Private pilot · ACS PA.IX.B
Emergency Approach and Landing (Simulated)
This task simulates an engine failure and a forced landing: airspeed, field, checklist, declare, then a planned approach to touchdown.
Your instructor usually ends it with a go-around at a safe altitude, but you fly it as if you’ll land.
Why this one matters
Most engine failures in light airplanes still end with everyone walking away, when the pilot keeps flying the airplane, picks a field early and lands under control. The fatal ones are usually loss of control: stretching a glide, a low turn back, a stall. Practicing the sequence until it’s automatic is what keeps an engine failure a survivable landing.
Can’t miss
- •Pitch for best glide speed right away and trim so the airplane holds it hands-off (±10 knots) while you pick a field, troubleshoot and talk; holding it by hand is what lets the airspeed wander when you're heads-down.(Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3C), Emergency Procedures; Private Pilot ACS (FAA-S-ACS-6C), PA.IX.B.S1)
- •Pick a field within gliding distance, preferably into the wind, with no wires or obstacles on the approach.(Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3C), Emergency Procedures)
- •Then troubleshoot per the POH for your airplane (a typical trainer flow: fuel selector to a tank with fuel, fuel pump on, mixture rich, carburetor heat on, magnetos both, primer in and locked), if you have the altitude. If it won't restart, secure it before landing: mixture cutoff, fuel off, magnetos off, master off after flaps, doors unlatched.(Your airplane's POH/AFM)
- •Minimum sink speed (slower than best glide) keeps you in the air longest but covers less distance: use it only when time aloft matters more than reaching a field, and remember it's close to the stall.(Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3C), Emergency Procedures)
- •A headwind shortens the glide over the ground; a tailwind lengthens it. Lighter weight lowers best glide speed but not the glide ratio.(Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3C), Emergency Procedures)
- •Declare: the frequency you’re on (121.5 if you can't reach anyone) and 7700. Switch the ELT on manually before an off-airport touchdown if you can; a 406 MHz ELT is detected by satellites, while 121.5 is only a homing signal now.(AIM, Chapter 6, Emergency Procedures)
- •Manage the energy to the field: plan to be abeam the touchdown point at about pattern altitude; if high, widen the pattern and use S-turns, a forward slip and flaps; if low, tighten it, delay the flaps, and never stretch the glide. It’s far better to land under control in a poor field than to stall trying to reach a better one.(Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3C), Emergency Procedures)
What you should know
The first seconds K1
- A common memory aid is ABC: Airspeed (best glide), Best field, Checklist. Then declare the emergency and execute the landing.(Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3C), Emergency Procedures)
- Your POH’s engine failure checklist comes next, in its order: the items and sequence are airplane-specific. A typical trainer flow is fuel selector to a tank with fuel, fuel pump on, mixture rich, carburetor heat on, magnetos both, primer in and locked.(Your airplane's POH/AFM)
- The restart checklist and the forced-landing checklist are different. If the engine won't restart and the landing is assured, run the POH emergency landing (forced landing) checklist: fuel selector off, mixture idle cutoff, ignition off, flaps set as needed, master switch off only after electric flaps are set, doors unlatched before touchdown, belts and harnesses tight, passengers briefed and braced. Fuel and electrics off reduce the fire risk if the landing is hard.(Your airplane's POH/AFM; Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3C), Emergency Procedures)
Airspeed and gliding K2 · K3
- Best glide speed gives the greatest distance per altitude lost. It’s in the POH for maximum weight; at lower weight it’s a little slower, but the glide ratio doesn’t change.(Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3C), Emergency Procedures)
- Minimum sink speed is slower: it maximizes time aloft, for example to troubleshoot or wait, not distance. Never use it when you must reach a field. It's flown close to the stall, so keep banks shallow and coordinated and add margin in turns: the stall speed and both glide speeds rise with bank and load factor.(Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3C), Emergency Procedures)
- The atmosphere: the indicated best glide speed and the glide ratio through the air don't change with density altitude, but the true airspeed, groundspeed and sink rate are higher, so you have less time aloft and a faster touchdown and longer roll. A headwind reduces the distance over the ground (glide slightly faster than best glide into a strong one); a tailwind increases it.(Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3C), Emergency Procedures)
Choosing and flying to the field K4 · R1 · R2 · R4
- Choose a field within easy glide: long, firm, into the wind, free of wires and obstacles on the approach. Roads have wires, signs and traffic; fields have furrows: land along them.(Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3C), Emergency Procedures)
