A video showing the courage and skill of a Dutch female pilot who safely landed a small plane after its canopy suddenly burst into pieces during flight has gone viral.
The caption for the video read, “Dutch pilot Naleen Melkmudjian shares the moment the canopy of her Extra 330LX suddenly opened during flight. Despite the shock of the incident, she managed to land the plane safely.”
Nalin Melkumjian shared the nerve-wracking video on Instagram three days ago, in which she described the experience: “A few years ago, during my second aerobatics training session on a very hot summer day, the canopy of the Xtra 330LX I was piloting opened up mid-flight and shattered.”
Video shows Nalin Merkmudjan desperately clutching the controls moments after the protective canopy gave way. She appeared to be in distress as she struggled to open her eyes against the wind and try to land the two-seater plane on the ground.
Check out the video below:
She added: “As you can see from the video, this was a difficult experience that could have been avoided with a proper visual check prior to takeoff. The canopy locking pin was never in the locked position and this went unnoticed during the check.”
Merkmudjian also admitted that he made the mistake of attending the training camp immediately after recovering from COVID-19, without giving his body enough time to fully recover. Moreover, he flew without eye protection, which added to the difficulties he faced during the flight.
Noise, breathing difficulties and poor visibility made the flight a painful experience for Melkmudjian, and it took about 28 hours for his vision to fully return.
“Aerodynamically, we experienced buffeting and maneuverability challenges. Perhaps most difficult was maintaining power — trading sight and breath for kinetic energy,” she wrote. “Because of the noise, it was hard to hear what my coach was saying over the radio, but I heard loud and clear that I should just keep flying.”
Melkmudjian ended his post by saying he hoped his experience would serve as a lesson for other pilots, and regretted taking so long to publish the video. “It's not easy to expose your weaknesses to the world, but I've realized how important it is to be open about our shortcomings and the lessons we've learned along the way,” he wrote.
The video, shared by @aviationbrk, has been viewed more than 3.1 million times on X, but only 6,400 times on Instagram.
One X user wrote: “Her eyes are so sweet! She must have been going hundreds of kilometres per hour,” while another commented: “She was professional and calm,” while this user added: “She's so calm under pressure. Amazing.”
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First uploaded on: 25 June 2024 15:46 IST
