WATERFORD, Mich. (WXYZ) — At Oakland County International Airport on Wednesday afternoon, we interviewed student pilot Taylor Hash about a recent flight she piloted on Friday, March 24.
It was her third solo-flight ever.
"Everything was going normal," said Hash. "I didn’t feel anything on the takeoff roll that would have indicated there was an issue."
Unfortunately, there was.
The live air traffic radio feed starts with veteran pilot Chris Yates coming over the radio and telling the control tower, "Hey that Diamond Star that just took off lost its nose wheel tire on the runway at rotation."
Over the radio you can hear tower respond, "Nobody has seen this before."
Hash said, "I didn’t know what to do in that moment."
Yates, the former director of aviation at SpaceX, could hear the anxiety in Hash's voice and stepped in to coach her through the landing.
Over the radio he said to Hash; "Taylor this is Chris, my daughter’s name is Taylor and I taught her to fly! We’re gonna be just fine kiddo."
"You by yourself?" asked Yates. "I am solo," replied Hash.
In our interview Hash told me, "You can hear it in my voice on the audio that I’m kind of freaking out and figuring out how I’m gonna land this plane safely."
Had Yates not radio'd in Hash said "It’s hard to think about what could have happened. The plane could’ve ended up in the grass, in the dirt, flipped over."
On the radio Yates can be heard saying, "When you touch down, I just want that stick all the way back. You’re gonna hold that stick back like you don’t want that nose to touch."
Guided by Yates voice Hash circled the airport, did a low approach and as you can see in video she shared with us, she ultimately landed.
Over the radio Yates coached, "The nose is gonna come down, you’re okay, you’re okay. Talk to me. Thatta girl, proud of you."
As Hash landed the nose of her plane hit the cement, leaving an indent.
Both Hash and Yates say they were crying.
"I landed, the plane stopped and that’s kind of when I melted down a bit," said Hash.
A happy ending, but only to the first chapter of this young pilot's story.
Hash and Yates say they've been in touch every day since the incident and plan to fly together in Vegas at the end of April.
"Somebody with 6 hours solo and 57 total hours flight time doesn’t handle the plane like that," said Yates. "I hope all the airlines are paying attention to this kid right now."
