the turbulence to come down.Next timne you are through SMO post her i will come ot to greet you and take a look and compare birds.

Glad to hear everything turned out okay. A successful parachute deployment in downtown would have created a great deal of publicity for CD, particularly if you landed on the 5 or 101, but you may have been accused of doing it to sell more books !

I actually described this episode to T Gross in the interview, and we talked about the pluses and minuses of a parachute descent as a promo tool. Her web site announces one day’s shows in advance. I’ll let you know when I hear about this: expecting start of next week. jf

Everything is tentative in the world of radio, but at the moment my interview on Fresh Air is scheduled for this coming Monday, June 18. This link tells local stations and carriage times.

I used to live in an apartment almost under the approach path in San Diego. At night I would go out for a walk and watch the wake rotors spin through the trees in the neighborhood.

They were noisey and pretty violent as they came through. It gave me a healthy respect for wake vorticies during my flight training.

Glad to hear everyone and the bird made it through in one piece.

I am based out of SMO and have made hundreds of landings there and have never experienced what you are explaining and i fly in from Palm Springs all the time which is the same area you were. The Class B airspace on approach from where you were coming does not get lower then 5000’. SMO gets quite a few Gulfstreams and Challengers which throw off a lot of wake turbulence, were you behind one of those maybe. Otherwise I can only imagine it was a very calm day with no ocean breezes to allow the turbulence to come down. Next timne you are through SMO post her i will come ot to greet you and take a look and compare birds.

Glad to hear this doesn’t happen very often – as I say, I never encountered or heard of something like this at Boeing Field. I certainly will send a note before my next visit. I was following one Skyhawk and one twin Cessna on the way in. There could have been some residual effect from a bizjet that I wasn’t aware of. Also, when I could move my neck enough to look up, I saw that, at what seemed to be 2000 or more feet above us, big planes were making descending turns for the LAX patterns. Wherever the jolt came from, it was very impressive at the time.

Next time, as you suggest, we’ll take the somewhat more northerly route across the valley, going up into Burbank’s Class C space so as to avoid the low parts of Class B. This time, for directness and scenic value went through the downtown LA parts with 4000 and then 2500 ft floors, going under the 2500 ft part at 2000 ft. Obviously not enough clearance!

I fly out of Charlotte, NC (CLT-Douglas International)all the time which is a very busy and very large hunk of Class B airspace.

ATC here uses the uncontrolled airspace under and around the Class B frequently during VFR conditions. When they get choked up, it is hard for them to avoid, so we end up with heavy jets in ‘our’ airspace. They try to avoid it, and certainly try to keep everyone within the Mode C veil, but it happens. So, staying below or outside the Class B around here doesn’t guarantee you will not encounter a leftover wake from a heavy that went by minutes earlier.

FWIW.

Greg

Interesting experience this morning. Was flying into Santa Monica airport, SMO. [To tape a book-promo interview for NPR’s Fresh Air, my favorite radio show. Will air next Mon or Tues, I think.]

Coming from San Bernardino airport, SBD, in inland SoCal, where I’d been visiting my parents. Perfectly clear day, so was going VFR and enjoying the spectacular view. The LAX class B was very busy, so I couldn’t get a transition through it. Instead took the low altitude (sub 2000 ft) route across LA, wonderful to see. Contacted Santa Monica Tower, cleared for landing.

When WHAMMMMO! It was as if the plane had hit a brick wall. Or as if a land vehicle had hit a 20-foot-deep pothole in the road. I was strapped in but hit my head hard on the ceiling. So did one friend in the back seat – like me, he’s 6’2." His 5’6" wife in the co-pilot’s seat didn’t hit her head. Charts all hit the ceiling, compartment between the front seats flew open and ejected its contents.

So this is the world of wake turbulence! Maybe a thousand feet above us, airliners were turning downwind-to-base for their approach to LAX. This was the drifting-down residue of such a turn. I had flown below airline approach paths many, many times at Boeing Field in Seattle (beneath SeaTac’s south-flow approach.) But I had never seen anything like this.

Re-gathered charts, landed without problem a minute later. But two “I’m a believer” thoughts. First – will be all the more vigilant about being in harm’s way from a 757 ever again. Second - the parachute! The rear-seat passenger said his immediate thought was: what if Jim is knocked out? And he said it was very reassuring to him to think there was an option. Drifting by parachute onto greater LA is not ideal, but it beats the alternatives.

I am based out of SMO and have made hundreds of landings there and have never experienced what you are explaining and i fly in from Palm Springs all the time which is the same area you were. The Class B airspace on approach from where you were coming does not get lower then 5000’. SMO gets quite a few Gulfstreams and Challengers which throw off a lot of wake turbulence, were you behind one of those maybe. Otherwise I can only imagine it was a very calm day with no ocean breezes to allow the turbulence to come down.Next timne you are through SMO post her i will come ot to greet you and take a look and compare birds.

Here in the SF Bay area we are also often sneaking under the Bravo. I find even if you aren’t using Flight Following that listening to Bay Approach is a good idea. If you are close enough to a Heavy to worry about wake turbulence, then they are worrying about you and you will hear yourself called out to the Heavy in a traffic advisory. Gets you looking out!

-Curt