Flight Story
I was 19 years old and halfway across the country when things started going wrong. One system failed, then another, and eventually we found ourselves flying through the night with no radios, no transponder, and no aircraft lights.
This is the story of my first real emergency, what happened, how I handled it, the decisions I made, and what I learned from the experience.
Aircraft
N737KJ
Route
KAMA → KRBD
Departure
Amarillo, TX
Arrival
Dallas, TX
Back in May 2025, I was a Private Pilot nearing completion of my Instrument rating. I was on the way to compete at Operation Skyhook. This was the final leg of the second day of the ferry flight from Seattle, Washington to Pine Bluff, Arkansas for Skyhook. We departed Amarillo (KAMA) with flight following toward Dallas Executive Airport (KRBD). My friend Axel, also a Private Pilot, was flying from the right seat while I was the PIC. We planned to stop for the night in Dallas and had arranged to tiedown at Ambassador Jet Center.
Our estimated arrival time was 10:15 PM CDT, around 15 minutes after the FBO typically closed. We were originally scheduled to arrive around 9:15 PM CDT, but I had taken the opportunity to charge my iPad, phone, and Stratux ADS-B In receiver while on the ground in KAMA. This was a decision that would prove to be extremely important later in the flight.
Almost immediately after departure, things felt a little strange.
Tower told us that our transmission was coming through extremely broken. We seemed to correct the issue on the second transmission, so we continued on.
After being handed off to Amarillo Approach, we called once to report our position and assigned heading. There was no response.
About 90 seconds later, after hearing multiple other aircraft talking to the controller, we called again. This time we made positive contact and received our instructions.
Looking back, these were the first hints that something wasn't quite right. At the time, though, there wasn't enough information to suggest that we were dealing with anything serious.
8:00 PM CDT
About an hour into the flight, we noticed the first unmistakable sign of a failure: Axel and I could no longer communicate with each other.
About 30 seconds later, we realized that Comm 1 was continuously transmitting. It was tuned to 133.5 MHz for Fort Worth Center, meaning we were effectively stuck transmitting on the frequency.
We tried to figure out which button was stuck and attempted to resolve the problem. Nothing worked.
Eventually, we shut off the Avionics Bus. In hindsight, we could have simply pulled the Comm 1 circuit breaker, but that wasn't what we thought of at the time.
8:02 PM CDT
With our primary means of communication compromised, I called Fort Worth ARTCC by phone.
I explained what had happened and asked if they could give us another frequency so that we could communicate without continuously blocking 133.5.
Center called back and instructed us to squawk VFR and continue on 133.5. We wanted to make sure that they understood we would be blocking the frequency, so Center decided to keep us on the phone while they confirmed internally.
Then we lost the phone connection.
8:10 PM CDT
Ten minutes later, the situation changed completely.
We experienced a complete electrical failure.
We lost:
• All communications
• VOR navigation
• ADS-B Out
• Aircraft lights
• Transponder
At this point, we were flying through the night without the systems that normally make flying cross-country possible.
I called Center again and told them what we intended to do. We planned to continue toward RBD, remain outside the Bravo, and land with the assistance of tower light gun signals.
Fortunately, there was still one extremely useful piece of equipment available to us: my Stratux.
Although the aircraft itself had lost ADS-B Out, the Stratux was still receiving ADS-B In. That gave us access to traffic and weather information as we continued toward Dallas.
We continued inbound along our previously planned route.
We tried calling the RBD and Arlington ASOS frequencies, but neither call went through. We were getting nothing but a dial tone.
Meanwhile, Fort Worth Center's Operations Manager started texting me while Axel continued flying the aircraft along our planned route.
The Operations Manager eventually communicated to me that we would not make it before tower closed and advised us to find somewhere else to land.
We decided to continue toward RBD.
Why? We had support waiting for us on the ground, information about the airport and weather, access to maintenance, and ADS-B traffic information. More importantly, RBD was the only airport I had previously landed at in the Dallas area, with Axel having never flown into Dallas.
We proceeded directly to 50F and crossed overhead at 4,000 feet. Continuing east, we descended to 3,000 feet to clear the Bravo.
After identifying KFWS and positively identifying N17052 landing, we made sure the airspace was clear before descending to 2,500 feet.
In doing so, we entered the KFWS Class D airspace. We were aware that we had done so.
10:04 PM CDT
At approximately 10:04 PM, we identified traffic departing KGKY on ADS-B and then visually.
We executed an emergency descent and passed approximately 600 feet below the traffic.
We flashed our flashlights at the aircraft in white, red, and green in an attempt to make ourselves visible.
We do not believe they saw us. They did not divert from their course.
We eventually reached the area around Joe Pool Lake and called Ambassador Jet Center to let them know where we were and that we intended to land on Runway 13.
At this point, controls were transferred to me. I was sitting in the left seat, and Axel did not have experience landing from the right seat.
I tried one final time to turn the Masters on and see if we could get the flaps to deploy. Somehow, they worked.
We chose Runway 13 instead of 17. The winds were favorable, it was longer, and there was traffic operating on Runway 17. The extra runway length gave us more room to work with.
The landing itself was soft, but we landed before the displaced threshold. Without aircraft lighting and without centerline lights, judging our position and distance down the runway was difficult.
I applied heavy braking and we stopped within approximately 600 feet.
We were finally on the ground.
We taxiied over to Ambassador Jet Center and shut down the aircraft. We were safe.
What I Learned
It was about everything that came after it. Staying calm. Dividing responsibilities. Using every resource available. Maintaining situational awareness. And most importantly, continuing to make decisions when the original plan was no longer an option.
This was my first real emergency, and it changed the way I think about risk, preparation, and what it means to be PIC.