- Plan a pattern to the field, a key point on downwind or base, and adjust with the turn to base, flaps and slips. A stabilized approach still applies.(Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3C), Emergency Procedures)
- Commit to the field once you’ve planned it; changing late to a "better" field often leaves you short.(Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3C), Emergency Procedures)
- Best glide is the travel speed. Once the field is assured, extend full flaps per the POH and slow to the POH final approach speed, touching down in the first part of the field at minimum controllable airspeed. Don’t extend the flaps so early that you fall short.(Your airplane's POH/AFM)
Getting help K5 · K6
- Tell ATC (or use 121.5 MHz) and squawk 7700. ATC can give the nearest airport, vectors and alert rescue.(AIM, Chapter 6, Emergency Procedures)
- An ELT activates on impact, and you can usually switch it on manually before an off-airport touchdown. 406 MHz ELTs are detected by the Cospas-Sarsat satellites and identify and locate your airplane; they also send a 121.5 MHz homing signal, which satellites stopped monitoring in 2009. Other ways to be found: your ADS-B track, a cell phone, a personal locator beacon. After landing: evacuate, account for everyone, and stay with the airplane (see Emergency Equipment and Survival Gear).(AIM, Chapter 6, Emergency Procedures)
Low and slow R3 · R5 · R6
- Near the ground, the danger is stretching the glide or turning steeply at low speed: both can stall and spin. Keep best glide speed and coordinated turns.(Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3C), Emergency Procedures)
- Engine failure after takeoff at low altitude: lower the nose at once to keep flying speed, land straight ahead or within about 30° either side of the nose, don't turn back to the runway, and don't try a restart (there's no time). Secure the airplane only if time permits, and land under control.(Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3C), Emergency Procedures)
- Keep scanning for traffic and wires as you descend into the landing area.(AC 90-48, Pilots' Role in Collision Avoidance)
- Workload is high: prioritize control, the field and the approach; the radio call is short.(Risk Management Handbook (FAA-H-8083-2A))
On the flight
ACS standards
- Establish and maintain the recommended best glide airspeed ±10 knots.(Private Pilot ACS (FAA-S-ACS-6C), PA.IX.B.S1)
- Select a suitable landing area and plan and follow a flightpath to it, considering altitude, wind, terrain and obstructions.(Private Pilot ACS (FAA-S-ACS-6C), PA.IX.B.S3-S4)
What your instructor is watching for
Your instructor watches whether you pitch for best glide immediately, pick a reachable field quickly, use the checklist, plan a sensible pattern to the field, keep the airspeed, and avoid stretching the glide.
Scenarios
Decide what you would do first, then see the worked answer.
Halfway to your chosen field, you see a nicer one a bit farther away.
Do you switch? See the worked answer
Only if you’re certain you can reach it with margin. Changing late often leaves you short; a planned approach to a decent field is safer.
Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3C), Emergency Procedures
You’re lighter than gross weight.
How does that change your glide? See the worked answer
Best glide speed is slightly lower, but the glide ratio, and so the distance, is about the same.
Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3C), Emergency Procedures
Short of the field, you’re tempted to raise the nose to stretch the glide.
What happens? See the worked answer
Below best glide, you lose distance and approach a stall. Hold best glide, and land straight ahead in the best available spot if you can’t make it.
Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3C), Emergency Procedures
Common mistakes
Slow to set best glide.
Every second at the wrong speed costs distance.
Instead: Pitch for best glide first, before anything else.
Too much time troubleshooting.
You run out of altitude to plan the landing.
Instead: Field first, then the checklist if there’s time.
Flaps too early.
You fall short of the field.
Instead: Extend flaps when the field is assured.
Now train it
Say it out loud, hear it asked, and take the quick check in this lesson’s practice pack. It tracks your shaky spots.
Got it?
When it feels solid, practice emergency approach and landing (simulated) out loud with our examiner.
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Teaching this? The instructor lesson plan →
Sources
- Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3C): Emergency Procedures; Upset Prevention and Recovery
- Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge (FAA-H-8083-25C): Aerodynamics of Flight; Flight Instruments; Aircraft Systems
- Aeronautical Information Manual (AIM): Chapter 6, Emergency Procedures
- 14 CFR Part 91: 91.3, 91.205, 91.207
- Private Pilot ACS (FAA-S-ACS-6C): Areas VII and IX
- Your airplane's POH/AFM: Section 3, Emergency Procedures
Study aid, not FAA guidance. Regulations change; check the current text at eCFR and the ACS. Checked against current sources 2026-11-12.